Kunisato Kuroi

Transient conformational fluctuation of TePixD during a reaction.

Significance The role of conformational fluctuations in protein reactions has been frequently mentioned to discuss the reaction mechanism. Supporting evidence for the importance of the fluctuation has been reported by showing the relationship between the flexibility of the reactant structure and reaction efficiency. However, there has been no direct evidence showing that the fluctuation is indeed enhanced during the reaction, although recent molecular dynamic simulations pointed out the importance. Here, we focused our attention on the experimental proof of enhancement by the time-resolved transient grating method, which is a unique and powerful method. Our results showed that fluctuation is a key to understanding why light-stimulated proteins can transfer the signal without changing the averaged conformation. Knowledge of the dynamical behavior of proteins, and in particular their conformational fluctuations, is essential to understanding the mechanisms underlying their reactions. Here, transient enhancement of the isothermal partial molar compressibility, which is directly related to the conformational fluctuation, during a chemical reaction of a blue light sensor protein from the thermophilic cyanobacterium Thermosynechococcus elongatus BP-1 (TePixD, Tll0078) was investigated in a time-resolved manner. The UV-Vis absorption spectrum of TePixD did not change with the application of high pressure. Conversely, the transient grating signal intensities representing the volume change depended significantly on the pressure. This result implies that the compressibility changes during the reaction. From the pressure dependence of the amplitude, the compressibility change of two short-lived intermediate (I1 and I2) states were determined to be +(5.6 ± 0.6) × 10−2 cm3⋅mol−1⋅MPa−1 for I1 and +(6.6 ± 0.7)×10−2 cm3⋅mol−1⋅MPa−1 for I2. This result showed that the structural fluctuation of intermediates was enhanced during the reaction. To clarify the relationship between the fluctuation and the reaction, the compressibility of multiply excited TePixD was investigated. The isothermal compressibility of I1 and I2 intermediates of TePixD showed a monotonic decrease with increasing excitation laser power, and this tendency correlated with the reactivity of the protein. This result indicates that the TePixD decamer cannot react when its structural fluctuation is small. We concluded that the enhanced compressibility is an important factor for triggering the reaction of TePixD. To our knowledge, this is the first report showing enhanced fluctuations of intermediate species during a protein reaction, supporting the importance of fluctuations.

Pressure-sensitive reaction yield of the TePixD blue-light sensor protein.

The effect of pressure on the dissociation reaction of the TePixD decamer was investigated by high-pressure transient grating (TG). The TG signal intensity representing the dissociation reaction of the TePixD decamer significantly decreased by applying a relatively small pressure. On the other hand, the reaction rate increased with increasing pressure. The equilibrium between the pentamer and the decamer was investigated by high-pressure dynamic light scattering. The results indicated that the fraction of the decamer slightly increased in the high-pressure region. From these measurements, it was concluded that the pressure-dependent signal intensity originated from the decrease of the quantum yield of the dissociation reaction of the decamer, indicating that this reaction efficiency is very sensitive to pressure. Using densimetry at high pressures, the compressibility was found to be pressure dependent even in a relatively low pressure range. We attributed the origin of the pressure-sensitive reaction yield to the decrease of compressibility at high pressure. Because the compressibility is related to the volume fluctuation, this observation suggests that the driving force for this reaction is fluctuation of the protein. The relationship between the cavities at the interfaces of the monomer units and the reactivity is also discussed.

Anomalous pressure effects on the photoreaction of a light-sensor protein from Synechocystis, PixD (Slr1694), and the compressibility change of its intermediates

SyPixD (Slr1694) is a blue-light receptor that contains a BLUF (blue-light sensor using a flavin chromophore) domain for the function of phototaxis. The key reaction of this protein is a light-induced conformational change and subsequent dissociation reaction from the decamer to the dimer. In this study, anomalous effects of pressure on this reaction were discovered, and changes in the compressibility of its short-lived intermediates were investigated. While the absorption spectra of the dark and light states are not sensitive to pressure, the formation yield of the first intermediate decreases with pressure to about 40% at 150 MPa. Upon blue-light illumination with a sufficiently strong intensity, the transient grating signal, which represents the dissociation of the SyPixD decamer, was observed at 0.1 MPa, and the signal intensity significantly decreased with increasing pressure. This behavior shows that the dissociation of the decamer from the second intermediate state is suppressed by pressure. However, while the decamer undergoes no dissociation upon excitation of one monomer unit at 0.1 MPa, dissociation is gradually induced with increasing pressure. For solving this strange behavior, the compressibility changes of the intermediates were measured as a function of pressure at weak light intensity. Interestingly, the compressibility change was negative at low pressure, but became positive with increasing pressure. Because the compressibility is related to the volume fluctuation, this observation suggests that the driving force for this reaction is fluctuation of the protein. The relationship between the cavities at the interfaces of the monomer units and the reactivity was also discussed.