Insertion Study of Adriamycin and Quelamycin into Bilayer Lipid Membrane

Abstract

Adriamycin is an antitumor agent and its amphipathic characteristic makes interaction at the level of the cellular surface possible. In this paper, we studied the insertion behaviour of adriamycin and its metallic derivative, triferric adriamycin i.e., quelamycin, into lipid membrane with vesicles and supported bilayer lipid membrane as model membranes formed by neutral lipids. Observed from UV-VIS absorption spectroscopy, quelamycin could interact with vesicles in adriamycin-iron complex form. In the fluorescence measurements, adriamycin and triferric adriamycin could insert into the bilayer membrane of vesicles. The concentration effect of adriamycin on the supported bilayer lipid membrane and comparison of the penetration ability between adriamycin and quelamycin were investigated through electrochemical methods with Fe(CN)₆^4-/3- as marker ion.