Abstract
The majority of protein functions are governed by their internal local electrostatics. Quantitative information about these interactions can shed light on how proteins work and allow for improving/altering their performance. Green fluorescent protein (GFP) and its mutation variants provide unique optical windows for interrogation of internal electric fields, thanks to the intrinsic fluorophore group formed inside them. Here we use an all-optical method, based on the independent measurements of transition frequency and one- and two-photon absorption cross sections in a number of GFP mutants to evaluate these internal electric fields. Two physical models based on the quadratic Stark effect, either with or without taking into account structural (bond-length) changes of the chromophore in varying field, allow us to separately evaluate the long-range and the total effective (short- and long-range) fields. Both types of the field quantitatively agree with the results of independent molecular dynamic simulations, justifying our method of measurement.
Highlights
Classical Stark shift methods measure internal fields in proteins by using either UV-vis or infrared absorption spectroscopy[2,12,13]
Our results have shown that Δ μ significantly changes from one protein to another and the higher order, quadratic Stark effect should be considered
We study a set of 26 Green fluorescent protein (GFP) mutants, all containing the same chromophore in the anionic state, as well as the solution of a model synthetic chromophore, p-hydroxybenzylidene-2,3-dimethylimidazolinone anion (HBDI−) in alkaline D2O
Summary
Classical Stark shift methods measure internal fields in proteins by using either UV-vis (electronic) or infrared (vibrational) absorption spectroscopy[2,12,13]. In an attempt to refine the model and elucidate the role of the short-range interactions, which are probably the main cause of discrepancies between the effective experimental and simulated field values (cf citrine), we consider a cluster, consisting of the π -conjugated system of the chromophore itself and its closest surrounding.
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