Bile salt-phospholipid aggregation at submicellar concentrations

The aggregation behavior of the bile salts taurodeoxycholate (NaTDC) and sodium cholate (NaC), are followed at concentrations below critical micelle concentrations (CMCs) using the environment sensitive, fluorescent-labeled phospholipid, 2-(6-(7-nitrobenz-2-oxa-1,3-diazol-4-yl)amino)hexanoyl-1-hexadecanoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (NBD-C₆-HPC). A buffer solution containing NBD-C₆-HPC is titrated with increasing NaC or NaTDC and the fluorescence changes followed. Both bile salts induced fluorescence changes below their critical micelle concentration indicating the presence of a bile salt–phospholipid aggregate. A critical control experiment using 6-(N-(7-nitrobenz-2-oxa-1,3-diazol-4-yl)amino) hexanoic acid (NBD-X) shows that the bile salts are interacting with the longer, C16 hydrocarbon tail, not the NBD probe. The fluorescence curves were fitted to the Hill equation as a model for cooperative aggregation. The cooperativity model provides a minimum estimate for the number of bile salts to give maximal fluorescence. This number was calculated for NaC and NaTDC to have a minimum value of 2. A small aggregation number supports the existence of primary micellar aggregates at submicellar concentrations for bile salt–phospholipid aqueous solutions.