Analysis of photo-oxidized amino acids in tryptic peptides of calf lens gamma-II crystallin.

Insoluble and crosslinked proteins and increased pigmentation in the eye lens are features of aging and cataracts. Determining the amino acids which are involved in insolubilization, crosslinking and visible light scattering will shed light on the mechanisms by which cataracts form. Calf lens gamma-II crystallin was irradiated at 295 nm, digested and separated into tryptic peptides. Additional tryptic peptides were found in the digest of irradiated gamma-II which were not present in the dark control digest. These peptides were identified by amino acid sequencing and shown to correspond to expected tryptic fragments of the protein, indicating more facile digestion in the UV-irradiated protein than in dark controls. Amino acid analysis of the irradiated protein and peptides showed losses of histidine, methionine and cysteine residues as compared to control samples. Tryptophan, which is not detected by amino acid analysis, was also found to be reactive since losses in its fluorescence intensity were observed after irradiation. Some of the photochemically active amino acids had lower than expected responses in amino acid sequencing experiments. This suggested specific sites of photochemical activity in the various peptides. The evidence for peptide crosslinks is also discussed.     

THE PHOTOCHEMISTRY OF SPECIFIC TRYPTOPHAN RESIDUES IN PROTEINS AS ANALYZED BY THE FLUORESCENT SCANNING OF TRYPTIC PEPTIDE MAPS

Abstract— The fact that most proteins contain several tryptophans hinders the investigation of the photochemistry of a particular indole residue. A method is presented here that can be used to investigate the photochemistry of specific tryptophan residues in proteins. It consists simply of separating the peptides of a proteolytically digested protein by TLC and then scanning the peptides at the fluorescent maximum of tryptophan. The assignment of the resultant peaks to a particular peptide is based on the chromatographic comparison of the scans with peptide maps.
Using this method, the photochemistry of the tryptophan residues in alpha crystallin, a major protein of lenses, was investigated. Under photolytic conditions that mimic the transmission characteristics of the cornea (>293 nm), it was found that there is a differential photolysis of the tryptophan residues in the protein; with Trp-9 in the N-terminal peptide photolyzing at a considerably faster rate than Trp-60. In addition to tryptophan, photolytic losses of tyrosine were assessed by scanning the peptide maps at the tyrosine fluorescent maximum. Only one tyrosine residue photolyzes under these conditions. The differential photolysis of the tryptophan residues is explained in part by the presence of residues in the vicinity of the indole moieties.     

ANALYSIS OF PHOTO-OXIDIZED AMINO ACIDS IN TRYPTIC PEPTIDES OF CALF LENS γ-II CRYSTALLIN

Insoluble and crosslinked proteins and increased pigmentation in the eye lens are features of aging and cataracts. Determining the amino acids which are involved in insolubilization, crosslinking and visible light scattering will shed light on the mechanisms by which cataracts form. Calf lens γ-II crystallin was irradiated at 295 nm, digested and separated into tryptic peptides. Additional tryptic peptides were found in the digest of irradiated γ-II which were not present in the dark control digest. These peptides were identified by amino acid sequencing and shown to correspond to expected tryptic fragments of the protein, indicating more facile digestion in the UV-irradiated protein than in dark controls. Amino acid analysis of the irradiated protein and peptides showed losses of histidine. methionine and cysteine residues as compared to control samples. Tryptophan, which is not detected by amino acid analysis, was also found to be reactive since losses in its fluorescence intensity were observed after irradiation. Some of the photochemically active amino acids had lower than expected responses in amino acid sequencing experiments. This suggested specific sites of photochemical activity in the various peptides. The evidence for peptide crosslinks is also discussed.     

HETEROGENEITY IN THE THERMALLY-INDUCED QUENCHING OF THE PHOSPHORESCENCE OF MULTI-TRYPTOPHAN PROTEINS

Abstract— The steady-state intensity and lifetime of the tryptophan phosphorescence from a number of globular proteins in 2:1 (v/v) glycerol buffer were monitored as a function of temperature. The phosphorescence lifetimes are essentially independent of the tryptophan local environment in rigid solution at temperatures < 170K, but vary markedly between proteins at temperatures at which the solutions become fluid. The ratio of steady-state intensity to lifetime P/τ was found to be temperature independent despite the quenching for free tryptophan and the lone residue in myelin basic protein. Heterogeneity in the triplet quenching of the tryptophans in liver alcohol dehydrogenase and alkaline phosphatase were revealed as step-like decreases in the ratio of P/T followed by plateau regions characterizing the homogeneous behavior of the more resistent tryptophans in the proteins. This heterogeneity exists not only between solvent-exposed and buried residues, but reflects variations in the flexibility of the structure surrounding distinct buried tryptophans in the globular proteins.     

Resonance Energy Transfer in a Genetically Engineered Polypeptide Results in Unanticipated Fluorescence Intensity

The fluorescence intensity of a C-terminal acceptor chromophore, N-(7-dimethylamino-4-methyl coumarin (DACM), increased proportionally with 280 nm irradiation of an increasing number of donor tryptophan residues located on a β-sheet forming polypeptide. The fluorescence intensity of the acceptor chromophore increased even as the length of the β-sheet edge approached 256 Å, well beyond the Förster radius for the tryptophan–acceptor chromophore pair. The folding of the peptides under investigation was verified by circular dichroism (CD) and deep UV resonance Raman experiments. Control experiments showed that the enhancement of DACM fluorescence occurred concomitantly with peptide folding. In other control experiments, the DACM fluorescence intensity of the solutions of tryptophan and DACM did not show any enhancement of DACM fluorescence with increasing tryptophan concentrations. Formation of fibrillar aggregates of the substrate peptides prepared for the fluorescence studies was undetectable by thioflavin T (ThT) fluorescence.     

EFFECTS OF METAL CATIONS, RETINAL, AND THE PHOTOCYCLE ON THE TRYPTOPHAN EMISSION IN BACTERIORHODOPSIN

Abstract— The picosecond fluorescence kinetics of tryptophan residues in bacteriorhodopsin and some perturbed analogs are measured to study the different tryptophan environments and their changes upon metal cation removal, retinal removal, and M₄₁₂ trapping. In bacteriorhodopsin, the emission shows four decay components designated Or, C2r, C3r, and C4r in order of increasing lifetimes. The emission wavelength of C3r and C4r is near that found in aqueous solution, while that of C1r is the shortest. The removal of retinal triples the total emission intensity and reduces the number of components to two, suggesting that the observed variation of the lifetimes in bacteriorhodopsin results from the variation of the energy transfer efficiency between different tryptophans and retinal. We conclude that the Or and C2r emission is from the closest tryptophans to the retinal. The quenching of the C3r emission by all metal cations, including those that cannot act as energy acceptors, e.g. Ca²⁺, is attributed to protein conformation changes caused by metal cation binding which leads to a stronger energy transfer coupling between tryptophans and retinal. The additional quenching of the C2r emission in Eu³⁺bound bacterioopsin is proposed to result from direct energy transfer between tryptophans and Eu³⁺.     

THE MODIFICATION OF RIBONUCLEASE-A BY NEARULTRAVIOLET IRRADIATION IN THE PRESENCE OF PSORALEN

Abstract— Ribonuclease A is inactivated when irradiated under oxygen by UV-A light in the presence of psoralen. The rate of inactivation is greatly reduced by sodium azide. ascorbate or nitrogen, whereas the substrate gives only very limited protection. A ribonuclease sample modified to 40% remaining activity presented a significant modification of amino acid residues known to be sensitive to oxidation and 1.4 mol of bound psoralen per mol of protein. The secondary structure of the enzyme, as assessed by circular dicroism was not changed by irradiation; neither was aggregation of the enzyme to a higher mol wt evident. Studies on the tryptic peptides fractionated by high performance liquid chromatography showed that the photomodification occurs with very low selectivity. All the five peptides containing hystidine, tyrosine and methionine residues were greatly modified, although two, those containing histidine residues 12 and 119 in the sequence, amino acids known to be involved in the catalytic activity of ribonuclease. are modified to a greater extent. The protein bound psoralen. revealed by radioactivity in the HPLC eluate, was not found associated to only one or few peptide peaks but spread on a large zone of elution.     

Charge remote fragmentation in electron capture and electron transfer dissociation

Secondary fragmentations of three synthetic peptides (human αA crystallin peptide 1-11, the deamidated form of human βB2 crystallin peptide 4-14, and amyloid β peptide 25-35) were studied in both electron capture dissociation (ECD) and electron-transfer dissociation (ETD) mode. In ECD, in addition to c and z· ion formations, charge remote fragmentations (CRF) of z· ions were abundant, resulting in internal fragment formation or partial/entire side-chain losses from amino acids, sometimes several residues away from the backbone cleavage site, and to some extent multiple side-chain losses. The internal fragments were observed in peptides with basic residues located in the middle of the sequences, which was different from most tryptic peptides with basic residues located at the C-terminus. These secondary cleavages were initiated by hydrogen abstraction at the α-, β-, or γ-position of the amino acid side chain. In comparison, ETD generates fewer CRF fragments than ECD. This secondary cleavage study will facilitate ECD/ETD spectra interpretation, and help de novo sequencing and database searching.     

Dependence of tryptophan emission wavelength on conformation in cyclic hexapeptides

The wavelength of maximum emission of tryptophan depends on the local electrostatic environment of the indole chromophore. The time-resolved emission spectra of seven rigid cyclic hexapeptides containing a single tryptophan residue were measured. The emission maxima of the three decay-associated spectra for the seven peptides ranged from 341 to 359 nm, suggesting that different tryptophan rotamers have different emission maxima even in the case of solvent-exposed tryptophans. This conclusion is supported by quantum mechanical/molecular dynamics simulations of the six canonical side chain rotamers of tryptophan in solvated hexapeptides. The calculated range of emission maxima for the tryptophan rotamers of the seven peptides is 344-365 nm. The precision of the wavelength calculations and the peptide, water, and charged side chain contributions to the spectral shifts are examined. The results indicate that the emission maxima of decay-associated spectra can aid in the assignment of fluorescence lifetimes to tryptophan rotamers.     

THE FLUORESCENCE OF TRYPTOPHYL PEPTIDES

Abstract— Tryptophan lifetimes and relative quantum yields have been determined for a group of small (1–4 residues) peptides and peptide hormones [luteinizing releasing factor. mellitin, glucagon. glucagon 22–29, glucagon 1–26. glucagon 1–27 (homoserine)]. All of the larger peptides and most of the smaller peptide anions exhibit nonexponential decay. Peptide quenching in the small peptides is more effective when the bonding is at the amino rather than at the carboxyl end of tryptophan. With the exception of tryptophylglycine. quenching by NH⁺₃ is thought not to involve proton transfer. The results suggest that a decay component of 3–4 ns is expected whenever large peptides and proteins contain a solvent exposed tryptophan.     

CHANGE IN SULFHYDRYL GROUP MICROENVIRONMENT OF CALF LENS α-CRYSTALLIN BY 300 nm LIGHT

Abstract— The effect of 300 nm irradiation on the sulfhydryl groups of calf lens a-crystallin has been investigated by using specific, covalently bound fluorescent sulfhydryl probes 4–(N-iodoacetoxy)ethyl-N-methylamino-7-n-itrobenz-2-o-xa-1,3-d-iazole (IANBD), N-iodoacetyl-N'-(5-s-ulfo-l-naphthyl) ethylene-diamine (1,5 IAEDANS) and 5-i-odoacetamidofluorescein (IAF). The decrease in tryptophan fluorescence with time of irradiation of a-crystallin, is accompanied by a decrease in the fluorescence of the hydrophobic sulfhydryl label IANBD. In addition, the fluorescence of the surface-sulfhydryl label IAF increased in the irradiated a-crystallin. These results indicate that the sulfhydryl groups are in a more exposed (hydrophilic) environment in the irradiated protein than in the control, possibly because of partial unfolding of the protein. This result is confirmed by fluorescence lifetime measurements with IAEDANS. The decay curve of IAEDANS-α-crystallin has a major lifetime of 15.7 ns and a minor one of 24.6 ns. Upon irradiation, the lifetime of the major component decreases to 10.2 ns and that of the minor component to 21.7 ns. Denatured IAEDANS-α-crystallin has a single lifetime of 10.4 ns. These results show that the photoinduced damage to the tryptophan residues of α-crystallin alters the environment of the sulfhydryl groups and induces a change in the tertiary structure of the protein. Proximity of the cysteine residues to tryptophan in the tertiary structure of the protein may be an important determinant of their susceptibility to photoinduced change.     

Immunological Detection of N‐formylkynurenine in Porphyrin‐Mediated Photooxided Lens α‐crystallin

Crystallin proteins are responsible for maintaining lens transparency and allowing the lens to focus light undistorted onto the retina. The α‐crystallins are the major lens crystallins, and function as both structural proteins and chaperones to protect all lens proteins from damage leading to lens deterioration. Because lens crystallin proteins do not turn over, the damage they accumulate can lead to cataracts, the world’s leading cause of blindness. Photosensitizing porphyrins can accumulate in the eye through either endogenous metabolism or through therapeutic or diagnostic procedures. Porphyrin buildup exacerbates lens aging through increased levels of singlet oxygen, resulting in protein polymerization and amino acid residue alteration. Tryptophans oxidize to kynurenine and N‐formylkynurenine (NFK) causing irreversible changes in the refractive index of the normally transparent lens, leading to development of cataracts. Additionally, NFK is itself a photosensitizer, and its presence exacerbates lens deterioration. This work uses anti‐NFK antiserum to study porphyrin‐facilitated photooxidation of α‐crystallin tryptophan residues. In vitro experiments show that four biologically interesting porphyrins mediate α‐crystallin polymerization and accumulation of both protein radicals and NFK. Confocal microscopy of cultured human lens epithelial cells indicates that while all four porphyrins photosensitize cellular proteins, not all oxidize the tryptophans of cellular α‐crystallin to NFK.     

Photophysical properties of ricin

The molar absorption coefficient of ricin in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) at 279 nm was measured as (93,900+/-3300) L mol(-1) cm(-1). The concentration of ricin was determined using amino acid analysis. The absorption spectrum of ricin was interpreted in terms of 69% contribution from absorption by tryptophan residues and 31% contribution from absorption by tyrosine residues. The total dipole strength of the ricin band at 280 nm was determined to be (147+/-8) D2 and was consistent with the combined dipole strengths of 10 tryptophan ([11.7+/-1.0] D2) and 23 tyrosine ([1.4+/-0.2] D2) residues. The structure of ricin was used to determine the coupling of the tryptophan residues in ricin. The maximum interaction energy was found to be 424 cm(-1)/epsilon while the average interaction between any two pairs of tryptophan residues was approximately 18 cm(-1)/epsilon. In this study, epsilon is the dielectric constant inside the protein. The fluorescence from ricin, excited at 280 nm, was dominated by fluorescence from tryptophan residues suggesting the presence of energy transfer from tyrosine to tryptophan residues. The absorbance and fluorescence of ricin increased slightly when ricin was denatured in a high concentration of guanidine. Irreversible thermal unfolding of ricin occurred between 65 degrees C and 70 degrees C. (D=3.3364*10(-30) Cm, not SI unit, convenient unit for the magnitude of the electric dipole moment of molecules.).     

THE PHOTOREACTIONS OF 8-METHOXYPSORALEN WITH TRYPTOPHAN AND LENS PROTEINS*

Abstract— We have previously demonstrated that 8-methoxypsoralen (8-MOP) can be found in the lenses of rats injected (i.p.) with this drug, and that its presence can lead to a photosensitized enhancement of lenticular fluorescence. The cutaneous photosensitizing properties of psoralens are thought to be mediated via their excited triplet states, resulting in photoaddition cyclobutane products between pyri-midine bases and 8-MOP. We have now investigated the possibility that similar types of photoadducts could be generated between 8-MOP and the aromatic amino acid residues in lens proteins. Our experiments involved in vitro irradiation (at 360 nm) of aqueous solutions of 0.1 mM 8-MOP plus purified alpha, beta, or gamma crystallins from calf or normal human (under 20 years of age) lenses. UV absorption and fluorescence emission spectra were measured before and after radiation, and aliquots from all experiments were frozen and kept in the dark for subsequent phosphorescence and EPR spectroscopy. Similar experiments were performed with irradiated aqueous solutions of tryptophan or thymine plus 8-MOP. All controls consisted of solutions kept in the dark. NMR spectra demonstrated that the hydrogen atoms at the 3,4 and 4',5' positions of the 8-MOP molecule were lost following irradiation, suggesting that these two sites were involved in the photoproduct formed between tryptophan and 8-MOP. These studies strongly suggest that 8-MOP is capable of forming photoaddition products with tryptophan and with lens proteins as well as DNA in vivo, resulting in its permanent retention within the ocular lens.     

Fluorescence of tryptophan-containing peptides on paper or silica gel after treatment with formaldehyde, formaldehyde-ozone or formaldehyde-hydrochloric acid.

Sensitive and specific procedures for the chromatographic detection of tryptophan and tryptophan-containing peptides are described. Formaldehyde gas induces strong and characteristic fluorescence from tryptophan and peptides with NH2-terminal tryptophan residues on silica gel. On filter-paper, the detection of small amounts of these compounds requires the additional use of an oxidant, such as ozone. Treatment with formaldehyde-hydrochloric acid was used as a method for inducing fluorescence from tryptophan-containing peptides regardless of the position of the tryptophan residue in the peptide molecule. This reaction is useful for the chromatographic demonstration of small amounts of such peptides on both paper and silica gel. The spectral properties of the fluorophores of such tryptophan-containing peptides are distinctive and serve to distinguish them from all other known biogenic compounds that are capable of giving fluorescence with formaldehyde.     

Identification of Photooxidation Sites in Bovine α-Crystallin

Abstract— Because UV irradiation of proteins can produce reactive oxygen species and exposure to UV light has been implicated in cataractogenesis, the sites of photooxidation of bovine α-crystallin, a major lens protein with molecular chaperone activity, were identified using tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). Bovine α-crystallin was irradiated with UV light (293 nm) for 1, 4 and 8 h, digested with trypsin and analyzed by matrix-assisted laser de-sorption ionization, time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI) to identify the oxidized sequences. Tryptic peptides were purified by reverse-phase HPLC and oxidized peptides were sequenced by MS/MS to determine the sites of oxidation. Tryptophan fluorescence decreased exponentially with increasing time of UV exposure and peptides containing residues 1-11 of α-crystallin and 1-11, 12-22 and 57-69 of α-crystallin were determined to be oxidized by shifts of 16 D or multiples of 16 Da above the mass of the unmodified peptide. The MALDI analysis revealed single oxidation of all four sequences, which increased with increasing time of UV exposure and possible double oxidation of α 12-22. The specific sites of photooxidation indicate that the N-terminal regions of α-and β-crystallin are exposed to an aqueous environment and are in the vicinity of tryptophan residues from neighboring subunits.     

THE EFFECTS OF NEAR-UV RADIATION ON HUMAN LENS β-CRYSTALLINS: PROTEIN STRUCTURAL CHANGES and THE PRODUCTION OF O2_ and H2O2

beta-Crystallins (beta 1-, beta 2- and beta 3-crystallin) comprise nearly half the protein of the human lens. The effect of near-UV radiation, which is one of the possible risk factors in cataract formation, on the beta-crystallins is investigated in this study. Protein intersubunit crosslinking, change in charge of the protein subunits to more acidic species and changes in protein tertiary structure (conformation) by 300 nm irradiation are reported. The fluorescence yield of protein tryptophan residues decreases by 300 nm irradiation. There is an increase in nontryptophan fluorescence (lambda cx 340 nm, lambda cm 400-600 nm), and in protein absorption at 340 nm, due to the formation of tryptophan photooxidation products. Both tryptophan and its oxidation products can be photoexcited by 300 nm irradiation and the latter are known to be good photosensitizers. The results provide evidence for the generation of H2O2 in the irradiated human beta-crystallin solutions by the Type I photosensitizing action of the chromophores absorbing at 300 nm. The H2O2 is generated via the intermediate production of O2 anion; the latter spontaneously dismutates to H2O2, presumably via O2- protein interactions. The amount of H2O2 generated per absorbed photon is compared for various solutions of beta 1-, beta 2- and beta 3-crystallins from human lenses of different age.     

Spectroscopic studies on the interaction of bovine (BSA) and human (HSA) serum albumins with ionic surfactants

Bovine (BSA) and human (HSA) serum albumins are frequently used in biophysical and biochemical studies since they have a similar folding, a well known primary structure, and they have been associated with the binding of many different categories of small molecules. One important difference of BSA and HSA is the fact that bovine albumin has two tryptophan residues while human albumin has a unique tryptophan. In this work results are presented for the interaction of BSA and HSA with several ionic surfactants, namely, anionic sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), cationic cethyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC) and zwitterionic N-hexadecyl-N,N-dimethyl-3-ammonium-1-propanesulfonate (HPS), as monitored by fluorescence spectroscopy of intrinsic tryptophans and circular dichroism spectroscopy. On the interaction of all three surfactants with BSA, at low concentrations, a quenching of fluorescence takes place and Stern-Volmer analysis allowed to estimate their 'effective' association constants to the protein: for SDS, CTAC and HPS at pH 7.0 these constants are, respectively, (1.4+/-0.1) x 10(5) M(-1), (8.9+/-0.1) x 10(3) M(-1) and (1.4+/-0.1) x 10(4) M(-1). A blue shift of maximum emission is observed from 345 to 330 nm upon surfactant binding. Analysis of fluorescence emission spectra allowed to separate three species in solution which were associated to native protein, a surfactant protein complex and partially denatured protein. The binding at low surfactant concentrations follows a Hill plot model displaying positive cooperativity and a number of surfactant binding sites very close to the number of cationic or anionic residues present in the protein. Circular dichroism data corroborated the partial loss of secondary structure upon surfactant addition showing the high stability of serum albumin. The interaction of the surfactants with HSA showed an enhancement of fluorescence at low concentrations, opposite to the effect on BSA, consistent with the existence of a unique buried tryptophan residue in this protein with considerable static quenching in the native state. The effects of surfactants at low concentrations were very similar to those of myristic acid suggesting a non specific binding through hydrophobic interaction modulated by eletrostatic interactions. The changes in the vicinity of the tryptophan residues are discussed based on the recently published crystallographic structure of HSA myristate complex (S. Curry et al., Nat. Struct. Biol. 5 (1998) 827).     

CHANGES IN TERTIARY STRUCTURE OF CALF-LENS α-CRYSTALLIN BY NEAR-UV IRRADIATION: ROLE OF HYDROGEN PEROXIDE

The effect of 300 nm irradiation on the three lens crystallins, α-, β-, and γ-, was studied by using fluorescence and circular dichroism techniques. α-Crystallin showed a pronounced change in tertiary structure as manifested in fluorescence and circular dichroism measurements. This finding is in agreement with our earlier findings that the tryptophan residues of α-crystallin are more exposed than those of the other two crystallins. The results of studies using inhibitors specific for the different active species of oxygen suggest that H₂O₂-mediated damage is involved in the change of tertiary structure of the proteins. Analyses of circular dichroism spectra indicate that, upon irradiation, the secondary structure of α-crystallin remains virtually unaltered, and that the change in tertiary structure results primarily from photoinduced damage to the tryptophan residues.     

Picosecond dynamics of a peptide from the acetylcholine receptor interacting with a neurotoxin probed by tailored tryptophan fluorescence

A tryptophan analog, dehydro-N-acetyl-L-tryptophanamide (delta-NATA), which is produced enzymatically via L-tryptophan 2',3'-oxidase from Chromobacterium violaceum, is newly used for time-resolved fluorescence. The absorption and emission maxima of delta-NATA at 332 and 417 nm, respectively, in 20% dimethylformamide-water are significantly shifted to the red with respect to those of tryptophan in water, permitting us to measure its fluorescence in the presence of tryptophan residues. We demonstrate that the steady-state spectra and the fluorescence decay of delta-NATA are very sensitive to environment, changing dramatically with solvent as the chromophore is localized within a protein and when this tagged protein binds to a peptide. The tryptophan oxidase was also used to modify the single Trp of a neurotoxin from snake (Naja nigricollis) venom. Modification of the toxin alpha (dehydrotryptophan-toxin alpha) permitted its investigation in complex with a synthetic 15-amino acid peptide corresponding to a loop of the agonist-binding site of acetylcholine receptor (AchR) from Torpedo marmorata species. The peptide alpha-185 possesses a single Trp at the third position (Trp187 of AchR) and a disulfide bridge between Cys192 and Cys193. A single-exponential rotational diffusion time with a constant of 1.65 ns is measured for the isolated 15-amino acid peptide. This suggests that Trp motion in the peptide in solution is strongly correlated with the residues downstream the peptide sequence, which may in part be attributed to long-range order imposed by the disulfide bond. The dynamics of the bound peptide are very different: the presence of two correlation times indicates that the Trp187 of the peptide has a fast motion (taur1 = 140 ps and r(0)1 = 0.14) relative to the overall rotation of the complex (taur2 = 3.4 ns and r(0)2 = 0.04). The correlation of the Trp residue with its neighboring amino acid residues and with the overall motion of the peptide is lost, giving rise to its rapid restricted motion. Thus, the internal dynamics of interacting peptides change on binding.