Differential effects of local anesthetics on rate of rotational mobility between hydrocarbon interior and surface region of model membrane outer monolayer

Using fluorescence polarization of 12-(9-anthroyloxy)stearic acid (12-AS) and 2-(9-anthroyloxy)stearic acid (2-AS), we evaluated the differential effects of local anesthetics on differential rotational rate between the surface (in carbon number 2 and its surroundings including the head group) and the hydrocarbon interior (in carbon number 12 and its surroundings) of the outer monolayer of the total lipid fraction liposome extracted from synaptosomal plasma membrane vesicles. The anisotropy (r) values for the hydrocarbon interior and the surface region of the liposome outer monolayer were 0.078+/-0.001 and 0.114+/-0.001, respectively. This means that the rate of rotational mobility in the hydrocarbon interior is faster than that of the surface region. In a dose-dependent manner, the local anesthetics decreased the anisotropy of 12-AS in the hydrocarbon interior of the liposome outer monolayer but increased the anisotropy of 2-AS in the surface region of the monolayer. These results indicate that local anesthetics have significant disordering effects on the hydrocarbon interior but have significant ordering effects on the surface region of the liposome outer monolayer.