Alessandro Valeri

Accurate single-molecule FRET studies using multiparameter fluorescence detection.

In the recent decade, single-molecule (sm) spectroscopy has come of age and is providing important insight into how biological molecules function. So far our view of protein function is formed, to a significant extent, by traditional structure determination showing many beautiful static protein structures. Recent experiments by single-molecule and other techniques have questioned the idea that proteins and other biomolecules are static structures. In particular, Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) studies of single molecules have shown that biomolecules may adopt many conformations as they perform their function. Despite the success of sm-studies, interpretation of smFRET data are challenging since they can be complicated due to many artifacts arising from the complex photophysical behavior of fluorophores, dynamics, and motion of fluorophores, as well as from small amounts of contaminants. We demonstrate that the simultaneous acquisition of a maximum of fluorescence parameters by multiparameter fluorescence detection (MFD) allows for a robust assessment of all possible artifacts arising from smFRET and offers unsurpassed capabilities regarding the identification and analysis of individual species present in a population of molecules. After a short introduction, the data analysis procedure is described in detail together with some experimental considerations. The merits of MFD are highlighted further with the presentation of some applications to proteins and nucleic acids, including accurate structure determination based on FRET. A toolbox is introduced in order to demonstrate how complications originating from orientation, mobility, and position of fluorophores have to be taken into account when determining FRET-related distances with high accuracy. Furthermore, the broad time resolution (picoseconds to hours) of MFD allows for kinetic studies that resolve interconversion events between various subpopulations as a biomolecule of interest explores its structural energy landscape.

Nucleosome disassembly intermediates characterized by single-molecule FRET

The nucleosome has a central role in the compaction of genomic DNA and the control of DNA accessibility for transcription and replication. To help understanding the mechanism of nucleosome opening and closing in these processes, we studied the disassembly of mononucleosomes by quantitative single-molecule FRET with high spatial resolution, using the SELEX-generated “Widom 601” positioning sequence labeled with donor and acceptor fluorophores. Reversible dissociation was induced by increasing NaCl concentration. At least 3 species with different FRET were identified and assigned to structures: (i) the most stable high-FRET species corresponding to the intact nucleosome, (ii) a less stable mid-FRET species that we attribute to a first intermediate with a partially unwrapped DNA and less histones, and (iii) a low-FRET species characterized by a very broad FRET distribution, representing highly unwrapped structures and free DNA formed at the expense of the other 2 species. Selective FCS analysis indicates that even in the low-FRET state, some histones are still bound to the DNA. The interdye distance of 54.0 Å measured for the high-FRET species corresponds to a compact conformation close to the known crystallographic structure. The coexistence and interconversion of these species is first demonstrated under non-invasive conditions. A geometric model of the DNA unwinding predicts the presence of the observed FRET species. The different structures of these species in the disassembly pathway map the energy landscape indicating major barriers for 10-bp and minor ones for 5-bp DNA unwinding steps.

ACCURATE SINGLE-MOLECULE FRET STUDIES USING MULTIPARAMETER FLUORESCENCE DETECTION : SINGLE MOLECULE TOOLS, PT B

In the recent decade, single-molecule (sm) spectroscopy has come of age and is providing important insight into how biological molecules function. So far our view of protein function is formed, to a significant extent, by traditional structure determination showing many beautiful static protein structures. Recent experiments by single-molecule and other techniques have questioned the idea that proteins and other biomolecules are static structures. In particular, Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) studies of single molecules have shown that biomolecules may adopt many conformations as they perform their function. Despite the success of sm-studies, interpretation of smFRET data are challenging since they can be complicated due to many artifacts arising from the complex photophysical behavior of fluorophores, dynamics, and motion of fluorophores, as well as from small amounts of contaminants. We demonstrate that the simultaneous acquisition of a maximum of fluorescence parameters by multiparameter fluorescence detection (MFD) allows for a robust assessment of all possible artifacts arising from smFRET and offers unsurpassed capabilities regarding the identification and analysis of individual species present in a population of molecules. After a short introduction, the data analysis procedure is described in detail together with some experimental considerations. The merits of MFD are highlighted further with the presentation of some applications to proteins and nucleic acids, including accurate structure determination based on FRET. A toolbox is introduced in order to demonstrate how complications originating from orientation, mobility, and position of fluorophores have to be taken into account when determining FRET-related distances with high accuracy. Furthermore, the broad time resolution (picoseconds to hours) of MFD allows for kinetic studies that resolve interconversion events between various subpopulations as a biomolecule of interest explores its structural energy landscape.

Detection of structural dynamics by FRET: a photon distribution and fluorescence lifetime analysis of systems with multiple states.

Two complementary methods in confocal single-molecule fluorescence spectroscopy are presented to analyze conformational dynamics by Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET) measurements considering simulated and experimental data. First, an extension of photon distribution analysis (PDA) is applied to characterize conformational exchange between two or more states via global analysis of the shape of FRET peaks for different time bins. PDA accurately predicts the shape of FRET efficiency histograms in the presence of FRET fluctuations, taking into account shot noise and background contributions. Dynamic-PDA quantitatively recovers FRET efficiencies of the interconverting states and relaxation times of dynamics on the time scale of the diffusion time t(d) (typically milliseconds), with a dynamic range of the method of about +/-1 order of magnitude with respect to t(d). Correction procedures are proposed to consider the factors limiting the accuracy of dynamic-PDA, such as brightness variations, shortening of the observation time due to diffusion, and a contribution of multimolecular events. Second, an analysis procedure for multiparameter fluorescence detection is presented, where intensity-derived FRET efficiency is correlated with the fluorescence lifetime of the donor quenched by FRET. If a maximum likelihood estimator is applied to compute a mean fluorescence lifetime of mixed states, one obtains a fluorescence weighted mean lifetime. Thus a mixed state is detected by a characteristic shift of the fluorescence lifetime, which becomes longer than that expected for a single species with the same intensity-derived FRET efficiency. Analysis tools for direct visual inspection of two-dimensional diagrams of FRET efficiency versus donor lifetime are presented for the cases of static and dynamic FRET. Finally these new techniques are compared with fluorescence correlation spectroscopy.

Characterizing multiple molecular States in single-molecule multiparameter fluorescence detection by probability distribution analysis.

Probability distribution analysis (PDA) [M. Antonik et al., J. Phys. Chem. B 2006, 110, 6970] allows one to quantitatively analyze single-molecule (SM) data obtained in Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET) or fluorescence polarization experiments. By taking explicitly background and shot noise contributions into account, PDA accurately predicts the shape of one-dimensional histograms of various parameters, such as FRET efficiency or fluorescence anisotropy. In order to describe complex experimental SM-FRET or polarization data obtained for systems consisting of multiple non-interconverting fluorescent states, several extensions to the PDA theory are presented. Effects of brightness variations and multiple-molecule events are considered independently of the detection volume parameters by using only the overall experimental signal intensity distribution. The extended PDA theory can now be applied to analyze any mixture, by using any a priori model or a model-free deconvolution approach based on the maximum entropy method (MEM). The accuracy of the analysis and the number of free parameters are limited only by data quality. Correction of the PDA model function for the presence of multiple-molecule events allows one to measure at high SM concentrations to avoid artifacts due to a very long measurement time. Tools such as MEM and combined mean donor fluorescence lifetime analysis have been developed to distinguish whether extra broadening of PDA histograms could be attributed to structural heterogeneities or dye artifacts. In this way, an ultimate resolution in FRET experiments in the range of a few Angstrom is achieved which allows for molecular Angstrom optics distinguishing between a set of fixed distances and a distribution of distances. The extended theory is verified by analyzing simulations and experimental data.

Filtered FCS: species auto- and cross-correlation functions highlight binding and dynamics in biomolecules.

An analysis method of lifetime, polarization and spectrally filtered fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, referred to as filtered FCS (fFCS), is introduced. It uses, but is not limited to, multiparameter fluorescence detection to differentiate between molecular species with respect to their fluorescence lifetime, polarization and spectral information. Like the recently introduced fluorescence lifetime correlation spectroscopy (FLCS) [Chem. Phys. Lett. 2002, 353, 439–445], fFCS is based on pulsed laser excitation. However, it uses the species-specific polarization and spectrally resolved fluorescence decays to generate filters. We determined the most efficient method to generate global filters taking into account the anisotropy information. Thus, fFCS is able to distinguish species, even if they have very close or the same fluorescence lifetime, given differences in other fluorescence parameters. fFCS can be applied as a tool to compute species-specific auto- (SACF) and cross- correlation (SCCF) functions from a mixture of different species for accurate and quantitative analysis of their concentration, diffusion and kinetic properties. The computed correlation curves are also free from artifacts caused by unspecific background signal. We tested this methodology by simulating the extreme case of ligand–receptor binding processes monitored only by differences in fluorescence anisotropy. Furthermore, we apply fFCS to an experimental single-molecule FRET study of an open-to-closed conformational transition of the protein Syntaxin-1. In conclusion, fFCS and the global analysis of the SACFs and SCCF is a key tool to investigate binding processes and conformational dynamics of biomolecules in a nanosecond-to-millisecond time range as well as to unravel the involved molecular states.

Filtered FCS and species cross correlation function

An extended analysis method of time, polarization and color resolved fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (filtered FCS) is introduced. It uses multiparameter fluorescence detection (MFD) [1-3] to separate pure fluorescence signal of multiple species and scatter contributions. This method allows monitoring of simultaneous and independent diffusion of several molecular species in one sample and makes possible accurate and quantitative analyses of fractions. The proposed method is simple to implement experimentally, because it requires only single wavelength excitation and MFD widely used in single molecule experiments. In comparison to recently introduced fluorescence lifetime correlation spectroscopy (FLCS) [4-7] this method is able to distinguish species when they have very close or even the same fluorescence lifetime using just differences in time resolved fluorescence anisotropy.

The Versatility of Combining FRET Measurements and Molecular Mechanics Results for Determining the Structural Features of Ordered Peptides in Solution

Combination of fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) measurements with molecular mechanics results makes it possible to determine the most relevant structural features of a series of short, ordered L-(αMe) Val-based peptides [(αMe) Val = Cα-methylvaline] in methanol solution.