Structural disorder of the CD3zeta transmembrane domain studied with 2D IR spectroscopy and molecular dynamics simulations

In a recently reported study [Mukherjee, et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2006, 103, 3528] we used 2D IR spectroscopy and 1-(13)C=(18)O isotope labeling to measure the vibrational dynamics of 11 amide I modes in the CD3zeta transmembrane domain. We found that the homogeneous line widths and population relaxation times were all nearly identical, but that the amount of inhomogeneous broadening correlated with the position of the amide group inside the membrane. In this study, we use molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the structural and dynamical origins of these experimental observations. We use two models to convert the simulations to frequency trajectories from which the mean frequencies, standard deviations, frequency correlation functions, and 2D IR spectra are calculated. Model 1 correlates the hydrogen-bond length to the amide I frequency, whereas model 2 uses an ab initio-based electrostatic model. We find that the structural distributions of the peptidic groups and their environment are reflected in the vibrational dynamics of the amide I modes. Environmental forces from the water and lipid headgroups partially denature the helices, shifting the infrared frequencies and creating larger inhomogeneous distributions for residues near the ends. The least inhomogeneously broadened residues are those located in the middle of the membrane where environmental electrostatic forces are weakest and the helices are most ordered. Comparison of the simulations to experiment confirms that the amide I modes near the C-terminal are larger than at the N-terminal because of the asymmetric structure of the peptide bundle in the membrane. The comparison also reveals that residues at a kink in the alpha-helices have broader line widths than more helical parts of the peptide because the peptide backbone at the kink exhibits a larger amount of structural disorder. Taken together, the simulations and experiments reveal that infrared line shapes are sensitive probes of membrane protein structural and environmental heterogeneity.     

Computational spectroscopy of ubiquitin: comparison between theory and experiments

Using the constrained molecular dynamics simulation method in combination with quantum chemistry calculation, Hessian matrix reconstruction, and fragmentation approximation methods, the authors have established computational schemes for numerical simulations of amide I IR absorption, vibrational circular dichroism (VCD), and two-dimensional (2D) IR photon echo spectra of the protein ubiquitin in water. Vibrational characteristic features of these spectra in the amide I vibration region are discussed. From the semiempirical quantum chemistry calculation results on an isolated ubiquitin, amide I local mode frequencies and vibrational coupling constants were fully determined. It turns out that the amide I local mode frequencies of ubiquitin in both gas phase and aqueous solution are highly heterogeneous and site dependent. To directly test the quantitative validity of thus obtained spectroscopic properties, they compared the experimentally measured amide I IR, 2D IR, and electronic circular dichroism spectra with experiments, and found good agreements between theory and experiments. However, the simulated VCD spectrum is just qualitatively similar to the experimentally measured one. This indicates that, due to delicate cancellations between the positive and negative VCD contributions, the prediction of protein VCD spectrum is critically relied on quantitative accuracy of the theoretical model for predicting amide I local mode frequencies. On the basis of the present comparative investigations, they found that the site dependency of amide I local mode frequency, i.e., diagonal heterogeneity of the vibrational Hamiltonian matrix in the amide I local mode basis, is important. It is believed that the present computational methods for simulating various vibrational and electronic spectra of proteins will be of use in further refining classical force fields and in addressing the structure-spectra relationships of proteins in solution.     

Amide I infrared spectral features characteristic of some untypical conformations appearing in the structures suggested for amyloids

Amide I infrared (IR) spectral features are studied, by using the density functional theoretical method, for two untypical (but possibly rather prevalent) structures inspired from those recently suggested for amyloids: a structure consisting of loop regions in the (alpha L, alpha R) conformation stacked to form an alpha-sheet, and a structure involving some main-chain peptide groups (of any residues) and some side-chain amide groups of glutamine and asparagine residues closely located with each other. The amide I vibrational (off-diagonal) coupling constants are examined by extracting them from the calculated Cartesian-based force constants with the average partial vector method and by comparing them with those estimated on the basis of the transition dipole coupling mechanism. It is suggested that the amide I IR band characteristic of the alpha-sheet conformation in dry environment (without hydrogen bonding to solvent water molecules) is located in a high-frequency region (approximately >1670 cm(-1), somewhat higher than that of alpha-helix), because of the dependence of the diagonal (uncoupled) frequency and the off-diagonal coupling constant on the Phi and Psi dihedral angles. It is also shown that the amide I vibrations of the closely located peptide and amide groups are strongly coupled through-space with each other, and in the presence of this type of strong vibrational coupling, a noticeable change in the IR intensity upon (13)C=O substitution may occur even for a mode that arises mainly from an unsubstituted group and is not much shifted in frequency. The meaning of these results in the interpretation of observed amide I spectral profiles, especially the possible usefulness of IR spectroscopic measurements for detecting those untypical structures in the process of amyloid formation, is also discussed.     

Phosphorylation effect on the GSSS peptide conformation in water: infrared, vibrational circular dichroism, and circular dichroism experiments and comparisons with molecular dynamics simulations

The phosphorylation effect on the small peptide conformation in water has not been clearly understood yet, despite the widely acknowledged notion that control of protein activity by phosphorylation works mainly by inducing conformational change. To elucidate the detailed mechanism, we performed infrared (IR) absorption and vibrational and electronic circular dichroism studies of both unphosphorylated and phosphorylated tetrapeptides, GSSS 1 and GSSpS 2. The solution structure of the tetrapeptide is found to be little dependent on the presence of the neutral or negatively charged phosphoryl group, and to be a mixture of extended structures including polyproline II (PII) and beta-sheet conformations. The additional band at 1598 cm(-1) in the amide I IR spectrum of the phosphorylated peptide GSSpS at neutral pD appears to be clear spectroscopic evidence for direct intramolecular hydrogen-bonding interaction between the side chain dianionic phosphoryl group and the backbone amide proton. On the basis of amide I IR band analyses, the authors found that the probability of finding the phosphoryl group strongly H bonded to the backbone proton in GSSpS is about 43% at pD 7.0 and 37 degrees C. Such a H-bonding interaction in GSSpS has the biological standard enthalpy and entropy of -15.1 kJ/mol and -51.2 J/K mol, respectively. Comparisons between the experimentally measured IR and VCD spectra and the numerically simulated ones suggested that the currently available force field parameters need to be properly modified. The results in this paper may shed light on an unknown mechanism of controlling the peptide conformation by phosphorylation.     

Vibrational dynamics of acetate in D2O studied by infrared pump-probe spectroscopy

Solute-solvent interactions between acetate and D(2)O were investigated by vibrational spectroscopic methods. The vibrational dynamics of the COO asymmetric stretching mode in D(2)O was observed by time-resolved infrared (IR) pump-probe spectroscopy. The pump-probe signal contained both decay and oscillatory components. The time dependence of the decay component could be explained by a double exponential function with time constants of 200 fs and 2.6 ps, which are the same for both the COO asymmetric and symmetric stretching modes. The Fourier spectrum of the oscillatory component contained a band around 80 cm(-1), which suggests that the COO asymmetric stretching mode couples to a low-frequency vibrational mode with a wavenumber of 80 cm(-1). Based on quantum chemistry calculations, we propose that a bridged complex comprising an acetate ion and one D(2)O molecule, in which the two oxygen atoms in the acetate anion form hydrogen bonds with the two deuterium atoms in D(2)O, is the most stable structure. The 80 cm(-1) low-frequency mode was assigned to the asymmetric stretching vibration of the hydrogen bond in the bridged complex.     

Vibrational dynamics of deoxyguanosine 5'-monophosphate following UV excitation

The relaxation dynamics of the DNA nucleotide deoxyguanosine 5'-monophosphate (dGMP) following 266 nm photoexcitation has been studied by transient IR spectroscopy with femtosecond time resolution. The induced dynamics of the amide I (carbonyl) stretch, the asymmetric guanine ring stretch and the phosphate asymmetric stretch are monitored in the region 1000-1800 cm(-1). Excitation and subsequent rapid internal conversion to a "hot" ground state is reflected by depletion of the vibrational ground states of the amide I stretch and guanine ring stretch. However, the vibrational ground state of the phosphate is left unperturbed, indicating the absence of vibrational coupling between the guanine ring system and the phosphate group. The vibrational ground state of the amide I is repopulated in 2.5 ps (±0.2 ps) while it takes 3.7 ps (±0.5 ps) to repopulate the guanine ring vibration. This article discusses two possible relaxation pathways of dGMP, as well as the implications of the weak phosphate dynamics.     

Raman spectroscopic characterization of secondary structure in natively unfolded proteins: alpha-synuclein

The application of Raman spectroscopy to characterize natively unfolded proteins has been underdeveloped, even though it has significant technical advantages. We propose that a simple three-component band fitting of the amide I region can assist in the conformational characterization of the ensemble of structures present in natively unfolded proteins. The Raman spectra of alpha-synuclein, a prototypical natively unfolded protein, were obtained in the presence and absence of methanol, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), and hexafluoro-2-propanol (HFIP). Consistent with previous CD studies, the secondary structure becomes largely alpha-helical in HFIP and SDS and predominantly beta-sheet in 25% methanol in water. In SDS, an increase in alpha-helical conformation is indicated by the predominant Raman amide I marker band at 1654 cm(-1) and the typical double minimum in the CD spectrum. In 25% HFIP the amide I Raman marker band appears at 1653 cm(-1) with a peak width at half-height of approximately 33 cm(-1), and in 25% methanol the amide I Raman band shifts to 1667 cm(-1) with a peak width at half-height of approximately 26 cm(-1). These well-characterized structural states provide the unequivocal assignment of amide I marker bands in the Raman spectrum of alpha-synuclein and by extrapolation to other natively unfolded proteins. The Raman spectrum of monomeric alpha-synuclein in aqueous solution suggests that the peptide bonds are distributed in both the alpha-helical and extended beta-regions of Ramachandran space. A higher frequency feature of the alpha-synuclein Raman amide I band resembles the Raman amide I band of ionized polyglutamate and polylysine, peptides which adopt a polyproline II helical conformation. Thus, a three-component band fitting is used to characterize the Raman amide I band of alpha-synuclein, phosvitin, alpha-casein, beta-casein, and the non-A beta component (NAC) of Alzheimer's plaque. These analyses demonstrate the ability of Raman spectroscopy to characterize the ensemble of secondary structures present in natively unfolded proteins.     

Calculations of intermode coupling constants and simulations of amide I,II, and III vibrational spectra of dipeptides

Amide I, II, and III vibrations of polypeptides are important marker modes whose vibrational spectra can provide critical information on structure and dynamics of proteins in solution. The extent of delocalization and vibrational properties of amide normal mode can be described by the amide local mode frequencies and intermode coupling constants between a pair of amide local modes. To determine these fundamental quantities, the previous Hessian matrix reconstruction method has been generalized here and applied to the density functional theory results for various dipeptide conformers. The calculation results are then used to simulate IR absorption, vibrational circular dichroism, and 2D IR spectra of dipeptides. The relationships between dipeptide backbone conformations and these vibrational spectra are discussed. It is believed that the present computational method and results will be of use to quantitatively simulate vibrational spectra of complicated polypeptides beyond simple dipeptides     

Vibrational spectroscopic determination of local solvent electric field, solute-solvent electrostatic interaction energy, and their fluctuation amplitudes

IR probes have been extensively used to monitor local electrostatic and solvation dynamics. Particularly, their vibrational frequencies are highly sensitive to local solvent electric field around an IR probe. Here, we show that the experimentally measured vibrational frequency shifts can be inversely used to determine local electric potential distribution and solute-solvent electrostatic interaction energy. In addition, the upper limits of their fluctuation amplitudes are estimated by using the vibrational bandwidths. Applying this method to fully deuterated N-methylacetamide (NMA) in D(2)O and examining the solvatochromic effects on the amide I' and II' mode frequencies, we found that the solvent electric potential difference between O(═C) and D(-N) atoms of the peptide bond is about 5.4 V, and thus, the approximate solvent electric field produced by surrounding water molecules on the NMA is 172 MV/cm on average if the molecular geometry is taken into account. The solute-solvent electrostatic interaction energy is estimated to be -137 kJ/mol, by considering electric dipole-electric field interaction. Furthermore, their root-mean-square fluctuation amplitudes are as large as 1.6 V, 52 MV/cm, and 41 kJ/mol, respectively. We found that the water electric potential on a peptide bond is spatially nonhomogeneous and that the fluctuation in the electrostatic peptide-water interaction energy is about 10 times larger than the thermal energy at room temperature. This indicates that the peptide-solvent interactions are indeed important for the activation of chemical reactions in aqueous solution.     

Rovibrational and dynamical properties of the hydrogen bonded complex (CH2)2S-HF: a combined free jet, cell, and neon matrix-Fourier transform infrared study

Fourier transform infrared spectra of the nu(s) (HF stretching) band of the (CH(2))(2)S-HF complex have been recorded at 0.1-0.5 cm(-1) resolution in a cooled cell, in a supersonic jet expansion seeded with argon and in a neon matrix at 4.5 K. The combination of controlled temperature effects over a range of 40-250 K and a sophisticated band contour simulation program allows the separation of homogeneous and inhomogeneous contributions and reveals significant anharmonic couplings between intramolecular and intermolecular vibrational modes similar to our previous work on (CH(2))(2)S-DF. The sign of the coupling constants is consistent with the expected strengthening of the hydrogen bond upon vibrational excitation of HF which also explains the observed small variations of the geometrical parameters in the excited state. The analysis of sum and difference combination bands involving nu(s) provides accurate values of intermolecular harmonic frequencies and anharmonicities and a good estimate of the dissociation energy of the complex. Frequencies and coupling parameters derived from gas phase spectra compare well with results from neon matrix experiments. The effective linewidth provides a lower bound for the predissociation lifetime of 10 ps. The comparison between effective linewidths and vibrational densities of states for (CH(2))(2)S-HF and -DF complexes highlights the important role of intramolecular vibrational redistribution in the vibrational dynamics of medium strength hydrogen bonds.     

Non-Gaussian statistics of amide I mode frequency fluctuation of N-methylacetamide in methanol solution: linear and nonlinear vibrational spectra

By carrying out molecular dynamics simulations of an N-methylacetamide (NMA) in methanol solution, the amide I mode frequency fluctuation and hydrogen bonding dynamics were theoretically investigated. Combining an extrapolation formula developed from systematic ab initio calculation studies of NMA-(CH3OH)n clusters with a classical molecular dynamics simulation method, we were able to quantitatively describe the solvatochromic vibrational frequency shift induced by the hydrogen-bonding interaction between NMA and solvent methanol. It was found that the fluctuating amide I mode frequency distribution is notably non-Gaussian and it can be decomposed into two Gaussian peaks that are associated with two distinctively different solvation structures. The ensemble-average-calculated linear response function associated with the IR absorption is found to be oscillating, which is in turn related to the doublet amide I band shape. Numerically calculated infrared absorption spectra are directly compared with experiment and the agreement was found to be excellent. By using the Onsager's regression hypothesis, the rate constants of the interconversion process between the two solvation structures were obtained. Then, the nonlinear response functions associated with two-dimensional infrared pump-probe spectroscopy were simulated. The physics behind the two-dimensional line shape and origin of the cross peaks in the time-resolved pump-probe spectra is explained and the result is compared with 2D spectra experimentally measured recently by Woutersen et al.     

Photolytic control and infrared probing of amide I mode in the dipeptide backbone-caged with the 4,5-dimethoxy-2-nitrobenzyl group

Alanine dipeptide analog 1 backbone-caged with a photolabile linker, 4,5-dimethoxy-2-nitrobenzyl (DmNb), was synthesized. UV-pulse-induced photochemical reaction of 1 was monitored by Fourier transform IR absorption spectroscopy under a steady-state condition or in a fast-scan mode. Upon photolysis of 1, the amide I band is changed from a doublet to a singlet with concomitant line shape changes of several IR bands. The change of the amide I band is directly associated with the photocleavage of the covalent N-C bond connecting the backbone amide of 2 to DmNb. Therefore, IR spectroscopy is useful for directly probing the photocleavage of backbone-caged peptide 1 and the concurrent release of native peptide 2. In contrast, UV-vis spectroscopy probing the irradiation-induced structural change of the 2-nitrobenzyl moiety itself may not provide a clue directly relevant to the photocleavage of such N-C bond. Time-resolved IR spectra recorded in a fast-scan mode after pulsed UV irradiation of 1 reveal that such photocleavage occurs at least faster than a few seconds of our instrumental time resolution.     

Amide I two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy of beta-hairpin peptides

In this report, spectral simulations and isotope labeling are used to describe the two-dimensional IR spectroscopy of beta-hairpin peptides in the amide I spectral region. 2D IR spectra of Gramicidin S, PG12, Trpzip2 (TZ2), and TZ2-T3(*)T10(*), a dual (13)C(') isotope label, are qualitatively described by a model based on the widely used local mode amide I Hamiltonian. The authors' model includes methods for calculating site energies for individual amide oscillators on the basis of hydrogen bonding, nearest neighbor and long-range coupling between sites, and disorder in the site energy. The dependence of the spectral features on the peptide backbone structure is described using disorder-averaged eigenstates, which are visualized by mapping back onto the local amide I sites. beta-hairpin IR spectra are dominated by delocalized vibrations that vary by the phase of adjacent oscillators parallel and perpendicular to the strands. The dominant nu(perpendicular) band is sensitive to the length of the hairpin and the amount of twisting in the backbone structure, while the nu(parallel) band is composed of several low symmetry modes that delocalize along the strands. The spectra of TZ2-T3(*)T10(*) are used to compare coupling models, from which we conclude that transition charge coupling is superior to transition dipole coupling for amide groups directly hydrogen bound across the beta strands. The 2D IR spectra of TZ2-T3(*)T10(*) are used to resolve the redshifted amide I band and extract the site energy of the labeled groups. This allows the authors to compare several methods for calculating the site energies used in excitonic treatments of the amide I band. Gramicidin S is studied in dimethyl sulfoxide to test the role of solvent on the spectral simulations.     

On the Thermal Stability of β‐Peptides: A Two‐Dimensional Vibrational Spectroscopy Study

A temperature‐dependent 2D‐IR study of the amide‐I band of a β‐peptide forming a 12/10/12/10 helix is presented. Cross‐relaxation of a spectrally separated marker amide‐I mode, which could be assigned with the help of the NMR structure of the molecule, can be used as measure of conformational flexibility of the molecule. We find that the conformational flexibility of the N‐terminal part of the helix increases slightly upon increasing the temperature from 0° to 80°. The cross‐peaks in the 2D‐IR spectrum, and hence the connectivity of the corresponding peptide units, do not change, suggesting that the N‐terminal part of the helix remains essentially intact at 80°. This conclusion is in agreement with previous NMR and CD measurements.     

Empirical solvent correction for multiple amide group vibrational modes

Previously proposed solvent correction to the amide I peptide vibration was extended so that it can be applied to a general solvated chromophore. The combined molecular and quantum mechanics (MMQM) method is based on a linear dependence of harmonic force field and intensity tensor components of the solute on solvent electrostatic field. For N-methylacetamide, realistic solvent frequency and intensity changes as well as inhomogeneous band widths were obtained for amide A, I, II , and III modes. A rather anomalous basis set size dependence was observed for the amide A and I vibrations, when bigger basis lead to narrowing of spectral bands and lesser molecular sensibility to the environment. For a model alpha-helical peptide, a W-shape of the vibrational circular dichroism signal observed in deuterated solvent for the amide I band was reproduced correctly, unlike with previous vacuum models.     

Hydrogen-bonding dynamics in aqueous solutions of amides and acids: monomer, dimer, trimer, and polymer

Hydrogen-bonding dynamics in aqueous solutions of series of amides and acids have been investigated by means of femtosecond Raman-induced Kerr effect spectroscopy and ab initio quantum chemistry calculation. The amides and acids studied here are acetamide, 1,3-propanedicarboxamide, 1,3,5-pentanetricaroxamide, polyacrylamide with Mw=1500, acetic acid, 1,3-propanedicarboxylic acid, 1,3,5-pentanetricarboxylic acid, and poly(acrylic acid) with Mw=2000. The femtosecond damped transient feature for aqueous amide solutions, which arises from the intermolecular hydrogen bonds of amide and water, becomes clearer with the larger molecular weight of amide. A characteristic vibrational band at about 100 cm(-1) is assigned as the hydrogen-bonding vibrational mode and the ab initio quantum chemistry calculation result indicates that at least two waters, which make up the hydrogen-bonding network with amide, are necessary for this mode. The hydrogen-bonding vibrational mode at about 100 cm(-1) in aqueous amide solutions shifts to the higher frequency with the larger molecular weight amide in consequence of the stronger intermolecular interaction between amide and water. The evidence likely comes from the stronger hydrophobic interaction for polymer than oligomers and monomer. In the picosecond time region, an extra slow relaxation process with a time constant of about 60 ps has been found in the aqueous polymer solutions. The relaxation is assigned as a local motion of the constitutional repeat unit of polymers from comparison with monomer and oligomers.     

Residual native structure in a thermally denatured beta-hairpin

We investigate the thermal denaturation of trpzip2 between 15 and 82 degrees C using two-dimensional infrared (2D IR) vibrational spectroscopy, dispersed vibrational echo (DVE) spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The FTIR and DVE spectra of trpzip2 show in the amide I region of the spectrum two resonances, which arise primarily from the interstrand coupling between local amide I oscillators along the peptide backbone. The coupling is seen directly in the 2D IR spectra as the formation of cross-peak ridges. Although small shifts of these frequencies occur on heating the sample, the existence of cross-peak ridges at all temperatures indicates that stable hydrogen bond interactions persist between the two beta-strands. These observations indicate a significant amount of native structure in the thermally denatured state of trpzip2.     

Beta-azidoalanine as an IR probe: application to amyloid Abeta(16-22) aggregation

Beta-azidoalanine dipeptide 1 was synthesized, and its azido stretching vibration in H2O and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) was studied by using Fourier transform (FT) IR spectroscopy. The dipole strength of the azido stretch mode is found to be about 19 and 5 times larger than those of the CN and SCN stretch modes, respectively, which have been used as local environmental IR sensors. The azido stretch band in H2O is blue-shifted by about 14 cm(-1) in comparison to that in DMSO, indicative of its sensitivity to the electrostatic environment. To test the utility of beta-azidoalanine as an IR probe of the local electrostatic environment in proteins, azidopeptide 4 was prepared by its incorporation into Abeta(16-22) peptide of the Alzheimer's disease amyloid beta-protein at position Ala21. The amide I IR spectrum of 4 in D2O suggests that the azidopeptide thus modified forms in-register beta-sheets in aggregates as observed for normal Abeta(16-22). The azido peak frequency of 4 in aggregates is almost identical to that in DMSO, indicating that the azido group is not exposed to water but to the hydrophobic environment. We believe that beta-azidoalanine will be used as an effective IR probe for providing site-specific information about the local electrostatic environments of proteins.     

2D-IR spectroscopy of the sulfhydryl band of cysteines in the hydrophobic core of proteins

We investigate the sulfhydryl band of cysteines as a new chromophore for two-dimensional IR (2D-IR) studies of the structure and dynamics of proteins. Cysteines can be put at almost any position in a protein by standard methods of site-directed mutagenesis and, hence, have the potential to be an extremely versatile local probe. Although being a very weak absorber in aqueous environment, the sulfhydryl group gets strongly polarized when situated in an alpha-helix inside the hydrophobic core of a protein because of a strong hydrogen bond to the backbone carbonyl group. The extinction coefficient (epsilon=150 M(-1) cm(-1)) then is sufficiently high to perform detailed 2D-IR studies even at low millimolar concentrations. Using porcine (carbonmonoxy)hemoglobin as an example, which contains two such cysteines in its wild-type form, we demonstrate that spectral diffusion deduced from the 2D-IR line shapes reports on the overall-breathing of the corresponding alpha-helix. The vibrational lifetime of the sulfhydryl group (T1 approximately 6 ps) is considerably longer than that of the much more commonly used amide I mode (approximately 1.0 ps), thereby significantly extending the time window in which spectral diffusion processes can be observed. The experiments are accompanied by molecular dynamics simulations revealing a good overall agreement.