STUDY ON BEHAVIOR OF VITAMIN E IN BIOLOGICAL MEMBRANE MODEL USING FLUORINE AS PROBE

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Biological activities of vitamin E are believed to be based on stabilization of biological membranes due to its anti-oxidant activity. However, some recent researches suggested that its activities are also based on mechanical stabilization of membranes. We prepared tocopherol derivatives with fluorine substituents, and studied orientation and mobility of vitamin E using relaxation time of ィイD119ィエD1F-NMR. In this research, we introduced fluorine atoms to various positions of fatty acids. Using fluorines of these acids as probes, we studied property of liposome membrane, and found that fluorines on 2- to 10-positions of stearic acid had approximately same and very short relaxation times, while those at the 12-position had much longer and at the 18-position the longest relaxation times. These results show that the outer layer of the membrane is rather rigid than the inner layer. Addition of vitamin E to these liposomes resulted in the shortening of the relaxation times. These effects were stronger in the inner part of the membrane. This result supports that vitamin E stabilizes the membrane mechanically. Syntheses of phosphatidylcholine with fluorine atoms are in progress for detailed studies.