Probing bile salt aggregates by fluorescence quenching

The combination of steady-state and time-resolved quenching experiments was employed to study the aggregation behavior of sodium cholate at concentrations below 50 mM. Naphthalene, anthracene and pyrene were used as fluorescent probe molecules, and protection by the aggregates from aqueous quenchers, as well as the onset of aggregation at low sodium cholate concentrations, was dependent on the shape of the probes. Protection from aqueous quenchers was inferred by comparing the efficiency for dynamic quenching in the absence and presence of sodium cholate and was best for naphthalene followed by pyrene and anthracene. Static quenching was observed, suggesting that probe molecules are located in an aggregate environment that also contains iodide. The incorporation of pyrene at low sodium cholate concentrations, as well as the small degree of static quenching observed, suggest that the shape complementarity, i.e. hydrophobic surface and packing, between pyrene and sodium cholate is optimum for aggregate formation.