Interaction of insulin with SDS/CTAB catanionic Vesicles

In the present study, a novel method was used for entrapping the protein, insulin into the catanionic SDS/CTAB vesicle membrane. The anionic SDS and cationic CTAB formed catanionic vesicles at particular concentration (35:65 by volume). In this study, vesicle membrane can be considered as model membrane. The vesicle formation and entrapment efficiency depend on the pH of the aqueous solution. The insulin molecules have attached with the vesicular membrane at pH 7.0. However, at acidic pH, the vesicles were ruptured and the insulin did not entrap into the vesicle membrane, whereas at alkaline pH insulin became fibriller. The scanning electron microscope (SEM), Dynamic light scattering (DLS), and Zeta potential studies established the self-assembled structure formation of insulin and catanionic vesicles. To know the protein confirmations, Circular dichroism (CD) was also employed. The temperature dependent steady state and time resolved emission spectroscopy show that at room temperature (25 C), apart from the 305 nm tyrosine fluorescence, a new emission peak at 450 nm was observed only in case of insulin-vesicle system, and was assigned as the tyrosine phosphorescence. This phosphorescence peak is the signature of the entrapment of insulin into the vesicle membrane.