Membrane Transport of Singlet Oxygen Monitored by Dipole Potential Measurements

The efficiency of photodynamic reactions depends on 1), the penetration depth of the photosensitizer into the membrane and 2), the sidedness of the target. Molecules which are susceptible to singlet oxygen (1O2) experience less damage when separated from the photosensitizer by the membrane. Since 1O2 lifetime in the membrane environment is orders of magnitude longer than the time required for nonexcited oxygen (O2) to cross the membrane, this observation suggests that differences between the permeabilities or membrane partition of 1O2 and O2 exist. We investigated this hypothesis by releasing 1O2 at one side of a planar membrane while monitoring the kinetics of target damage at the opposite side of the same membrane. Damage to the target, represented by dipole-modifying molecules (phloretin or phlorizin), was indicated by changes in the interleaflet dipole potential difference Δφb. A simple analytical model allowed estimation of the 1O2 interleaflet concentration difference from the rate at which Δφb changed. It confirmed that the lower limit of 1O2 permeability is ∼2 cm/s; i.e., it roughly matches O2 permeability as predicted by Overton's rule. Consequently, the membrane cannot act as a barrier to 1O2 diffusion. Differences in the reaction rates at the cytoplasmic and extracellular membrane leaflets may be attributed only to 1O2 quenchers inside the membrane.