PSORALEN PHOTOLESIONS IN THE PHOSPHOLIPIDS.

Zofia Zarebska¹, Ewa Waszkowska¹, Sergio Caffieri², Francesco Dall'Acqua²

¹Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics PAS, 02-106 Warszawa, Poland;

²Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences,Centro del CNR, 35131 Padova, Italy

Abstract

The formation of d1<>PSO cyclobutane adducts in the model lecithins was shown. The adducts are formed in the both, hydrophylic and hydrophobic media with approximately 5% yield at the pharmacological doses of UVA radiation.

The d1<>PSO and d1<>pyrone adducts identified by absorption and NMR spectroscopy can serve as markers of the phospholipid lesions in the cell.

It was anticipated that photochemically induced modifications: psoralen photoaddition to the vinyl bonds of fatty acids, fatty acid-adducts release from the lecithin and trans-isomerisation around vinyl bonds - altogether can affect the membrane fluidity and the recognition processes of the membrane receptors [4].