Søren Klitgaard

Flash Photolysis of Cutinase: Identification and Decay Kinetics of Transient Intermediates Formed upon UV Excitation of Aromatic Residues

Aromatic amino acids play an important role in ultraviolet (UV)-induced photochemical reactions in proteins. In this work, we aim at gaining insight into the photochemical reactions induced by near-UV light excitation of aromatic residues that lead to breakage of disulfide bridges in our model enzyme, Fusarium solani pisi cutinase, a lipolytic enzyme. With this purpose, we acquired transient absorption data of cutinase, with supplemental experimental data on tryptophan (Trp) and lysozyme as reference molecules. We here report formation kinetics and lifetimes of transient chemical species created upon UV excitation of aromatic residues in proteins. Two proteins, lysozyme and cutinase, as well as the free amino acid Trp, were studied under acidic, neutral, and alkaline conditions. The shortest-lived species is assigned to solvated electrons (lifetimes of a few microseconds to nanoseconds), whereas the longer-lived species are assigned to aromatic neutral and ionic radicals, Trp triplet states, and radical ionic disulphide bridges. The pH-dependent lifetimes of each species are reported. Solvated electrons ejected from the side chain of free Trp residues and aromatic residues in proteins were observed 12 ns after excitation, reaching a maximum yield after approximately 40 ns. It is interesting to note that the formation kinetics of solvated electrons is not pH-dependent and is similar in the different samples. On the other hand, a clear increase of the solvated electron lifetime is observed with increasing pH. This observation is correlated with H3O+ being an electron scavenger. Prolonged UV illumination of cutinase leads to a larger concentration of solvated electrons and to greater absorption at 410 nm (assigned to disulphide electron adduct RSSR *-), with concomitant faster decay kinetics and near disappearance of the Trp* radical peak at 330 nm, indicating possible additional formation of TyrO* formed upon reaction of Trp* with Tyr residues. Prolonged UV illumination of cutinase also leads to a larger concentration of free thiol groups, known to originate from the dissociation of RSSR *-. Additional mechanisms that may lead to the near disappearance of Trp(*) are discussed. Our study provides insight into one key UV-light-induced reaction in cutinase, i.e., light-induced disruption of disulphide bridges mediated by the excitation of aromatic residues. Knowledge about the nature of the formed species and their lifetimes is important for the understanding of UV-induced reactions in humans that lead to light-induced diseases, e.g., skin cancer and cataract formation.

Quenchers Induce Wavelength Dependence on Protein Fluorescence Lifetimes

We have analysed the picosecond resolved fluorescence emission decay of horseradish peroxidase A2 and of HEW lysozyme acquired with a streak camera. Analyses of the fluorescence decay data of both proteins revealed that the dynamics of the decay is dependent on the emission wavelength. Our data strongly indicates that resonance energy transfer occurring between aromatic residues and different protein fluorescence quencher groups, and the nature of the quencher groups, are the causes of the observed wavelength dependent mean lifetime distribution. Using the global analysis data to calculate the fluorescence mean lifetime at each wavelength revealed that for lysozyme, the mean fluorescence lifetime increased with observation wavelength, whereas the opposite was the case for peroxidase. Both proteins contain strong fluorescence quencher groups located in close spatial proximity to the protein’s aromatic residues. Lysozyme contains disulfide bridges as the main fluorescence quencher whereas peroxidase contains a heme group. Both for lysozyme and horseradish peroxidase there is a clear correlation between the observed fluorescence mean lifetime of the protein at a particular emission wavelength and the respective quencher’s extinction coefficient at the respective wavelength. Furthermore, our study also reports a comparison of the analyses of the fluorescence data done with three different methods. Analyses of the fluorescence decay at 10 different fluorescence emission wavelengths revealed significant differences in both fluorescence lifetimes and the pre-exponential factor distributions. Such values differed from the values recovered from the integrated decay curves and from global analyse.

Biophysical Properties of Phenyl Succinic Acid Derivatised Hyaluronic Acid

Modification of hyaluronic acid (HA) with aryl succinic anhydrides results in new biomedical properties of HA as compared to non-modified HA, such as more efficient skin penetration, stronger binding to the skin, and the ability to blend with hydrophobic materials. In the present study, hyaluronic acid has been derivatised with the anhydride form of phenyl succinic acid (PheSA). The fluorescence of PheSA was efficiently quenched by the HA matrix. HA also acted as a singlet oxygen scavenger. Fluorescence lifetime(s) of PheSA in solution and when attached to the HA matrix has been monitored with ps resolved streak camera technology. Structural and fluorescence properties changes induced on HA-PheSA due to the presence of singlet oxygen were monitored using static light scattering (SLS), steady state fluorescence and ps time resolved fluorescence studies. SLS studies provided insight into the depolymerisation kinetics of PheSA derivatised HA matrix in the presence of singlet oxygen. Time resolved fluorescence studies grave insight into the dynamics of the reaction mechanisms induced on HA-PheSA by singlet oxygen. These studies provided insight into the medical relevance of PheSA derivatised HA: its capacity of scavenging singlet oxygen and of quenching PheSA fluorescence. These studies revealed that HA-PheSA is a strong quencher of electronic excited state PheSA and acts as a scavenger of singlet oxygen, thus medical applications of this derivatised form of HA may protect tissues and organs, such as skin, against reactive oxygen species damage.

Micrometer sized immobilization of protein molecules onto Quartz, Silicium and Gold

We demonstrate that ultraviolet light can be used to make sterically oriented covalent immobilization of a large variety of protein molecules onto either gold or thiolated quartz or silicium. The reaction mechanism behind the reported new technology involves light induced breakage of disulphide bridges in proteins upon UV illumination of nearby aromatic amino acids, resulting in the formation of free, reactive thiol groups that will form covalent bonds with thiol reactive surfaces. The protein molecules in general retain their function. The size of the immobilization spot is determined by the dimension of the UV beam. In principle, the spot size may be as small as 1 micrometer or less. We have developed the necessary technology for preparing large protein arrays of enzymes and fragments of monoclonal antibodies. Dedicated Image Processing Software has been developed for making quality assessment of the protein arrays. A multitude of important application areas such as drug carriers and drug delivery, bioelectronics, carbon nanotubes, nanoparticles as well as protein glue are discussed.