Porphyrin effects on zwitterionic HPS micelles as investigated by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR)

In this work, small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) studies on the interaction of three anionic mesotetrakis (4-sulfonatophenyl) porphyrins, TPPS4, FeTPPS4, and ZnTPPS4, at concentrations in the 2-10 mM range, with micelles of the zwitterionic surfactant 3-(N-hexadecyl-N,N-dimethylammonium) propane sulfonate (HPS, 30 mM) at pH 4.0 and 9.0 are reported. The SAXS results demonstrate that, upon addition of all species of porphyrins, the HPS micelle of prolate shape reduces its axial ratio from 1.8 +/- 0.2 (in the absence of porphyrin) to 1.5 +/- 0.1. Such an effect is accompanied by a shrinking of the paraffinic shortest semiaxis from 22.5 +/- 0.5 A to 18.0 +/- 0.2 A. This shows that the micellar hydrophobic core is affected by porphyrin incorporation, independent of the type of porphyrin and pH. Concurrently, EPR results demonstrate an increase in the micellar packing as noticed from the increase in motional restriction for both nitroxides. Furthermore, increase of the porphyrin concentration induces the appearance of a repulsive interference function over the SAXS curve of zwitterionic micelles, which is typical of an interaction between surface-charged micelles. Such a finding gives strong evidence that the negatively charged porphyrin molecule must accommodate in the HPS micelle dipole layer close to the inner positive charges (near the hydrophobic core), inducing a surface charge (probably a negative one associated with the HPS sulfonate external groups) in the original zwitterionic (overall neutral) micelle. Such a porphyrin location is favored by both electrostatic and hydrophobic contributions, giving rise to binding constant values that are quite large compared to the binding of cationic drugs to HPS micelles (Caetano, W.; Barbosa, L. R. S.; Itri, R.; Tabak, M. J. Coll. Int. Sci. 2003, 260, 414).