Photooxidation of Glycylglycine. Two-Channel Reaction Mechanism as Studied by Time-Resolved FT EPR

Photoactive Peptides for Light-Initiated Tyrosyl Radical Generation and Transport into Ribonucleotide Reductase

The mechanism of radical transport in the alpha2 (R1) subunit of class I E. coli ribonucleotide reductase (RNR) has been investigated by the phototriggered generation of a tyrosyl radical, *Y356, on a 20-mer peptide bound to alpha2. This peptide, Y-R2C19, is identical to the C-terminal peptide tail of the beta2 (R2) subunit and is a known competitive inhibitor of binding of the native beta2 protein to alpha2. *Y356 radical initiation is prompted by excitation (lambda >or= 300 nm) of a proximal anthraquinone, Anq, or benzophenone, BPA, chromophore on the peptide. Transient absorption spectroscopy has been employed to kinetically characterize the radical-producing step by time resolving the semiquinone anion (Anq*-), ketyl radical (*-BPA), and Y* photoproducts on (i) BPA-Y and Anq-Y dipeptides and (ii) BPA/Anq-Y-R2C19 peptides. Light-initiated, single-turnover assays have been carried out with the peptide/alpha2 complex in the presence of [14C]-labeled cytidine 5'-diphosphate substrate and ATP allosteric effector. We show that both the Anq- and BPA-containing peptides are competent in deoxycytidine diphosphate formation and turnover occurs via Y731 to Y730 to C439 pathway-dependent radical transport in alpha2. Experiments with the Y730F mutant exclude a direct superexchange mechanism between C439 and Y731 and are consistent with a PCET model for radical transport in which there is a unidirectional transport of the electron and proton transport among residues of alpha2.

Electron transfer from aromatic amino acids to triplet quinones

The photoreduction of 1,4-benzoquinone, 1,4-naphthoquinone, 9,10-anthraquinone (AQ) and several methylated or halogenated derivatives in argon-saturated acetonitrile-water mixtures by indole, N-acetyltryptophan and N-acetyltyrosine was studied by time-resolved UV-vis spectroscopy using 20 ns UV laser pulses. The quinone triplet state is quenched by the aromatic amino acids and the rate constants are (1-5)x10(9)M(-1)s(-1). The semiquinone radical anion Q.(-) is the major observable transient after electron transfer from amino acids to the quinone triplet state. Termination of Q.(-) and amino acid derived radicals takes place in the mus-ms range. The effects of structure and other specific properties of quinones and amino acids are discussed. The radicals are subjects of intercept with oxygen, whereby hydrogen peroxide is eventually formed. The quantum yield of oxygen uptake Phi(-O2) as a measure of formation of hydrogen peroxide increases with increasing amino acid concentration, approaching Phi(-O2) for AQ in air-saturated solution.

Ab initio photoionization dynamics of β-alanine

Photoionization dynamics of beta-alanine is studied by the trajectory simulations using the ab initio potential energy surface. Vertical photoionization in the spirit of the Franck-Condon principle is assumed both for the adiabatic and thermostatic simulations. Both intramolecular proton transfer and fragmentation while only the proton transfer are found in the thermostatic and adiabatic simulations, respectively, for the conformer having the intramolecular hydrogen bond N...H-O. The theoretical predictions are in line with the experimental observations available in the literatures. It is reported for the first time that the thermostatic temperatures strongly affect the fragmentation processes induced by photoionization.

Effects of ionization on N-glycylglycine peptide: Influence of intramolecular hydrogen bonds

The ionization effects on 28 conformations of N-glycylglycine are analyzed by means of the hybrid B3LYP and the hybrid meta-MPWB1K density functionals and by single-point calculations at the CCSD(T) level of theory. The most favorable process observed corresponds to the ionization of the only neutral conformation that presents a OH...NH2 intramolecular hydrogen bond, which leads to CO2 elimination after a spontaneous proton transfer from -COOH to NH2. The remaining neutral structures evolve to 20 different conformations of N-glycylglycine radical cation, which lie about 25-40 kcal/mol higher than the decarboxylated [NH3CH2CONHCH2]+*...[CO2] complex. Structural changes induced by ionization depend on the intramolecular hydrogen bonds of the initial conformation, since they determine the nature of the electron hole formed. In most cases, ionization takes place at the terminal -NH2 and -CO of the amide bond, which produces a strengthening of the peptide bond and the formation of new -NH2...OC(amide) and -NH2...OCOH hydrogen bonds. However, if -NH2 and -CO(amide) simultaneously act as proton acceptor in the neutral conformation, ionization is mainly localized at the carboxylic group, which produces a strengthening of the -COOH...OC(amide) bond. Both functionals lead to similar trends and compare well with CCSD(T) results except for a few cases for which B3LYP provides a too delocalized picture of the electron hole and consequently leads to artificial geometry reorganization.

Photooxidation of diglycine in confined media. Application of the microreactor model for spin-correlated radical pairs in reverse micelles and water-in-oil microemulsions

Time-resolved electron paramagnetic resonance spectra (X-band) of correlated radical pairs created in AOT reverse micelles and microemulsions are presented, simulated, and discussed using the microreactor model. The radicals are formed inside the water pool using photooxidation of diglycine by the excited triplet states of two different anthraquinone sulfonate salts. Water pool size and temperature effects on the spectra are reported, and the simulations allow for extraction of the diffusion coefficient in the interior, which monotonically increases with water pool size. The data directly correlate with the diffusional properties of correlated radical pairs in regular aqueous micelle solutions studied previously by similar methods. Competition between H-atom abstraction and electron transfer is observed with anthraquinone sulfonate, but electron transfer is the only reaction pathway observed when anthraquinone disulfonate triplet state is the sensitizing species.

The Photochemistry of N-p-Toluenesulfonyl Peptides: The Peptide Bond as an Electron Donor

The scope of photobiological processes that involve absorbers within a protein matrix may be limited by the vulnerability of the peptide group to attack by highly reactive redox centers consequent upon electronic excitation. We have explored the nature of this vulnerability by undertaking comprehensive product analyses of aqueous photolysates of 12 N-p-toluenesulfonyl peptides with systematically selected structures. The results indicate that degradation includes a major pathway that is initiated by intramolecular electron transfer in which the peptide bond serves as electron donor, and the data support the likelihood of a relay process in dipeptide derivatives.