Measurement of pH gradient

Fig.l. Electrochemical cell for measurement of pH gradient. 1-cellular gel sample, 2-electrodes, 3-capron network, 4-spring, 5-feed source. 

Molecular rotors with a dual emission band, such as DMABN or A/,A/-dimethyl-[4-(2-pyrimidin-4-yl-vinyl)-phenyl]-amine (DMA-2,4 38, Fig. 13) [64], allow to use the ratio between LE and TICT emission to eliminate instrument- and experiment-dependent factors analogous to (10). One example is the measurement of pH with the TICT probe p-A,A-dimethylaminobenzoic acid 39 [69]. The use of such an intensity ratio requires calibration with solvent gradients, and influences of solvent polarity may cause solvatochromic shifts and adversely influence the calibration. Probes with dual emission bands often have points in their emission spectra that are independent from the solvent properties, analogous to isosbestic points in absorption spectra. Emission at these wavelengths can be used as an internal calibration reference. 

Various optical methods have also been used to estimate the two components of the proton-motive force. For measurements absorbance changes of carotenoids, chlorophyll and merocyanins have been determined, whereas for evaluation of changes of pH-gradients the fluorescence of compounds like 9-aminoacridine have been measured. These optical methods, however, are not of more than diagnostic value since their quantitative reliability is questionable. 

According to Mitchell s chemiosmotic theory [52,53] active transport, oxidative phosphorylation and ATP synthesis are driven by a protonmotive force which is made up of two components an electrical potential gradient and a pH gradient across the cell membrane. Agents which conduct ions across the membrane destroy the pH gradient and thereby reduce the protonmotive force. It is possible to measure the pH gradient and to monitor its attenuation by... 

Knowledge of the potential difference and pH gradient across the cytoplasmic membrane of H. pylori as a function of medium pH would also enable conclusions as to the nature of the membrane homeostatic machinery necessary for gastric habitation by this organism. The organism is too small for microelectrode measurements of pH or potential difference, but less direct methods using dye probes of these parameters have proved successful. 

When Mitchell first described his chemiosmotic hypothesis in 1961, little evidence existed to support it, and it was met with considerable skepticism by the scientific community. Eventually, however, considerable evidence accumulated to support this model. It is now clear that the electron transport chain generates a proton gradient, and careful measurements have shown that ATP is synthesized when a pH gradient is applied to mitochondria that cannot carry out electron transport. Even more relevant is a simple but crucial experiment reported in 1974 by Efraim Racker and Walther Stoeckenius, which provided specific confirmation of the Mitchell hypothesis. In this experiment, the bovine mitochondrial ATP synthasereconstituted in simple lipid vesicles with bac-teriorhodopsin, a light-driven proton pump from Halobaeterium halobium. As shown in Eigure 21.28, upon illumination, bacteriorhodopsin pumped protons... 

The last part of Eq. (1) is derived from the pH dependence of permeability, given a pH gradient between the two sides of the intestinal barrier, based on the well known Henderson-Hasselbalch equation. Direct measurement of in situ intestinal perfusion absorption rates confirmed this pH dependence [14]. 

Valko et al. [37] developed a fast-gradient RP-HPLC method for the determination of a chromatographic hydrophobicity index (CHI). An octadecylsilane (ODS) column and 50 mM aqueous ammonium acetate (pH 7.4) mobile phase with acetonitrile as an organic modifier (0-100%) were used. The system calibration and quality control were performed periodically by measuring retention for 10 standards unionized at pH 7.4. The CHI could then be used as an independent measure of hydrophobicity. In addition, its correlation with linear free-energy parameters explained some molecular descriptors, including H-bond basicity/ acidity and dipolarity/polarizability. It is noted [27] that there are significant differences between CHI values and octanol-water log D values. 

Potentiometry is the measurement of the potential at an electrode or membrane electrode, so the detector response is in units of volts. The potentio-metric response tends to be slow, so potentiometry is used infrequently in analysis.47 One example is the use of a polymeric membrane impregnated with ionophores for the selective detection of potassium, sodium, ammonium, and calcium 48 In process chromatography, potentiometry may be used to monitor selected ions or pH as these values change over the course of the gradient. 

Said et al. [78] directly measured the acid microclimate on the surface of gastrointestinal tract (GIT) epithelial cells (intact with mucus layer) in rats. The pH on the apical (donor) side of the cells varied from 6.0 to 8.0, while the pH on the basolateral (acceptor) side was 7.4. Furthermore, the pH gradient between... 

The equations used to calculate permeability coefficients depend on the design of the in vitro assay to measure the transport of molecules across membrane barriers. It is important to take into account factors such as pH conditions (e.g., pH gradients), buffer capacity, acceptor sink conditions (physical or chemical), any precipitate of the solute in the donor well, presence of cosolvent in the donor compartment, geometry of the compartments, stirring speeds, filter thickness, porosity, pore size, and tortuosity. 

Antonenko et al. [540] considered pH gradients forming in the UWL under bulk solution iso-pH conditions. They elegantly expanded on the buffer effect model and made it more general by considering multicomponent buffer mixtures. Direct measurements of the pH gradients (using wire-coated micro-pH electrodes) near the membrane-water interface were described. 

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