Variety in the Coupling of Mesoporphyrin IX to Apohorseradish Peroxidase C Studied by Energy Selected Fluorescence Excitation and Vibronic Hole Burning Spectroscopy

Abstract

The coupling between the heme and the surrounding protein in horseradish peroxidase was studied after substituting the iron protoheme by mesoporphyrin IX to produce a sample measurable by high-resolution fluorescence spectroscopy. The inner ring phototautomerization of mesoporphyrin was used to create a variety of prosthetic group configurations that were shown to be stable at cryogenic temperatures. Due to the properties of the heme crevice, some tautomeric states are characterized by distinct spectral bands. The original band of the tautomeric form stable at room temperature (B1) and two of those produced by photobleaching (B2, B3) could be selectively studied by two techniques, i.e., energy selected fluorescence excitation and vibronic hole burning spectroscopy. The line narrowed spectra were similar in the cases of complexes B2 and B3, while both are different from that of B1. From these spectra, four characteristic vibronic lines were selected and further studied by spectral hole burning experiments....