The use of UV‐visible spectroscopy for the determination of hydrophobic interactions between neuropeptides and membrane model systems

Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy has been used as a rapid method to evaluate the hydrophobic interactions between a series of cationic and zwitterionic neuropeptides and dipeptides with the hydrophobic core of two membrane model systems; sodium dodecyl sulfate and lysophosphatidylcholine micelles. If a hydrophobic interaction occurs, a 1-nm bathochromic shift is observed in the uv-visible spectrum of the aromatic side chains when going from aqueous solution to a micellar solution. The aromatic residues of substance P, bradykinin, and Des-Arg9 bradykinin all exhibited the 1-nm bathochromic shift in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate while those of Met-enkephalin did not. The opposite effects were observed in the presence of lysophosphatidylcholine micelles.