Potential misevaluation of the ground-state dissociation constant from fluorimetric titrations: application to the ion indicators SBFI, PBFI, and fura-2.

A test based on time-resolved fluorescence experiments is proposed to assess the interference of an excited-state reaction with the fluorimetric determination of the ground-state dissociation constant Kd of ion [symbol: see text] fluorescent indicator complexes. If an inflection point occurs in the plot of the fluorescence signal vs -log [ion] in the concentration range of the ion where both decay times are invariant, this inflection point can be associated with the correct Kd. In contrast, the inflection point(s) in the concentration range where the decay times vary cannot be attributed to Kd. The test is applied to the fluorescent ion indicators SBFI (for Na+), PBFI (for K+), and Fura-2 (for Ca2+). In all three cases the decay times are invariant in the physiological concentration ranges of the respective ions, indicating that the fluorimetrically determined Kd values are actually the true Kd values.