Fluorinated Alcohols’ Effects on Lipid Bilayer Properties

Fluorinated alcohols (fluoroalcohols) have physico-chemical properties that make them excellent solvents of peptides, proteins and other compounds. Like other alcohols, fluoroalcohols also alter membrane protein function and lipid bilayer properties and stability. Thus the questions arise: how potent are fluoroalcohols as lipid bilayer-perturbing compounds; could small residual amounts that remain after adding compounds dissolved in fluoroalcohols alter lipid bilayer properties sufficiently to affect membranes and membrane protein function; and do they behave like other alcohols? To address these questions, we used a gramicidin-based fluorescence assay to determine the bilayer-modifying potency of selected fluoroalcohols: trifluoroethanol (TFE); hexafluoroisopropanol (HFIP); and perfluoro-tert-butanol (PFTB).

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