Temperature dependence of solvation dynamics and anisotropy decay in a protein: ANS in bovine serum albumin

Energetics and kinetics of primary charge separation in bacterial photosynthesis

We report the results of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and formal modeling of the free-energy surfaces and reaction rates of primary charge separation in the reaction center of Rhodobacter sphaeroides. Two simulation protocols were used to produce MD trajectories. Standard force-field potentials were employed in the first protocol. In the second protocol, the special pair was made polarizable to reproduce a high polarizability of its photoexcited state observed by Stark spectroscopy. The charge distribution between covalent and charge-transfer states of the special pair was dynamically adjusted during the simulation run. We found from both protocols that the breadth of electrostatic fluctuations of the protein/water environment far exceeds previous estimates, resulting in about 1.6 eV reorganization energy of electron transfer in the first protocol and 2.5 eV in the second protocol. Most of these electrostatic fluctuations become dynamically frozen on the time scale of primary charge separation, resulting in much smaller solvation contributions to the activation barrier. While water dominates solvation thermodynamics on long observation times, protein emerges as the major thermal bath coupled to electron transfer on the picosecond time of the reaction. Marcus parabolas were obtained for the free-energy surfaces of electron transfer by using the first protocol, while a highly asymmetric surface was obtained in the second protocol. A nonergodic formulation of the diffusion-reaction electron-transfer kinetics has allowed us to reproduce the experimental results for both the temperature dependence of the rate and the nonexponential decay of the population of the photoexcited special pair.

Dynamic Stokes shift in green fluorescent protein variants

Solvent reorganization around the excited state of a chromophore leads to an emission shift to longer wavelengths during the excited-state lifetime. This solvation response is absent in wild-type green fluorescent protein, and this has been attributed to rigidity in the chromophore's environment necessary to exclude nonradiative transitions to the ground state. The fluorescent protein mPlum was developed via directed evolution by selection for red emission, and we use time-resolved fluorescence to study the dynamic Stokes shift through its evolutionary history. The far-red emission of mPlum is attributed to a picosecond solvation response that is observed at all temperatures above the glass transition. This time-dependent shift in emission is not observed in its evolutionary ancestors, suggesting that selective pressure has produced a chromophore environment that allows solvent reorganization. The evolutionary pathway and structures of related fluorescent proteins suggest the role of a single residue in close proximity to the chromophore as the primary cause of the solvation response.

Measurement of solvation responses at multiple sites in a globular protein

Proteins respond to electrostatic perturbations through complex reorganizations of their charged and polar groups, as well as those of the surrounding media. These solvation responses occur both in the protein interior and on its surface, though the exact mechanisms of solvation are not well understood, in part because of limited data on the solvation responses for any given protein. Here, we characterize the solvation kinetics at sites throughout the sequence of a small globular protein, the B1 domain of streptococcal protein G (GB1), using the synthetic fluorescent amino acid Aladan. Aladan was incorporated into seven different GB1 sites, and the time-dependent Stokes shift was measured over the femtosecond to nanosecond time scales by fluorescence upconversion and time-correlated single photon counting. The seven sites range from buried within the protein core to fully solvent-exposed on the protein surface, and are located on different protein secondary structures including beta-sheets, helices, and loops. The dynamics in the protein sites were compared against the free fluorophore in buffer. All protein sites exhibited an initial, ultrafast Stokes shift on the subpicosecond time scale similar to that observed for the free fluorophore, but smaller in magnitude. As the probe is moved from the surface to more buried sites, the dynamics of the solvation response become slower, while no clear correlation between dynamics and secondary structure is observed. We suggest that restricted movements of the surrounding protein residues give rise to the observed long time dynamics and that such movements comprise a large portion of the protein's solvation response. The proper treatment of dynamic Stokes shift data when the time scale for solvation is comparable to the fluorescence lifetime is discussed.

Synthesis and spectroscopy of CdS nanoparticles in amphiphilic diblock copolymer micelles

Amphiphilic diblock copolymers with the same hydrophilic but different hydrophobic blocks were used as stabilizing agents to prepare cadmium sulfide nanoparticles in aqueous solutions containing 5% of different nonaqueous solvents: methanol, THF, and acetone. Nearly spherical nanoparticles with a fair degree of monodispersity and quantum yields of 1.5%-2% were obtained. Optical absorption band edge of the CdS nanoparticles shows a >0.5 eV blueshift compared to that of bulk CdS, indicating a high degree of quantum confinement. The absorption spectra, while insensitive to the nature of the hydrophobic blocks, exhibited a clear dependence on the nature of the minor, nonaqueous solvents. The photoluminescence in all cases was broad and redshifted, indicating a predominance of surface trap-state emission. Time-resolved photoluminescence demonstrates that the trap states are populated within the first 500 fs, followed by decay with a broad range of time constants from 0.1 to >10 ns, low energy traps decaying at a slower rate than high-energy ones. Time-resolved photoluminescence anisotropy revealed that the nanoparticles experience a local microviscosity very similar to that of bulk water. The experimental observations suggest that nanoparticle formation takes place predominantly in the hydrophilic corona region of the micelles, around specific points with high local concentration of the Cd+2-coordinating basic amine groups of hydrophilic block and/or the minor, nonaqueous solvent component.

Temperature-dependent hydration at micellar surface: activation energy barrier crossing model revisited

In recent years, the validity of the activation energy barrier crossing model at the micellar surface brings notable controversy (Sen, P.; Mukherjee, S.; Halder, A.; Bhattacharyya, K. Chem. Phys. Lett. 2004, 385, 357-361. Kumbhakar, M.; Goel, T.; Mukherjee, T.; Pal, H. J. Phys. Chem. B 2004, 108, 19246-19254.) in the literature. In order to check the validity of the model by time-resolved solvation of a probe fluorophore, a wider range of temperature must be considered. At the same time, spatial heterogeneity (solubilization) of the probe and structural perturbation of the host micelle should carefully be avoided, which was not strictly maintained in the earlier studies. We report here the solvation dynamics of 4-(dicyanomethylene)-2-methyl-6(p-dimethylamino-styryl) 4H-pyran (DCM) in the SDS micelle at 298, 323, and 348 K. The probe DCM is completely insoluble in bulk water in this wide range of temperature. The size of the micelle at different temperatures using the dynamic light scattering (DLS) technique is found to have insignificant change. The hydration number of the micelle, determined by sound velocity measurements, decreases with increasing temperature. Time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy reveals the retention of the probe in the micellar interface within the temperature range. The average solvation time decreases with increasing temperature. The result of the solvation study has been analyzed in the light of energetics of bound to free water conversion at a constant size and decreasing hydration number at the micellar surface. The solvation process at the micellar surface has been found to be the activation energy barrier crossing type, in which interfacially bound type water molecules get converted into free type molecules. We have calculated Ea to be 3.5 kcal mol-1, which is in good agreement with that obtained by molecular dynamics simulation studies.

Classification of the Binding Modes in Bovine Serum Albumin Using Terminally Substituted Alkane Analogues

With the fluorescence probe of 8-anilino-1-naphthalenesulfonate (ANS), the binding modes of terminally substituted alkane analogues (C(n)X; X = COOH, OH, CHO, NH(3), CONH(2)) to bovine serum albumin (BSA) were investigated using a competitive binding technique. The Scatchard plot of the fluorometric titration of BSA with ANS showed that the maximum binding number of ANS, n(max), was 3.81, with the binding constant, K(bnd), of 1.42 x 10(6) mol(-1) dm(3). The binding modes of C(n)X to BSA were analyzed based on the fluorometric titration of the ANS and BSA mixture with C(n)X. C(n)COOH completely displaced the ANS bound to BSA, whereas C(n)OH and C(n)CHO displaced only about 40% of the ANS bound to BSA. In contrast, C(n)NH(2) and C(n)CONH(2) displaced very little bound ANS. By comparing these results, we classified the binding modes of C(n)X to BSA into three types. Two of them are detectable with the ANS fluorescence and the remaining one is not detectable with the fluorescence.