Mag-indo1 affinity for Ca(2+), compartmentalization and binding to proteins: the challenge of measuring Mg(2+) concentrations in living cells.

A physicochemical study of the Mag-indo1 binding to Ca(2+) in solution showed that: (i) the characteristic fluorescence spectra of Ca(2+)-bound and Mg(2+)-bound Mag-indo1 are identical; (ii) two successive equilibria occur for increasing Ca(2+) concentrations; and (iii) the value of the dissociation constant of the first one, as determined by using a probe dilution protocol, amounts to 780 nM. In order to investigate the fluorescence level of Mag-indo1 trapped in cell organelles, fluorescence spectra of Mag-indo1-loaded fibroblasts were recorded before and after a digitonin permeabilization. Their resolution into cation-bound, protein-bound, and free Mag-indo1 characteristic spectra allowed measurement of the fluorescence intensities of these species. The intensities emitted from whole cells were compared to those emitted from organelles (assumed to be endoplasmic reticulum according to a DiOC(6) loading). The cation-bound Mag-indo1 fluorescence resulted partially (20 to 50%) from the cytosol for 30% of the cells, and totally from compartments for 70% of the cells. We found a concentration value of 500 nM for compartmentalized Ca(2+) and concluded that the Mag-indo1 binding to Ca(2+) is likely to affect drastically the Mg(2+) concentration measurements in cells. Moreover, we showed that the amount variation of protein-bound Mag-indo1 also affects Mg(2+) measurements when using the two-wavelength ratio method.