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Abstract
The effect of Coenzyme Q analogues on the fluidity of egg lecithin bilayers was studied by fluorescence polarization of perylene. The parameter was clearly affected by the side-chain length of the quinones, by their concentration, and by their redox state. With increasing concentration, short-chain quinones decreased the bilayer fluidity, and did so to an even greater extent in their reduced state. On the contrary, long-chain analogues fluidized the bilayer, the effect being independent of their redox state. Such observations might explain the lower efficiency of short-chain quinones, as compared to the long-chain analogues, in restoring, in vitro, the respiratory activity of CoQ2-depleted mitochondria.