The effect of hyaluronan on the aggregation of hydrophobized amino acids—A fluorescence study

The influence of the addition of native hyaluronan of different molecular weights (1.36 MDa and 106 kDa) on the aggregation behavior of hydrophobically modified amino acids in aqueous solution and in 0.15 M NaCl was investigated using pyrene as a solubilization probe. Hyaluronan decreased the critical aggregation concentration in aqueous solution in the case of amino acids modified by a single alkyl chain whereas no change was observed in physiological solution. The aggregation of amino acids modified by two alkyl chains was insensitive to the presence of hyaluronan.