E46Q Mutant Research Articles

Neutron crystallography of photoactive yellow protein reveals unusual protonation state of Arg52 in the crystal

Because of its high pKa, arginine (Arg) is believed to be protonated even in the hydrophobic environment of the protein interior. However, our neutron crystallographic structure of photoactive yellow protein, a light sensor, demonstrated that Arg52 adopts an electrically neutral form. We also showed that the hydrogen bond between the chromophore and Glu46 is a so-called low barrier hydrogen bond (LBHB). Because both the neutral Arg and LBHB are unusual in proteins, these observations remain controversial. To validate our findings, we carried out neutron crystallographic analysis of the E46Q mutant of PYP. The resultant structure revealed that the proportion of the cationic form is higher in E46Q than in WT, although the cationic and neutral forms of Arg52 coexist in E46Q. These observations were confirmed by the occupancy of the deuterium atom bound to the Nη1 atom combined with an alternative conformation of the N(η2)D2 group comprising sp2 hybridisation. Based on these results, we propose that the formation of the LBHB decreases the proton affinity of Arg52, stabilizing the neutral form in the crystal.

Kinetics of the E46Q mutant of photoactive yellow protein investigated by transient grating spectroscopy

To elucidate the role of internal proton transfer in the photodynamics of photoactive yellow protein (PYP), the photocycle of the Glu46Gln mutant of PYP (E46Q-PYP) is investigated by transient grating (TG) spectroscopy. Compared with wild-type PYP (wt-PYP), the first spectrally blue-shifted intermediate of E46Q-PYP is formed more slowly, which is consistent with the absence of direct protonation from Glu46 residue, if the parallel kinetic model for wt-PYP is invoked. The smaller conformational change in E46Q-PYP, as manifested by the smaller change in the diffusion coefficient, mainly arises from the relatively larger volume of the ground state E46Q-PYP than wt-PYP rather than from the smaller volume of the pB state.

Structural Evolution in Photoactive Yellow Protein Studied by Femtosecond Stimulated Raman Spectroscopy

Ultrafast structural evolution in photoactive yellow protein (PYP) is studied by femtosecond stimulated Raman spectroscopy. A comparison between wild-type PYP and E46Q mutant reveals that the hydrogen-bonding network surrounding the chromophore of PYP is immediately rearranged in the electronic excited state.

Changes in the Hydrogen-Bond Network around the Chromophore of Photoactive Yellow Protein in the Ground and Excited States

Changes in the hydrogen-bond (HB) network around the chromophore, p-coumaric acid (pCA), in the ground pG and excited pG* states were investigated for wild type (WT) photoactive yellow protein (PYP) and its mutants using ultraviolet resonance Raman (UVRR) spectroscopy. The intensity depletion of Tyr UVRR bands was observed upon photoexcitation of pCA to the pG* state. The spectral change was ascribed to strengthening of HB between pCA and Tyr42. Comparison of Raman intensities indicated that, in the pG state, the HB between pCA and Tyr42 in WT is a short HB, which is weaker than that in E46Q mutant. In the pG* state, the HB network around pCA of WT is similar to that of E46Q mutant. The present results demonstrate that the HB between pCA and Tyr42 and that between pCA and Glu46 are correlated with each other in the HB network.

Small Conformational Changes Detected For Short Lived Transient Species During A Photoreaction

he focus of the present study is firstly to investigate the origin of global conformational change during the photoreaction. Secondly, how such changes are transduced and spread to all over the protein molecule was investigated by studying the photoreaction of the site directed mutants. The diffusion of pG and pB of E46Q mutant showed the small difference, suggesting that the absence of negative charge at 46 position is responsible for the lack of partial unfolding in structure of PYP upon pB formation. The role of N-terminal region was further studied by replacing phenylalanine by alanine at position 6 (F6A). The diffusion constant of pB of F6A was not very different from that of pG, which is explained by a small conformational change in N-terminal tail upon pB formation. Previously, creation of a disulfide bond between position 6 (Phe6) and 121 (Phe121) showed the restricted movements of N-termius and less structural fluctuation upon pB formation. These results argued the more ordered and folded structure of pB of mutants lacking Phe6

Binding, tuning and mechanical function of the 4-hydroxy-cinnamic acid chromophore in photoactive yellow protein

The bacterial photoreceptor protein photoactive yellow protein (PYP) covalently binds the chromophore 4-hydroxy coumaric acid, tuning (spectral) characteristics of this cofactor. Here, we study this binding and tuning using a combination of pointmutations and chromophore analogs. In all photosensor proteins studied to date the covalent linkage of the chromophore to the apoprotein is dispensable for light-induced catalytic activation. We analyzed the functional importance of the covalent linkage using an isosteric chromophore-protein variant in which the cysteine is replaced by a glycine residue and the chromophore by thiomethyl-p-coumaric acid (TMpCA). The model compound TMpCA is shown to weakly complex with the C69G protein. This non-covalent binding results in considerable tuning of both the pKa and the color of the chromophore. The photoactivity of this system, however, was strongly impaired, making PYP the first known photosensor protein in which the covalent linkage of the chromophore is of paramount importance for the functional activity of the protein in vitro. We also studied the influence of chromophore analogs on the color and photocycle of PYP, not only in WT, but especially in the E46Q mutant, to test if effects from both chromophore and protein modifications are additive. When the E46Q protein binds the sinapinic acid chromophore, the color of the protein is effectively changed from yellow to orange. The altered charge distribution in this protein also results in a changed pKa value for chromophore protonation, and a strongly impaired photocycle. Both findings extend our knowledge of the photochemistry of PYP for signal generation.

Propagating Structural Perturbation Inside Bacteriorhodopsin: Crystal Structures of the M State and the D96A and T46V Mutants

The X-ray diffraction structure of the non-illuminated D96A bacteriorhodopsin mutant reveals structural changes as far away as 15 A from residue 96, at the retinal, Trp-182, Ala-215, and waters 501, 402, and 401. The Asp-to-Ala side-chain replacement breaks its hydrogen bond with Thr-46, and the resulting separation of the cytoplasmic ends of helices B and C is communicated to the retinal region through a chain of covalent and hydrogen bonds. The unexpected long-range consequences of the D96A mutation include breaking the hydrogen bond between O of Ala-215 and water 501 and the formation of a new hydrogen bond between water molecules 401 and 402 in the extracellular region. Because in the T46V mutant a new water molecule appears at Asp-96 and its hydrogen-bond to Ile-45 replaces Thr-46 as its link to helix B, the separation of helices B and C is smaller than that in D96A, and there are no atomic displacements elsewhere in the protein. Propagation of conformational changes along the chain between the retinal and Thr-46 had been observed earlier in the crystal structures of the D96N and E204Q mutants but in the trapped M state. Consistent with the perturbation of the retinal region in D96A, little change of the Thr-46 region occurs between the non-illuminated and M states of this mutant. It appears that a local perturbation can propagate along a track in both directions between the retinal and the Asp-96/Thr-46 pair, either from photoisomerization of the retinal in the wild-type protein in one case or from the D96A mutation in the other.

Influence of the Crystalline State on Photoinduced Dynamics of Photoactive Yellow Protein Studied by Ultraviolet-Visible Transient Absorption Spectroscopy

Time-resolved ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy was used to characterize the photocycle transitions in single crystals of wild-type and the E-46Q mutant of photoactive yellow protein (PYP) with microsecond time resolution. The results were compared with the results of similar measurements on aqueous solutions of these two variants of PYP, with and without the components present in the mother liquor of crystals. The experimental data were analyzed with global and target analysis. Distinct differences in the reaction path of a PYP molecule are observed between these conditions when it progresses through its photocycle. In the crystalline state i), much faster relaxation of the late blue-shifted photocycle intermediate back to the ground state is observed; ii), this intermediate in crystalline PYP absorbs at 380 nm, rather than at 350–360 nm in solution; and iii), for various intermediates of this photocycle the forward reaction through the photocycle directly competes with a branching reaction that leads directly to the ground state. Significantly, with these altered characteristics, the spectroscopic data on PYP are fully consistent with the structural data obtained for this photoreceptor protein with time-resolved x-ray diffraction analysis, particularly for wild-type PYP.

PH-dependent Equilibrium between Long Lived Near-UV Intermediates of Photoactive Yellow Protein

The long lived intermediate (signaling state) of photoactive yellow protein (PYP(M)), which is formed in the photocycle, was characterized at various pHs. PYP(M) at neutral pH was in equilibrium between two spectroscopically distinct states. Absorption maxima of the acidic form (PYP(M)(acid)) and alkaline form (PYP(M)(alkali)) were located at 367 and 356 nm, respectively. Equilibrium was represented by the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation, in which apparent pK(a) was 6.4. Content of alpha- and/or beta-structure of PYP(M)(acid) was significantly greater than PYP(M)(alkali) as demonstrated by the molar ellipticity at 222 nm. In addition, changes in amide I and II modes of beta-structure in the difference Fourier transform infrared spectra for formation of PYP(M)(acid) was smaller than that of PYP(M)(alkali). The vibrational mode at 1747 cm(-1) of protonated Glu-46 was found as a small band for PYP(M)(acid) but not for PYP(M)(alkali), suggesting that Glu-46 remains partially protonated in PYP(M)(acid), whereas it is fully deprotonated in PYP(M)(alkali). Small angle x-ray scattering measurements demonstrated that the radius of gyration of PYP(M)(acid) was 15.7 Angstroms, whereas for PYP(M)(alkali) it was 16.2 Angstroms. These results indicate that PYP(M)(acid) assumes a more ordered and compact structure than PYP(M)(alkali). Binding of citrate shifts this equilibrium toward PYP(M)(alkali). UV-visible absorption spectra and difference infrared spectra of the long lived intermediate formed from E46Q mutant was consistent with those of PYP(M)(acid), indicating that the mutation shifts this equilibrium toward PYP(M)(acid). Alterations in the nature of PYP(M) by pH, citrate, and mutation of Glu-46 are consistently explained by the shift of the equilibrium between PYP(M)(acid) and PYP(M)(alkali).

Controlled Reduction of the Humidity Induces a Shortcut Recovery Reaction in the Photocycle of Photoactive Yellow Protein

The photocycle of the blue-light photoreceptor protein Photoactive Yellow Protein (PYP) was studied at reduced relative humidity (RH). Photocycle kinetics and spectra were measured in thin films of PYP in which the relative humidity was set at values between 29 and 98% RH with saturated solutions of various salts. We show that in this range, approximately 200 water molecules per PYP molecule are released from the film. As humidity decreased, photocycle transition rates changed, until at low humidity (RH < 50%) an authentic photocycle was no longer observed and the absorption spectrum of the dark, equilibrium state of PYP started to shift to 355 nm, that is, to a form resembling that of pB(dark). At moderately reduced humidity (i.e., >50% RH), an authentic photocycle is still observed, although its characteristics differ from those in solution. As humidity decreases, the rate of ground state recovery increases, while the rate of depletion of the first red-shifted intermediate pR dramatically decreases. The latter observation contrasts all so-far known modulations of the rate of the transition of the red-shifted- to the blue-shifted intermediates of PYP, which is consistently accelerated by all other modulations of the mesoscopic context of the protein. Under these same conditions, the long-lived, blue-shifted intermediate was formed not only with slower kinetics than in solution but also to a smaller extent. Global analysis of these data indicates that in this low humidity environment the photocycle can take a different route than in solution, that is, part of pG recovers directly from pR. These experiments on wild-type PYP, in combination with observations on a variant of PYP obtained by site-directed mutagenesis (the E46Q mutant protein), further document the context dependence of the photocycle transitions of PYP and are relevant for the interpretation of results obtained in both spectroscopic and diffraction studies with crystalline PYP.

A Structural Pathway for Signaling in the E46Q Mutant of Photoactive Yellow Protein

In the bacterial photoreceptor photoactive yellow protein (PYP), absorption of blue light by its chromophore leads to a conformational change in the protein associated with differential signaling activity, as it executes a reversible photocycle. Time-resolved Laue crystallography allows structural snapshots (as short as 150 ps) of high crystallographic resolution (approximately 1.6 A) to be taken of a protein as it functions. Here, we analyze by singular value decomposition a comprehensive time-resolved crystallographic data set of the E46Q mutant of PYP throughout the photocycle spanning 10 ns-100 ms. We identify and refine the structures of five distinct intermediates and provide a plausible chemical kinetic mechanism for their inter conversion. A clear structural progression is visible in these intermediates, in which a signal generated at the chromophore propagates through a distinct structural pathway of conserved residues and results in structural changes near the N terminus, over 20 A distant from the chromophore.

Structure of photoactive yellow protein (PYP) E46Q mutant at 1.2 Å resolution suggests how Glu46 controls the spectroscopic and kinetic characteristics of PYP

Photoactive yellow protein from Ectothiorhodospira halophila is a photoreceptor protein involved in the negative phototaxis of this bacterium. Its chromophore (p-coumaric acid) is deprotonated in the ground state, which is stabilized by a hydrogen-bond network between Tyr42, Glu46 and Thr50. Glu46 is a key residue as it has been suggested that the proton at Glu46 is transferred to the chromophore during its photoconversion from the dark state to the signalling state. The structure of E46Q mutant protein was determined at 1.2 A resolution, revealing that the phenolic O atom of p-coumaric acid is hydrogen bonded to NH(2) of Gln46 in E46Q with a longer distance (2.86 +/- 0.02 A) than its distance (2.51 A) to Glu46 OH in the wild type. This and the decreased thermal stability of E46Q relative to the wild type show that this hydrogen bond is weakened in the E46Q mutant compared with the corresponding bond in the wild type. Several characteristic features of E46Q such as an alkali shift in the pK(a) and the rapid photocycle can be explained by this weakened hydrogen bond. Furthermore, the red shift in the absorption maximum in E46Q can be explained by the delocalization of the electron on the phenolic oxygen of p-coumaric acid owing to the weakening of this hydrogen bond.

The Assignment of the Different Infrared Continuum Absorbance Changes Observed in the 3000–1800-cm −1 Region during the Bacteriorhodopsin Photocycle

The bleach continuum in the 1900–1800-cm −1 region was reported during the photocycle of bacteriorhodopsin (bR) and was assigned to the dissociation of a polarizable proton chain during the proton release step. More recently, a broad band pass filter was used and additional infrared continua have been reported: a bleach at >2700 cm −1, a bleach in the 2500–2150-cm −1 region, and an absorptive behavior in the 2100–1800-cm −1 region. To fully understand the importance of the hydrogen-bonded chains in the mechanism of the proton transport in bR, a detailed study is carried out here. Comparisons are made between the time-resolved Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy experiments on wild-type bR and its E204Q mutant (which has no early proton release), and between the changes in the continua observed in thermally or photothermally heated water (using visible light-absorbing dye) and those observed during the photocycle. The results strongly suggest that, except for the weak bleach in the 1900–1800-cm −1 region and >2500 cm −1, there are other infrared continua observed during the bR photocycle, which are inseparable from the changes in the absorption of the solvent water molecules that are photothermally excited via the nonradiative relaxation of the photoexcited retinal chromophore. A possible structure of the hydrogen-bonded system, giving rise to the observed bleach in the 1900–1800-cm −1 region and the role of the polarizable proton in the proton transport is discussed.

Contrasting the Excited-State Dynamics of the Photoactive Yellow Protein Chromophore: Protein versus Solvent Environments

Wavelength- and time-resolved fluorescence experiments have been performed on the photoactive yellow protein, the E46Q mutant, the hybrids of these proteins containing a nonisomerizing “locked” chromophore, and the native and locked chromophores in aqueous solution. The ultrafast dynamics of these six systems is compared and spectral signatures of isomerization and solvation are discussed. We find that the ultrafast red-shifting of fluorescence is associated mostly with solvation dynamics, whereas isomerization manifests itself as quenching of fluorescence. The observed multiexponential quenching of the protein samples differs from the single-exponential lifetimes of the chromophores in solution. The locked chromophore in the protein environment decays faster than in solution. This is due to additional channels of excited-state energy dissipation via the covalent and hydrogen bonds with the protein environment. The observed large dispersion of quenching timescales observed in the protein samples that contain the native pigment favors both an inhomogeneous model and an excited-state barrier for isomerization.

Structural Heterogeneity of Cryotrapped Intermediates in the Bacterial Blue Light Photoreceptor, Photoactive Yellow Protein¶

ABSTRACTWe investigate by X‐ray crystallographic techniques the cryotrapped states that accumulate on controlled illumination of the blue light photoreceptor, photoactive yellow protein (PYP), at 110 K in both the wild‐type species and its E46Q mutant. These states are related to those that occur during the chromophore isomerization process in the PYP photocycle at room temperature. The structures present in such states were determined at high resolution, 0.95–1.05Å. In both wild type and mutant PYP, the cryotrapped state is not composed of a single, quasitransition state structure but rather of a heterogeneous mixture of three species in addition to the ground state structure. We identify and refine these three photoactivated species under the assumption that the structural changes are limited to simple isomerization events of the chromophore that otherwise retains chemical bonding similar to that in the ground state. The refined chromophore models are essentially identical in the wild type and the E46Q mutant, which implies that the early stages of their photocycle mechanisms are the same.

Chromophore conformation and the evolution of tertiary structural changes in photoactive yellow protein.

We use time-resolved crystallography to observe the structural progression of a bacterial blue light photoreceptor throughout its photocycle. Data were collected from 10 ns to 100 ms after photoactivation of the E46Q mutant of photoactive yellow protein. Refinement of transient chromophore conformations shows that the spectroscopically distinct intermediates are formed via progressive disruption of the hydrogen bond network to the chromophore. Although structural change occurs within a few nanoseconds on and around the chromophore, it takes milliseconds for a distinct pattern of tertiary structural change to fully progress through the entire molecule, thus generating the putative signaling state. Remarkably, the coupling between the chromophore conformation and the tertiary structure of this small protein is not tight: there are leads and lags between changes in the conformation of the chromophore and the protein tertiary structure.

Short hydrogen bonds in photoactive yellow protein.

Eight high-resolution crystal structures of the ground state of photoactive yellow protein (PYP) solved under a variety of conditions reveal that its chromophore is stabilized by two unusually short hydrogen bonds. Both Tyr42 Oeta and Glu46 Oepsilon are separated from the chromophore phenolate oxygen by less than the sum of their atomic van der Waals radii, 2.6 angstroms. This is characteristic of strong hydrogen bonding, in which hydrogen bonds acquire significant covalent character. The hydrogen bond from the protonated Glu46 to the negatively charged phenolate oxygen is 2.58 +/- 0.01 angstroms in length, while that from Tyr42 is considerably shorter, 2.49 +/- 0.01 angstroms. The E46Q mutant was solved to 0.95 angstroms resolution; the isosteric mutation increased the length of the hydrogen bond from Glx46 to the chromophore by 0.29 +/- 0.01 angstroms to that of an average hydrogen bond, 2.88 +/- 0.01 angstroms. The very short hydrogen bond from Tyr42 explains why mutating this residue has such a severe effect on the ground-state structure and PYP photocycle. The effect of isosteric mutations on the photocycle can be largely explained by the alterations to the length and strength of these hydrogen bonds.

Analysis of experimental time-resolved crystallographic data by singular value decomposition.

Singular value decomposition (SVD) separates time-dependent crystallographic data into time-independent and time-dependent components. Procedures for the effective application of SVD to time-resolved macromolecular crystallographic data have yet to be explored systematically. Here, the applicability of SVD to experimental crystallographic data is tested by analyzing 30 time-resolved Laue data sets spanning a time range of nanoseconds to milliseconds through the photocycle of the E46Q mutant of photoactive yellow protein. The data contain random and substantial systematic errors, the latter largely arising from crystal-to-crystal variation. The signal-to-noise ratio of weighted difference electron-density maps is significantly improved by the SVD flattening procedure. Application of SVD to these flattened maps spreads the signal across many of the 30 singular vectors, but a rotation of the vectors partitions the large majority of the signal into only five singular vectors. Fitting the time-dependent vectors to a sum of simple exponentials suggests that a chemical kinetic mechanism can describe the time-dependent structural data. Procedures for the effective SVD analysis of experimental time-resolved crystallographic data have been established and emphasize the necessity for minimizing systematic errors by modification of the data-collection protocol.

Reversible proton transfer dynamics in bacteriorhodopsin

In a previous study of ab initio dynamics, the proton transfer in bacteriorhodopsin from protonated asp96 in the cytoplasmic region toward the deprotonated Schiff base was investigated. A quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics model was constructed from the X-ray structure of bacteriorhodopsin E204Q mutant. In this model, asp96, asp85, and thr89 as well as most of the retinal chromophore and the Schiff base link of lys216 were treated quantum mechanically while the rest of the atoms were treated molecular mechanically. A channel was found in the X-ray structure allowing a water chain to form between the asp96 and Schiff base. In the present study, a chain of four waters from asp96 to the Schiff base N coupled with one branching water supports proton transfer as a concerted event in about 3.5 ps. With both a neutral asp85 and a branched water, the dynamics is now found to be more complicated than observed in the initial study for the transition from the photocycle late M state to the N state. Proton transfer is also observed from the Schiff base back to asp96 demonstrating that there is no effective barrier to proton transfer larger than kT in a strong H-bonded network. The binding of the branched water to the four water chains can dynamically hinder the proton transfer.

Dynamics of proton transfer in bacteriorhodopsin.

Proton transfer in bacteriorhodopsin from the cytoplasm to the extracellular side is initiated from protonated asp96 in the cytoplasmic region toward the deprotonated Schiff base. This occurs in the transition from the photocycle late M state to the N state. To investigate this proton-transfer process, a quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) model is constructed from the bacteriorhodopsin E204Q mutant crystal structure. Three residues, asp96, asp85, and thr89, as well as most of the retinal chromophore and the Schiff base link of lys216 are treated quantum mechanically and connected to the remaining classical protein through linker atom hydrogens. Structural transformation in the M state results in the formation of a water channel between the Schiff base and asp96. Since a part of this channel is lined with hydrophobic residues, there has been a question on the mechanism of proton transfer in a hydrophobic channel. Ab initio dynamics using the CHARMM/GAMESS methodology is used to simulate the transfer of the proton through a partially hydrophobic channel. Once sufficient water molecules are added to the channel to allow the formation of a single chain of waters from asp96 to the Schiff base, the transfer occurs as a fast (less than a picosecond) concerted event irrespective of the protonation state of asp85. Dynamic transfer of the proton from asp96 to the nearest water initiates the organization of a strongly bonded water chain conducive to the transfer of the proton to the Schiff base nitrogen.