Surfactant-regulated acetylpyrene assemblies as fluorescent probes for identifying heme proteins in an aqueous solution

Abstract

Heme proteins play various important roles in a variety of physiological and pathological processes. Surfactant assemblies have drawn great attention in fabricating fluorescent sensors to detect and identify proteins. In this study, an acetylpyrene fluorophore containing imidazole HP-1 was synthesized, and it could be well modulated by an anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). The selected ensemble based on HP-1/SDS assemblies exhibited selective fluorescence sensing performance towards the heme proteins, including neuroglobin (Ngb), myoglobin (Mb) and cytochrome c (Cyt c). Besides, phospholipid DMPC vesicles as membrane models were particularly explored the association process between the heme protein Mb and membrane. The present work showed that Mb induced the lysis of DMPC liposomes visualized by transmission electron microscopy and optical microscope.