TY - JOUR A1 - Nikolaus, Jörg A1 - Czapla, Sylvia A1 - Möllnitz, Kristian A1 - Höfer, Chris T. A1 - Herrmann, Andreas A1 - Wessig, Pablo A1 - Müller, Peter T1 - New molecular rods - Characterization of their interaction with membranes JF - Biochimica et biophysica acta : Biomembranes N2 - Molecular rods are synthetical molecules consisting of a hydrophobic backbone which are functionalized with varying terminal groups. Here, we report on the interaction of a recently described new class of molecular rods with lipid and biological membranes. In order to characterize this interaction, different fluorescently labeled rods were synthesized allowing for the application of fluorescence spectroscopy and microscopy based approaches. Our data show that the rods are incorporated into membranes with a perpendicular orientation to the membrane surface and enrich preferentially in liquid-disordered lipid domains. These characteristics underline that rods can be applied as stable membrane-associated anchors for functionalizing membrane surfaces. KW - Molecular rod KW - Phospholipid KW - Lipid domain KW - Spiro compound Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbamem.2011.08.008 SN - 0005-2736 VL - 1808 IS - 12 SP - 2781 EP - 2788 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Grimm, Christiane A1 - Meyer, Thomas A1 - Czapla, Sylvia A1 - Nikolaus, Jörg A1 - Scheidt, Holger A. A1 - Vogel, Alexander A1 - Herrmann, Andreas A1 - Wessig, Pablo A1 - Huster, Daniel A1 - Müller, Peter T1 - Structure and dynamics of molecular rods in membranes application of a Spin-Labeled rod JF - Chemistry - a European journal N2 - Molecular rods consisting of a hydrophobic backbone and terminally varying functional groups have been synthesized for applications for the functionalization of membranes. In the present study, we employ a spin-labeled analogue of a recently described new class of molecular rods to characterize their dynamic interactions with membranes. By using the different approaches of ESR and NMR spectroscopy, we show that the spin moiety of the membrane-embedded spin-labeled rod is localized in the upper chain/glycerol region of membranes of different compositions. The rod is embedded within the membrane in a tilted orientation to adjust for the varying hydrophobic thicknesses of these bilayers. This orientation does not perturb the membrane structure. The water solubility of the rod is increased significantly in the presence of certain cyclodextrins. These cyclodextrins also allow the rods to be extracted from the membrane and incorporated into preformed membranes. The latter will improve the future applications of these rods in cellular systems as stable membrane-associated anchors for the functionalization of membrane surfaces. KW - hydrophobic mismatch KW - membranes KW - molecular rods KW - phospholipids KW - spiro compounds Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.201202500 SN - 0947-6539 VL - 19 IS - 8 SP - 2703 EP - 2710 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Techen, Anne A1 - Czapla, Sylvia A1 - Möllnitz, Kristian A1 - Budach, Dennis B. A1 - Wessig, Pablo A1 - Kumke, Michael Uwe T1 - Synthesis and spectroscopic characterization of fluorophore-labeled oligospiroketal rods JF - Helvetica chimica acta N2 - Fluorescence probes consisting of well-established fluorophores in combination with rigid molecular rods based on spirane-type structures were investigated with respect to their fluorescence properties under different solvent conditions. The attachment of the dyes was accomplished by 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition between alkynes and azides (click' reaction) and is a prime example for a novel class of sensor constructs. Especially, the attachment of two (different) fluorophores on opposite sides of the molecular rods paves the way to new sensor systems with less bulky (compared to the conventional DNA- or protein-based concepts), nevertheless rigid spacer constructs, e.g., for FRET-based sensing applications. A detailed photophysical characterization was performed in MeOH (and in basic H2O/MeOH mixtures) for i) rod constructs containing carboxyfluorescein, ii) rod constructs containing carboxyrhodamine, iii) rod constructs containing both carboxyfluorescein and carboxyrhodamine, and iv) rod constructs containing both pyrene and perylene parts. For each dye (pair), two rod lengths with different numbers of spirane units were synthesized and investigated. The rod constructs were characterized in ensemble as well as single-molecule fluorescence experiments with respect to i) specific roddye and ii) dyedye interactions. In addition to MeOH and MeOH/NaOH, the rod constructs were also investigated in micellar systems, which were chosen as a simplified model for membranes. KW - Molecular rods KW - Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET) KW - Carboxyfluorescein KW - Carboxyrhodamine KW - Pyrene KW - Perylene KW - Fluorescence Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/hlca.201200616 SN - 0018-019X SN - 1522-2675 VL - 96 IS - 11 SP - 2046 EP - 2067 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Müller, Peter A1 - Nikolaus, Jörg A1 - Schiller, Sabine A1 - Herrmann, Andreas A1 - Moellnitz, Kristian A1 - Czapla, Sylvia A1 - Wessig, Pablo T1 - Molecular rods with oligospiroketal backbones as anchors in biological membranes N2 - Getting stuck in: A hydrophobic molecular rod with terminal fluorescent moieties has been synthesized. The insertion of the rod into membranes was investigated and shown to incorporate efficiently into model and biological membranes (see picture; gray C, blue N, red O). Those rods can be used as stable membrane-associated anchors for functionalization of membrane surfaces. Y1 - 2009 UR - http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jhome/26737/ U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.200901133 SN - 1433-7851 ER -