PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

A van Hoek

Publications and source records attributed to A van Hoek.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Reorientational properties of fluorescent analogues of the protein kinase C cofactors diacylglycerol and phorbol ester.

The reorientational properties of the fluorescently labelled protein kinase C (PKC) cofactors diacylglycerol (DG) and phorbol ester (PMA) in vesicles and mixed micelles have been investigated using time-resolved polarised fluorescence. The sn-2 acyl chain of DG was replaced by diphenylhexatriene- (DPH) propionic acid, while a dansyl labelled analogue of phorbol ester was used. The extent of ordering of DPH-DG in vesicles turned out to be slightly different from that of the control choline lipid DPH-PC. Addition of PKC to vesicles containing 30 mole% brain PS considerably slowed down the DPH-DG anisotropy decay. This was not observed when DPH-DG was replaced by DPH-PC. Analysis of the fluorescence anisotropy decays of these DPH-lipids in micelles polyoxyethylene-9-laurylether mixed with 10 mole% of the essential phosphatidylserine allowed estimation of their lateral diffusion, orientation distribution and reorientational dynamics within the micelles. Addition of PKC resulted in a significantly slower decay of the fluorescence anisotropy of both DPH-DG and DPH-PC even in the absence of calcium, indicating a calcium independent complexation of PKC with the PS containing micelles. Addition of calcium resulted in a further reduction of the decay of anisotropy of DPH-DG but not of DPH-PC indicating that the Ca2+ dependent immobilisation is cofactor-specific. Similar specific interactions with PKC resulted in a slower decay of dansylated PMA when calcium and PS were present.

Animals↗

Time-resolved fluorescence investigations of the interaction of the voltage-sensitive probe RH421 with lipid membranes and proteins.

Fluorescence lifetimes and fluorescence anisotropy decays of the voltage-sensitive styryl-pyridinium dye RH421 have been measured in the presence of dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine vesicles, the water soluble enzyme ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (rubisco), and Na+,K(+)-ATPase-containing membrane fragments. The effect of an intramembrane electric field on the photophysical properties of the dye was investigated by the binding of the hydrophobic ion tetraphenylborate (TPB) to the membrane. TPB was found to significantly increase the average fluorescence lifetime and the order of membrane-bound dye. The increase in fluorescence lifetime is consistent with reorientation of the dye further into the membrane interior. The increase in order may be attributed to an electric field-induced alignment of the dye molecules. From the values of the rotational diffusion constant experimentally determined, the expected response time of the dye to an applied electric field can be calculated for a reorientational mechanism to be on the order of tens of nanoseconds. Experiments with rubisco showed that the dye interacts strongly with the protein. In this case, the dye is so tightly bound that it has almost no independent motion and rotates virtually solely with the protein. The rate of rotational motion of the dye in the presence of Na+,K(+)-ATPase-containing membrane fragments is similar to that in pure lipid membranes. The order parameter of the dye in the Na+,K(+)-ATPase membrane fragments is close to the maximum value. This is most probably due to the high density of protein molecules, which restricts the range of motion of the dye.

Binding Sites↗

Quantitative analysis of lipid-lipid and lipid-protein interactions in membranes by use of pyrene-labeled phosphoinositides.

The lateral and rotational dynamics of phosphoinositides and their interactions with proteins were characterized using pyrene-labeled lipid analogues. In these systems, the collision frequency of pyrene-labeled lipids was studied by monitoring the monomeric pyrene fluorescence yield as a function of their mole fraction in the membranes. From this dependence, the lateral diffusion coefficient and a repulsion factor between two pyrene phosphoinositides could be estimated by applying an extended form of the Milling Crowd model [Eisinger, J., Flores, J., & Petersen, W. P. (1986) Biophys. J. 49, 987-1001]. The repulsion appeared to be highly dependent on the amount of negative charge of the lipid headgroups. From experiments with dioleoylphosphatidylcholine vesicles containing band 3 protein, the fraction of lipid molecules bound to this protein and the minimum number of sites possessing affinity for phosphatidylinositol-4-phosphate could be approximately estimated. The results of this study indicate that phosphoinositides are located preferentially adjacent to band 3. Intramolecular excimer formation of dipyrene-labeled phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylinositol, and phosphatidylinositol-4-phosphate yielded information about the acyl chain dynamics of lipids surrounding the protein and of lipids in the bulk membrane. Time-resolved measurements of the pyrene fluorescence anisotropy showed that in membranes of resealed erythrocyte ghost cells the rotational freedom of pyrene-labeled phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate is smaller than that of pyrene-labeled phosphatidylcholine. In contrast, no significant differences could be detected when these pyrene lipids were dispersed in dioleoylphosphatidylcholine membranes. It is proposed that the nonrandom distribution of the phosphoinositides induced by lipid-lipid repulsion and protein-lipid attraction will have a profound effect on the phospholipase C-catalyzed hydrolysis of the phosphoinositides into second-messenger molecules.

Animals↗

A comparative picosecond-resolved fluorescence study of tryptophan residues in iron-sulfur proteins.

The fluorescence intensity and anisotropy decays of the intrinsic tryptophan emission from six Fe/S proteins (ranging from the very simplest ones to enzyme complexes containing one, two or more Trp residues) were measured. All proteins were examined in the reduced and the oxidized state. In either redox state each protein exhibits ultrarapid tryptophan fluorescence decay on the picosecond timescale contributing up to 93% of the total decay. Correlation times in the range of 1 ns or less were found for all six iron-sulfur proteins reflecting internal Trp motion. In addition, some proteins exhibit longer correlation times reflecting segmental motion and overall protein tumbling. The ultrarapid fluorescence decay in iron-sulfur proteins indicates efficient radiationless energy transfer between distant tryptophan residues and iron-sulfur clusters. Such an energy transfer mechanism can be accounted for by referring to the three-dimensional structures of rubredoxin and ferredoxin in calculating the transfer efficiency of the single tryptophan-iron-sulfur couple.

Bacterial Proteins↗

Fluorescence dynamics of staphylococcal nuclease in aqueous solution and reversed micelles.

The dynamical fluorescence properties of the sole tryptophan residue (Trp-140) in Staphylococcus aureus nuclease (EC 3.1.31.1) have been investigated in aqueous solution and reversed micelles composed of either sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl)sulfosuccinate (AOT) in isooctane or cetyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC) in isooctane/hexanol (12:1 by volume). The fluorescence decay of nuclease in the different environments can be described by a trimodal distribution of fluorescence lifetimes at approx. 0.5, 1.5 and 5.0 ns. The relative amplitudes depend on the environment. For pH 9.0 solutions the contribution of the two shortest lifetime components in the distribution is largest for AOT and smallest for CTAC reversed micelles. There is reasonable agreement between the average fluorescence lifetime and the fluorescence quantum efficiency confirming a significant fluorescence quenching in AOT reversed micelles. Fluorescence anisotropy decay revealed that the tryptophan environment in aqueous nuclease solutions is rigid on a nanosecond timescale. When nuclease was entrapped into reversed micelles the tryptophan gained some internal flexibility as judged from the distinct presence of a shorter correlation time. The longer correlation time reflected the rotational properties of the protein-micellar system. Modulation of the overall charge of nuclease (isoelectric point pH 9.6) by using buffer of pH 9.0 and pH 10.4, respectively, and of the size of empty micelles by selecting two values of the water to surfactant molar ratio, had only a minor effect on the rotational properties of nuclease in the positively charged reversed micelles. Encapsulation of nuclease in anionic reversed micelles resulted in the development of protein bound to aggregated structures which are immobilised on a nanosecond timescale. According to far UV circular dichroism results the secondary structure of nuclease only followed the already published pH-dependent changes. Encapsulation had no major effect on the overall secondary structure.

Cetrimonium↗

Isolation and characterization of mRNAs accumulated during in-vitro flower bud formation.

The development of vegetative and generative buds on thin-layer explants of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. Samsun) has been studied at the level of translatable mRNA to detect changes in the mRNA population during bud initiation and differentiation, and several quantitative differences were found. By differential screening of a cDNA library obtained from flower-bud-regenerating explants we have isolated a group of six cDNA clones representing genes that are preferentially expressed during in-vitro flower bud formation. Nucleotide sequence analysis of one of these cDNAs, pAP8, showed that the most likely open reading frame has some typical characteristics of, and homology with, extensin-like genes. Northern blot analysis and in-situ hybridization suggest a specific role for these extensin-like genes in flower bud initiation on tobacco pedicel explants.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Fluorescence dynamics of diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene-labeled phospholipids in bilayer membranes.

A comparative study of the dynamical fluorescence properties of three phosphatidylcholines having a diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene (DPH) group attached at different depths from the head group incorporated into membrane vesicles has been carried out. The probes were covalently attached to the sn-2 position of the glycerol part of the phosphatidylcholine via either carboxyl, ethyl or propanoyl links. The vesicles were composed of either dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine or dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine. The experimental time-resolved polarized fluorescence data of the probes were analysed by two different methods: maximum entropy and global analysis. Distributed fluorescence lifetimes and correlation times of the DPH derivatives were obtained with the maximum entropy method. All DPH derivatives exhibited a bimodal distribution of fluorescence lifetimes with a dependence of the lifetime peak positions on the lipid phase, confirming previous data in the literature. The anisotropic rotational dynamics of the DPH moieties in the membranes could be described by several distributed correlation times. In the fluid phase of the membrane the residual anisotropy of free DPH became very small in contrast with those of the other probes, indicating that restriction of probe rotation is mainly imposed by the molecular geometry of the lipid probes. A two-dimensional analysis using the maximum entropy method demonstrated that both rotational correlation times were associated with the same set of fluorescence lifetimes. Global analysis of the data sets according to the general rotational diffusion model yielded weighted orientational distributions. Unexpectedly, a component of the DPH moiety oriented parallel to the membrane surface was obtained in the orientational distributions of the DPH lipids (as was reported earlier for DPH and TMA-DPH), which seems at variance with the geometric constraints imposed by the headgroups.

1,2-Dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine↗

Quantitation of the interaction of protein kinase C with diacylglycerol and phosphoinositides by time-resolved detection of resonance energy transfer.

Quantitative studies of the binding of protein kinase C (PKC) to lipid cofactors were performed by monitoring resonance energy transfer with time-resolved fluorescence techniques. For that purpose, diacylglycerol (DG), phosphatidylinositol 4,5-biphosphate (PIP2), phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate (PIP), phosphatidylinositol (PI), phosphatidylcholine (PC), and phosphatidylserine (PS) were labeled with a pyrenyl decanoyl moiety at the sn-2 position of the lipid glycerol. These labeled lipids proved excellent energy acceptors of light-excited tryptophan residues in PKC. The quenching efficiency of the tryptophan fluorescence was determined as function of lipid probe concentration in mixed micelles consisting of poly(oxyethylene)-9-lauryl ether, PS, and various mole fractions of probe lipid. The experimental conditions and method of data analysis allowed the estimation of binding constants of single or multiple pyrene lipids to PKC. The affinity of PKC for inositide lipids increases in the order PI < PIP < PIP2. The affinity of PKC for PIP and PIP2 is higher than that for DG. Determination of PKC activity in the presence of labeled lipids and PS showed that only PIP2 and DG activate PKC. Double-labeling experiments suggest that PIP2 and DG are not able to bind simultaneously to PKC, indicating a reciprocal binding relationship of both cofactors. The results support the notion that, besides DG, PIP2 can be a primary activator of PKC.

Animals↗

Dissociation of lactate dehydrogenase in aqueous and reversed micellar solutions. A time-resolved polarized fluorescence study.

Dissociation behavior of lactate dehydrogenase from hog muscle, both in aqueous solution and reversed micelles of sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl sulfosuccinate) in octane was studied using time-resolved polarized fluorescence spectroscopy. It was found that, in aqueous solutions, the enzyme underwent partial dissociation with the formation of isolated subunits at enzyme concentrations below 8 nM. Dissociation of the enzyme also took place upon entrapment of lactate dehydrogenase into reversed micelles under conditions of low surfactant hydration, when micelles were not large enough to accommodate a whole protein molecule.

Animals↗

Flavin dynamics in reduced flavodoxins. A time-resolved polarized fluorescence study.

The time-resolved fluorescence and fluorescence anisotropy characteristics of reduced flavin mononucleotide in solution as well as bound in flavodoxins isolated from the bacteria Desulfovibrio gigas, Desulfovibrio vulgaris, Clostridium beijerinckii MP and Megasphaera elsdenii have been examined. All fluorescence and fluorescence anisotropy decays were analyzed by two different methods: (a) least-squares fitting with a sum of exponentials and (b) the maximum entropy method to yield distributed lifetimes and correlation times. The results of both approaches are in excellent agreement. The fluorescence decay of the free as well as protein-bound reduced flavin chromophore is made up of three components. The shortest component proves to be relatively sensitive to the environment and can therefore be used as a diagnostic tool to probe the microenvironment of the reduced isoalloxazine ring system. The other two longer fluorescence lifetime components are insensitive to the chromophore environment and seem therefore to be related to intrinsic, photophysical properties of the reduced chromophore. Fluorescence anisotropy decays show that the flavin mononucleotide in all four reduced flavodoxins is immobilized within the protein matrix, as indicated by the recovery of a single rotational correlation time, reflecting the rotation of the whole protein. No indications are found that rapid structural fluctuations occur in reduced flavodoxins, and the mechanism of electron transfer from flavodoxin to other redox proteins seems to involve immobilized reduced flavin.

Clostridium↗

The interaction of pyrene labeled diacylglycerol with protein kinase C in mixed micelles.

The binding of protein kinase C (PKC) to pyrene-labeled diacylglycerol (pDG) has been studied in a mixed micellar system by monitoring resonance energy transfer from excited tryptophans to pyrene with time-correlated single photon counting. The average lifetime of the excited state of the tryptophans in PKC showed a clear dependence on the mole percentage pDG in micelles in contrast with pyrene-labeled phosphatidylcholine (pPC). The binding data has been analyzed to a simple model which encompasses the size of the micelles and the binding constant of the pDG-PKC complex. From our data, though, these quantities cannot be determined independently. If we have no size information on the micelles we can determine a lower boundary of this quantity compatible with the data. When the micellar size is known, a binding constant for the DG-PKC complex can be extracted. The presented analytical approach can be applied to other systems in which lipid-protein interactions must be quantified.

Animals↗

Comparison of the dynamical structures of lipoamide dehydrogenase and glutathione reductase by time-resolved polarized flavin fluorescence.

Time-resolved polarized fluorescence spectroscopy has been applied to the bound FAD in the structurally related flavoproteins lipoamide dehydrogenase from Azotobacter vinelandii (LipDH-AV) and glutathione reductase (GR) from human erythrocytes. The fluorescence parameters as obtained from the maximum entropy analysis differ considerably in both enzymes, reflecting the unique properties of the flavin microenvironment. Three conformational substates are revealed in LipDH-AV and five in GR. Almost 90% of the population of GR molecules has a fluorescence lifetime in the order of 30 ps which originates from efficient exciplex formation with Tyr197. Equilibrium fluctuations between conformational substates are observed for LipDH-AV on a nanosecond time scale in the temperature range 277-313 K. Interconversion between conformational substates in GR is slow, indicating that large activation barriers exist between the states. In agreement with these results, a model is postulated which ascribes a role in catalysis to equilibrium fluctuations between conformational substates in GR and LipDH-AV. From time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy as a function of temperature, distinction can be made between flavin reorientational motion and interflavin energy transfer. In both proteins intersubunit energy transfer between the prosthetic groups is observed. Furthermore, it is revealed that only the flavin in glutathione reductase exhibits rapid restricted reorientational motion. Geometric information concerning the relative orientation and distance of the flavins can be extracted from the parameters describing the energy-transfer process. The obtained spatial arrangement of the flavins is in excellent agreement with crystallographic data.

Azotobacter vinelandii↗

Molecular relaxation spectroscopy of flavin adenine dinucleotide in wild type and mutant lipoamide dehydrogenase from Azotobacter vinelandii.

The temperature dependence of the fluorescence emission spectra of flavin adenine dinucleotide bound to lipoamide dehydrogenase from Azotobacter vinelandii shows that the protein matrix in the vicinity of the prosthetic group is rigid on a nanosecond time scale in a medium of high viscosity (80% glycerol). The active site of a deletion mutant of this enzyme, which lacks 14 C-terminal amino acids, is converted from a solid-state environment (on the nanosecond time scale of fluorescence) into a state where efficient dipolar relaxation takes place at temperatures between 203 and 303 K. In aqueous solution, fast dipolar fluctuations are observed in both proteins. It is shown from fluorescence quenching of the flavin by iodide ions that the prosthetic groups of the mutant protein are partially iodide accessible in contrast to the wild type enzyme. A detailed analysis of the temperature dependence of spectral energies according to continuous relaxation models reveals two distinct relaxation processes in the deletion mutant, which were assigned to solvent and protein dipoles, respectively. From the long-wavelength shifts of the emission spectra upon red-edge excitation, it is demonstrated that the active site of the wild type enzyme has high structural homogeneity in comparison to the deletion mutant. In combination with results obtained by X-ray diffraction studies on crystals of the wild type enzyme, it can be concluded that the C-terminal polypeptide of the A. vinelandii enzyme interacts with the dehydrolipoamide binding site, thereby shielding the flavins from the solvent.

Azotobacter vinelandii↗

A small protein in model membranes: a time-resolved fluorescence and ESR study on the interaction of M13 coat protein with lipid bilayers.

Model membranes with unsaturated lipid chains containing various amounts of M13 coat protein in the alpha-helical form were studied using time-resolved fluorescence and ESR spectroscopy. The lipid-to-protein (L/P) ratios used were > 12 to avoid protein-protein contacts and irreversible aggregation leading to beta-polymeric coat protein. In the ESR spectra of the 12-SASL probe in dioleoyl phosphatidylcholine (DOPC) bilayers no second protein induced component is observed upon incorporation of M13 coat protein. However, strong effects are detected on the ESR lineshapes upon changing the protein concentration. The ESR lineshapes are simulated by assuming a fixed ratio between the parallel (D parallel) and perpendicular (D perpendicular) diffusion coefficients of 4, and an order parameter equal to zero. It is found that increasing the protein concentration from L/P infinity to L/P 15 results in a decrease of the rotational diffusion coefficient D perpendicular from 3.4 x 10(7) to 1.9 x 10(7) s-1. In the time-resolved fluorescence experiments with DPH-propionic acid as a probe, it is observed that increasing the M13 coat protein concentration causes an increase of the two fluorescent lifetimes, indicating an increase in bilayer order. Analysis of the time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy decay allows one to quantitatively determine the order parameters and , and the rotational diffusion coefficient D perpendicular of the fluorescent probe. The order parameters and increase from 0.34 to 0.55 and from 0.59 to 0.77, respectively, upon adding M13 coat protein to DOPC bilayers with an L/P ratio of 35.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Bacteriophage M13↗

Conformational dynamics and intersubunit energy transfer in wild-type and mutant lipoamide dehydrogenase from Azotobacter vinelandii. A multidimensional time-resolved polarized fluorescence study.

Time-resolved fluorescence and fluorescence anisotropy data surfaces of flavin adenine dinucleotide bound to lipoamide dehydrogenase from Azotobacter vinelandii in 80% glycerol have been obtained by variation of excitation energy and temperature between 203 and 303 K. The fluorescence kinetics of a deletion mutant lacking 14 COOH-terminal amino acids were compared with the wild-type enzyme to study a possible interaction of the COOH-terminal tail with the active site of the enzyme. The flavin adenine dinucleotide fluorescence in both proteins exhibits a bimodal lifetime distribution as recovered by the maximum entropy method of data analysis. The difference in standard enthalpy and entropy of associated conformational substates was retrieved from the fractional contributions of the two lifetime classes. Activation energies of thermal quenching were obtained that confirm that the isoalloxazines in the deletion mutant are solvent accessible in contrast to the wild-type enzyme. Red-edge spectroscopy in conjunction with variation of temperature provides the necessary experimental axes to interpret the fluorescence depolarization in terms of intersubunit energy transfer rather than reorientational dynamics of the flavins. The results can be explained by a compartmental model that describes the anisotropy decay of a binary, inhomogeneously broadened, homoenergy transfer system. By using this model in a global analysis of the fluorescence anisotropy decay surface, the distance between and relative orientation of the two isoalloxazine rings are elucidated. For the wild-type enzyme, this geometrical information is in agreement with crystallographic data of the A. vinelandii enzyme, whereas the mutual orientation of the subunits in the deletion mutant is slightly altered. In addition, the ambiguity in the direction of the emission transition moment in the isoalloxazine ring is solved. The anisotropy decay parameters also provide information on electronic and dipolar relaxational properties of the flavin active site. The local environment of the prosthetic groups in the deletion mutant of the A. vinelandii enzyme is highly inhomogeneous, and a transition from slow to rapid dipolar relaxation is observed over the measured temperature range. In the highly homogeneous active site of the wild-type enzyme, dipolar relaxation is slowed down beyond the time scale of fluorescence emission at any temperature studied. Our results are in favor of a COOH-terminal polypeptide interacting with the active site, thereby shielding the isoalloxazines from the solvent. This biological system forms a very appropriate tool to test the validity of photophysical models describing homoenergy transfer.

Azotobacter vinelandii↗

Time-resolved fluorescence studies of flavodoxin. Fluorescence decay and fluorescence anisotropy decay of tryptophan in Desulfovibrio flavodoxins.

The time-resolved fluorescence characteristics of tryptophan in flavodoxin isolated from the sulfate-reducing bacteria Desulfovibrio vulgaris and Desulfovibrio gigas have been examined. By comparing the results of protein preparations of normal and FMN-depleted flavodoxin, radiationless energy transfer from tryptophan to FMN has been demonstrated. Since the crystal structure of the D. vulgaris flavodoxin is known, transfer rate constants from the two excited states 1La and 1Lb can be calculated for both tryptophan residues (Trp 60 and Trp 140). Residue Trp 60, which is very close to the flavin, transfers energy very rapidly to FMN, whereas the rate of energy transfer from the remote Trp 140 to FMN is much smaller. Both tryptophan residues have the indole rings oriented in such a way that transfer will preferentially take place from the 1La excited state. The fluorescence decay of all protein preparations turned out to be complex, the parameter values being dependent on the emission wavelength. Several decay curves were analyzed globally using a model in which tryptophan is involved in some nanosecond relaxation process. A relaxation time of about 2 ns was found for both D. gigas apo- and holo-flavodoxin. The fluorescence anisotropy decay of both Desulfovibrio FMN-depleted flavodoxins is exponential, whereas that of the two holoproteins is clearly non-exponential. The anisotropy decay was analyzed using the same model as that applied for fluorescence decay. The tryptophan residues turned out to be immobilized in the protein. A time constant of a few nanoseconds results from energy transfer from tryptophan to flavin, at least for D. gigas flavodoxin. The single tryptophan residue in D. gigas flavodoxin occupies a position in the polypeptide chain remote from the flavin prosthetic group. Because of the close resemblance of steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence properties of tryptophan in both flavodoxins, the center to center distance between tryptophan and FMN in D. gigas flavodoxin is probably very similar to the distance between Trp 140 and FMN in D. vulgaris flavodoxin (i.e. 20 A).

Desulfovibrio↗

Analysis of time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy in lipid-protein systems. I. Application to the lipid probe octadecyl rhodamine B in interaction with bacteriophage M13 coat protein incorporated in phospholipid bilayers.

Fluorescent probes located in heterogeneous environments give rise to anomalous time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy. A simple analytical expression of anisotropy has been derived for the case of a small difference in local fluorescence lifetimes. The expression has the diagnostic advantage that the time dependence of the fluorescence anisotropy can be predicted from the differences in fluorescence lifetimes and residual anisotropies of the probes located in different sites. Using this model, the local fluorescence anisotropy parameters and the relative contributions of the lipid probe octadecyl rhodamine B in a lipid environment and in the vicinity of bacteriophage M13 coat protein reconstituted in phospholipid bilayers, composed of 80% 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine and 20% 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoglycerol have been determined experimentally. At 40 degrees C, the correlation times for bound and free probes are 2.3 and 3.0 ns, respectively, while the corresponding order parameters are 0.85 and 0.62, respectively.

Capsid↗

Analysis of time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy in lipid-protein systems. II. Application to tryptophan fluorescence of bacteriophage M13 coat protein incorporated in phospholipid bilayers.

The subnanosecond fluorescence and motional dynamics of the tryptophan residue in the bacteriophage M13 coat protein incorporated within pure dioleoylphosphatidylcholine (DOPC) as well as dioleoylphosphatidylcholine/dioleoylphosphatidylglycerol (DOPC/DOPG) and dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine/dimyristoylphosphatidylglycerol (DMPC/DMPG) bilayers (80/20 w/w) with various L/P ratio have been investigated. The fluorescence decay is decomposed into four components with lifetimes of about 0.5, 2.0, 4.5 and 10.0 ns, respectively. In pure DOPC and DOPC/DOPG lipid bilayers, above the phase transition temperature, the rotational diffusion of the protein molecules contributes to the depolarization and the anisotropy of tryptophan is fitted to a dual exponential function. The longer correlation time, describing the rotational diffusion of the whole protein, shortens with increasing temperature and decreasing protein aggregation number. In DMPC/DMPG lipid bilayers, below the phase transition, the rotational diffusion of the protein is slowed down such that the subnanosecond anisotropy decay of tryptophan in this system reflects only the segmental motion of the tryptophan residue. Because of a heterogeneous microenvironment, the anisotropy decay must be described by three exponentials with a constant term, containing a negative coefficient and a negative decay time constant. From such a decay, the tryptophan residue within the aggregate undergoes a more restricted motion than the one exposed to the lipids. At 20 degrees C, the order parameter of the transition moment of the isolated tryptophan is about 0.9 and that for the exposed one is about 0.5.

Capsid↗