Acrylonitrile quenching of trp phosphorescence in proteins: a probe of the internal flexibility of the globular fold.

ABSTRACT: Quenching of Trp phosphorescence in proteins by diffusion of solutes of various molecular sizes unveils the frequency-amplitude of structural fluctuations. To cover the sizes gap between O(2) and acrylamide, we examined the potential of acrylonitrile to probe conformational flexibility of proteins. The distance dependence of the through-space acrylonitrile quenching rate was determined in a glass at 77 K, with the indole analog 2-(3-indoyl) ethyl phenyl ketone. Intensity and decay kinetics data were fitted to a rate, k(r) =k(0) exp[-(r -r(0))/r(e)], with an attenuation length r(e) = 0.03 nm and a contact rate k(0) = 3.6 x 10(10) s(-1). At ambient temperature, the bimolecular quenching rate constant (kq) was determined for a series of proteins, appositely selected to test the importance of

SUBMITTER: Strambini GB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3297769 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature