Organization of Carotenoid Aggregates in Membranes Studied Selectively using Resonance Raman Optical Activity

0583160 - ÚOCHB 2025 RIV US eng J - Journal Article
Hachlica, N. - Stefanska, M. - Mach, M. - Kowalska, M. - Wydro, P. - Domagala, A. - Kessler, Jiří - Zajac, G. - Kaczor, A.
Organization of Carotenoid Aggregates in Membranes Studied Selectively using Resonance Raman Optical Activity.
Small. (2024). ISSN 1613-6810. E-ISSN 1613-6829
Institutional support: RVO:61388963
Keywords : aggregates * carotenoids * chirality * membranes * raman optical octivity * supramolecules
Impact factor: 13.3, year: 2022
Method of publishing: Open access
https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202306707

In living organisms, carotenoids are incorporated in biomembranes, remarkably modulating their mechanical characteristics, fluidity, and permeability. Significant resonance enhancement of Raman optical activity (ROA) signals of carotenoid chiral aggregates makes resonance ROA (RROA), a highly selective tool to study exclusively carotenoid assemblies in model membranes. Hence, RROA is combined with electronic circular dichroism (ECD), dynamic light scattering (DLS), molecular dynamics, and quantum-chemical calculations to shed new light on the carotenoid aggregation in dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) liposomes. Using representative members of the carotenoid family: apolar alpha-carotene and more polar fucoxanthin and zeaxanthin, the authors demonstrate that the stability of carotenoid aggregates is directly linked with their orientation in membranes and the monomer structures inside the assemblies. In particular, polyene chain distortion of alpha-carotene molecules is an important feature of J-aggregates that show increased orientational freedom and stability inside liposomes compared to H-assemblies of more polar xanthophylls. In light of these results, RROA emerges as a new tool to study active compounds and drugs embedded in membranes.
Permanent Link: https://hdl.handle.net/11104/0351152