Conformational differences of oxytocin and vasopressin as observed by fluorescence anisotropy decays and transient effects in collisional quenching of tyrosine fluorescence

We used gigahertz frequency-domain fluorometry to examine the tyrosyl fluorescence intensity and anisotropy decays of the single-tyrosine cyclic peptide hormones oxytocin and vasopressin. Acrylamide quenching and a distance-dependent quenching model for collisional quenching were used to evaluate the extent of tyrosyl exposure to the quencher and to provide increased resolution of the picosecond anisotropy decays. Analysis of the intensity decays using a lifetime distribution model shows different distributions for oxytocin and vasopressin. We found that the tyrosyl fluorescence of lysine-vasopressin, as revealed both by the lifetime Stern-Volmer plots and from the quenching analysis, is quenched more effectively than oxytocin. ForN-acetyltyrosinamide (NATyrA), oxytocin, and lysine-vasopressin, we recovered apparent diffusion coefficients for quenching of 4.7×10^–6, 0.44×10^–6, and 4.3×10^–6 cm²/s, respectively, the lower value for oxytocin suggesting a shielded environment for its tyrosyl residue. Tyrosyl anisotropy decays were recovered by global analysis of progressively quenched samples. Compared with oxytocin, vasopressin displayed a longer correlation time for overall rotational diffusion and a higher amplitude for picosecond segmented motions of its tyrosyl residue. All the data are consistent with a more extended and flexible solution structure for vasopressin than for oxytocin.Dedicated to Professor Alfons Kawski on the occasion of his 65th birthday.     

Phenylalanine fluorescence and phosphorescence used as a probe of conformation for cod parvalbumin

The fluorescence emission and triplet absorption properties of phenylalanine in cod fish parvalbumin type II, a protein that contains no Trp or Tyr, was examined in the time scale ranging from nanoseconds to microseconds at 25°C in aqueous buffer (pH 7.0). In the presence of Ca(II), the decay of fluorescence gave two lifetimes (5.9 and 53 ns) and the triplet lifetime was 425 s. Upon removal of Ca, the fluorescence intensity decreased to values approaching that for free Phe, while the longest fluorescence decay component was 17 ns. At the same time, the decay of triplet showed complex nonexponential kinetics with decay rates faster than in the presence of Ca. Quenching and denaturation analyses suggest that the Phe's are present in a hydrophobic environment in the Ca-bound protein but that the Ca-free protein is relatively unstructured. It is concluded that Phe luminescence in proteins is sensitive to conformation and that the long lifetime of Phe excited states needs to be considered when studying its photochemistry in proteins.     

Quenching interactions and nonexponential decay: tryptophan 138 of bacteriophage T4 lysozyme

Site-directed mutagenesis has been used to prepare variants of bacteriophage T4 lysozyme that contain only one tryptophan residue at position 138 and to change the residues in the immediate environment of this buried residue. Replacement of glutamine-105 by alanine results in a 2.7-fold increase in fluoresence quantum yield and converts the fluorescence decay from a highly nonexponential form to a single-exponential decay. This is atributed to electron transfer quenching of tryptophan-138 fluorescence by glutamine-105. Replacemeent of alanine-146 by threonine results in a 1.6-fold decrease in fluorescence intensity, indicating enhanced quenching by glutamine-105; replacement of glutamine-105 by alanine in this species results in a 5-fold in crease in fluorescence intensity. The interpretation of the nonexponential decay of the glutamine-105-containing species is discussed in terms of reversibility of the quenching process.     

Steady-State and Time-Resolved Fluorescence Spectroscopic Studies on Interaction of the N-terminal Region with the Hairpin Loop of the Phytocystain Scb

The steady-state and time-resolved fluorescece spectroscopy is one of the most powerful method to detect and analyze subtle conformation change and interaction between peptide elements in protein. Phytocystatin Scb isolated from sunflower seeds includes a single Trp residue at position 85. In an attempt to investigate the interaction of the N-terminal region of Scb with the first and second hairpin loops by fluorescence spectroscopy of Trp residue, two Scb mutants in which single Trp locates at position 52 and 58, respectively, and their N-terminal removed mutants were generated. The N-terminal truncation changed the fluorescence decay kinetics of Trp52 from the triple exponential to double. Furthermore, the time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy residue indicated that the segmental motion of Trp52 was significantly enhanced by its N-terminal truncation. In contrast, Trp58 and Trp85 had little influence. The N-terminal successive truncations of Scb and its mutants resulted in the weaken inhibitors to papain. These results suggested that the N-terminal region of Scb interacts with the peptide segment preceding the first hairpin loop, thereby stabilizing the conformation of the hairpin loop structure.     

侧链基团对聚合物薄膜瞬态发光性能的影响

采用飞秒激光光谱技术比较研究了两种卟啉侧链聚合物:卟啉丙烯酸酯-苯乙烯共聚物P[(por)A-S]和卟啉铁(Ⅲ)丙烯酸酯-苯乙烯共聚物P[(por)FeA-S]的瞬态发光性能。并采用纳秒激光光谱技术测量了小分子卟啉(TPP)的荧光动力学过程。结果表明:P[(por)FeA-S]具有比P[(por)A-S]快得多的荧光弛豫过程,而P[(por)A-S]的荧光寿命远小于小分子卟啉的荧光寿命。对上述过程进行了分析,P[(por)A-S]的荧光衰变主要来源于聚合物分子链间的相互作用;而P[(por)FeA-S]的荧光衰变除了来源于聚合物分子链间的相互作用外,中央金属离子与配位体之间的电荷转移也对卟啉发色基团的激发态超快无辐射弛豫具有重要的影响,对上述过程的产生机理进行了讨论。     

Tyrosyl Fluorescence Decays and Rotational Dynamics in Tyrosine Monomers and in Dipeptides

Picosecond time-correlated single-photon counting was used to measure fluorescence lifetimes and fluorescence anisotropy decays of tyrosine and the tyrosine–alanine and tyrosine–leucine dipeptides. After excitation of tyrosine at 287 nm two emitting species were observed, one at 303 nm with a lifetime of 3.3 ns and another at 340 nm with a lifetime of 360 ps. The rotational correlation time of tyrosine at 303 nm is 38 ps in water at pH 7 and depends linearly on viscosity with a slope of 44 ps/cP, consistent with Stokes–Einstein–Debye theory. We calculated a value of 45 ns for the radiative lifetime of tyrosine, yielding a fluorescence quantum yield of 0.07. The dipeptides Tyr–Ala and Tyr–Leu exhibit two- or three-exponential decays. The amplitudes of the decay components for three-exponential fits correlate closely with the populations of rotamers in these peptides as determined by NMR. The quenching of dipeptide fluorescence is shown to depend on the solvent polarity, strongly supporting the hypothesis that tyrosyl fluorescence in peptides is quenched by charge transfer. The rotational correlation times of tyrosine, Tyr–Ala, and Tyr–Leu increase linearly with the van der Waals volumes. However, rotational relaxation is somewhat faster than expected from Stokes–Einstein–Debye theory with stick boundary conditions.     

半花菁分子激发态的动力学特性研究

本文利用不同波段的时间分辨荧光和三维荧光谱对半花菁分子激发态的动力学特性进行了研究。在半花菁／花生酸交替的Y型多层膜中,半花菁分子形成的H－聚集体引起其三维荧光谱蓝移,并且荧光峰随时间的变化逐渐向红光方向移动。由于聚集体内所有分子间的相互作用（耦合）相干叠加,使得LB膜中的半花菁分子的激发态寿命比溶液寿命要短,由激发态较高振动能级向低能级过渡较快,因而不同波段的起始发光时间相差也较小。     

拟威布尔分布密度函数在荧光寿命成像数据分析中的应用

荧光寿命法成像技术(FLIM)是一种非常有效、功能强大且能用来分析复杂生物组织和细胞分子的成像技术。传统的荧光寿命成像的数据分析,按某些具有不同寿命、离散的单参量指数模型来描述荧光衰减过程。在生物组织这样既复杂又不均匀的样品中,虽然多参量指数模型能提供比单参量指数模型对实验数据更好的拟合效果,但是离散多参量的假定往往是随意的。提出了拟威布尔分布密度函数可能是生物荧光分子团衰减动力过程的真实再现,并且通过计算证明,对于某些生化感兴趣的荧光分子团的多槽基面效价测定样品的数据,相对于单参量指数与多参量指数衰减函数有更好的一致性。同时讨论了将该荧光衰减模型应用于荧光寿命成像的前景。     

Quantification of fluorescent molecules in heterogeneous media by use of the fluorescence decay amplitude analysis

In heterogeneous media, including biological objects, fluorescent molecules of one kind often exist as a mixture of species with different fluorescence parameters. Fractional concentrations of these species can be measured by analyzing their fluorescence decay amplitudes. The amplitudes are linear functions of concentrations of actually fluorescent molecules, i.e., molecules whose fluorescence decay can be measured. Other (quenched) molecules do not influence these amplitudes. The other parameter that has to be measured to calculate these concentrations is the radiative rate constant. The parameter can be excluded by comparison of decay amplitudes of the sample studied and a standard. The comparison should be made taking into account the dependence of the radiation rates on emision wavelength. The method has been tested in experiments with the fluorescent probe 3-methoxybenzanthrone (MBA) bound with phosphatidylcholine bilayer membranes. The probe has a complex fluorescence decay in these membranes. The decay can be described as two exponentials, with decay times of 2 and 12 ns and a blue-shifted fluorescence spectrum of the short-life component as compared with long-life one. The shift was used to correct calculated radiative rate values. After this, about 100% of the MBA molecules were found to be fluorescent in these membranes. Thus, this approach can be used to measure absolute concentrations of subpopulations of fluorescent molecules in heterogeneous biological objects.     

Quinolinesulfonamides: Interaction between bovine serum albumin,molecular docking analysis,and antiproliferative activity against human breast carcinoma cells

The complex formation of bovine serum albumin (BSA) with library of all seven regioisomeric quinolinesulfonamides (QSAs) under physiological condition is studied in this paper. The fluorescence quenching mechanism of BSA by QSAs was discussed and the association constants, as well as the number of binding sites, were calculated. In addition, a molecular docking study of the tested sulfamoylquinolines on the active site of serum albumin is performed. The experimental data and molecular docking studies reveal that sulfamoylquinolines bind in the large hydrophobic cavity of subdomain IB, and in the hydrophobic pockets of BSA subdomains IIA and IIIA by hydrophobic interactions with tryptophanyl (Trp-213) and tyrosyl residues. Moreover, the antiproliferative activity of QSAs against two human breast cancer cell lines (human adenocarcinoma (MCF-7) and human ductal carcinoma (MDA-MB-231)) and a human normal fibroblast is also studied in this paper. The antiproliferative activity of the tested QSAs was comparable to those of cisplatin. The returned data indicate that some of the tested quinolinesulfamoyl derivatives display significant cytotoxic activity.     

Covalent and non-covalent binding in the ion/ion charge inversion of peptide cations with benzene-disulfonic acid anions

Protonated angiotensin II and protonated leucine enkephalin-based peptides, which included YGGFL, YGGFLF, YGGFLH, YGGFLK and YGGFLR, were subjected to ion/ion reactions with the doubly deprotonated reagents 4-formyl-1,3-benzenedisulfonic acid (FBDSA) and 1,3-benzenedisulfonic acid (BDSA). The major product of the ion/ion reaction is a negatively charged complex of the peptide and reagent. Following dehydration of [M + FBDSA-H](-) via collisional-induced dissociation (CID), angiotensin II (DRVYIHPF) showed evidence for two product populations, one in which a covalent modification has taken place and one in which an electrostatic modification has occurred (i.e. no covalent bond formation). A series of studies with model systems confirmed that strong non-covalent binding of the FBDSA reagent can occur with subsequent ion trap CID resulting in dehydration unrelated to the adduct. Ion trap CID of the dehydration product can result in cleavage of amide bonds in competition with loss of the FBDSA adduct. This scenario is most likely for electrostatically bound complexes in which the peptide contains both an arginine residue and one or more carboxyl groups. Otherwise, loss of the reagent species from the complex, either as an anion or as a neutral species, is the dominant process for electrostatically bound complexes. The results reported here shed new light on the nature of non-covalent interactions in gas phase complexes of peptide ions that can be used in the rationale design of reagent ions for specific ion/ion reaction applications.     

农药荧光寿命测试系统的原理与设计

介绍荧光的产生、荧光寿命的产生机理以及荧光寿命测量的基本原理。设计了一种利用直接记录法(光子计数法)测量农药荧光寿命的测试系统。该系统针对待测样品的特性，选用了相应的脉冲光源、光学元件和半导体探测器等器件，优化了各器件的工作参数，进行了简易而又科学的模块化设计，并对西维因农药的荧光寿命在无激励光干扰情况下进行了实际测试，测得了西维因溶液在500μg／L浓度时的荧光衰减曲线和荧光寿命(0.30～0.40ns)。结果表明，该系统具有结构简易、操作方便的优点，能测量100ps级的荧光寿命，适合于对能发荧光的农药进行荧光寿命的定量测量。     

Parameter Recovery in Frequency-Domain Time-Resolved Fluorescence Spectroscopy; Resolution of the Prototropic Forms of 5-Carboxyfluorescein in the Physiological pH Range

In time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy, the resolution of fluorescence species becomes increasingly difficult as their respective lifetimes get closer. For a biexponential decay, a factor of 1.4 between the two decay times is commonly accepted as the practical resolution limit. The goal of the present contribution is to characterize the fluorescence probe 5-carboxyfluorescein using frequency-domain time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy (FD-TRFS). To resolve the different prototropic forms of this probe, the limit above had to be overcome. For this purpose, the standard global analysis method was used, and special emphasis was put on the errors associated with the recovered parameters. In particular, a Monte Carlo simulation was performed to estimate these errors and the results of this analysis were compared with those delivered by software packages widely used in the field. The lifetimes of the trianionic and dianionic forms of 5-carboxyfluorescein were 4.01 ± 0.06 and 3.03 ± 0.09 ns, respectively, and the pK _a for this acid–base equilibrium was determined to be 6.9 ± 0.3.     

多环芳烃时间分辨荧光光谱特性研究

利用时间分辨荧光光谱技术,研究了菲、荧蒽、芴、蒽、芘等五种多环芳烃的荧光时间分辨发射光谱特性。以289 nm受激拉曼光作为激发光源,研究了289 nm激发光作用下五种多环芳烃的延时特性和门宽特性。并以多环芳烃随延时时间的荧光峰强度衰减关系曲线,得到菲、荧蒽、芴、芘的荧光寿命分别为37.0, 32.7, 10.9, 147.0 ns。不同荧光物质具有特定的荧光光谱特性,多环芳烃时间分辨荧光光谱特性的研究可以为复杂水体中不同种类多环芳烃的诊断提供依据。     

Steady‐State and Time‐Resolved Emission Studies of 6‐Methoxy Quinoline

Abstract

Steady‐state absorption, fluorescence excitation, and emission spectra of 6‐methoxy quinoline (6‐MQ) were measured at room temperature in cyclohexane, dioxane, ethanol, acetonitrile, water, and water–dioxane solvents. Absorption spectra of cyclohexane, n‐hexane, and isopentane solutions show resolved vibronic structure at room temperature. However, the excitation spectrum of cyclohexane solution is structureless and is found to be emission wavelength dependent, indicating the formation of at least two distinct species in the ground state. Similar behavior was observed in dioxane and water–dioxane solutions. For all other solutions, the fluorescence excitation spectrum of 6‐MQ was found to be the same for different emissions. Emission of 6‐MQ in all solvents consisted of two bands with their maxima around 355 nm (I) and 430 nm (II), the actual positions and the relative intensities being dependent on the solvent used. The bands I and II were respectively attributed to normal and protonated/H‐bonded species of either ¹L_a or ¹L_b states or mixed (¹L_a/¹L_b) state of ππ* character. Fluorescence decay of this dye in all solvents monitored over each emission maximum showed biexponential behavior, and the analysis yielded two different lifetime components for each emission band. The short and long fluorescence decay components were respectively in the range of 0.30–3.00 ns and 18–20 ns. The observed emission characteristics coupled with the nature of the fluorescence polarization spectra and two different decay components for each emission suggest the existence of two different conformers having two different excited electronic states.     

l-Dityrosine: A time-resolved fluorescence investigation

We have investigated the time-resolved fluorescence properties ofll-dityrosine in aqueous solution. Typically, three exponential components were needed to fit the fluorescence pattern adequately, with pure decay terms for the low-intensity, high-energy state (_em = nm) but with a pronounced subnanosecond rise phase for the predominant red-edge fluorescence (_em > 380). Dual fluorescence behavior is indicative of an intramolecular precursorsuccessor pair, i.e., a consecutive intramolecular excited-state reaction. We suggest that this reaction is a torsional motion of the (deprotonated) monoanion along the biphenolic bond. Analysis of the fluorescence anisotropy decay of dityrosine yielded two rotational correlation times, the longer of which is associated with a negative preexponential term. The increase with time in the horizontally polarized component of the intensity decay is interpreted as the result of an electronic rearrangement in the excited state when the successor form of dityrosine is generated. Lifetime distributions of experimental data were probed by an unbiased exponential series method which uses a Tikhonov-type regularization function. The procedure revealed three well-separated groups of lifetimes, the short-lived ensemble forming a formally negative distribution. A photophysical model is introduced which interprets the biexponential decay of dityrosine in terms of overlapping emission signals from the precursor and the successor molecule.     

Metal-Enhanced Chemiluminescence

In this short paper we report the interactions of silver island films with chemiluminescing species. Our findings show that silver island films can increase the detectability of chemiluminescent reactions/species, with an approximately 5-fold increase in signal intensity. This finding not only suggests the use of silver nanostructures to amplify chemiluminscent signatures in assay platforms, and therefore increase the detectability of analytes or biospecies, but more importantly, suggests that surface plasmons can be directly excited by chemically induced electronically excited molecules. This finding is of significance towards our understanding of fluorophore–metal interactions, a relatively new near-field fluorescence concept, recently named metal-enhanced fluorescence and also radiative decay engineering.     

Review of fluorescence anisotropy decay analysis by frequency-domain fluorescence spectroscopy

This didactic paper summarizes the mathematical expressions needed for analysis of fluorescence anisotropy decays from polarized frequency-domain fluorescence data. The observed values are the phase angle difference between the polarized components of the emission and the modulated anisotropy, which is the ratio of the polarized and amplitude-modulated components of the emission. This procedure requires a separate measurement of the intensity decay of the total emission. The expressions are suitable for any number of exponential components in both the intensity decay and the anisotropy decay. The formalism is generalized for global analysis of anisotropy decays measured at different excitation wavelengths and for different intensity decay times as the result of quenching. Additionally, we describe the expressions required for associated anisotropy decays, that is, anisotropy decays where each correlation time is associated with a decay time present in the anisotropy decay. And finally, we present expressions appropriate for distributions of correlation times. This article should serve as a reference for researchers using frequency-domain fluorometry.     

用时间分辨光谱研究红细胞悬液的荧光发射

实验获得了激光照射红细胞悬液的荧光光谱,并分别监测不同荧光峰值波长处强度随时间的衰变过程,测试了其相应的荧光寿命。结果表明,在波长为407nm的激光照射下,红细胞悬液向外发射中心波长分别位于596,628,692nm的荧光光谱,各荧光峰对应衰变过程的平均荧光寿命分别为1.97,13.31,14.58ns。利用荧光强度和吸收率的加和性表示了混合物的总吸收率和总荧光发射强度,通过理论计算获得了红细胞悬液中锌卟啉、原卟啉和其他游离物参与荧光发射的相对含量和相对强度在不同荧光峰位的变化关系,进一步解释了不同峰位处荧光发射强度和平均荧光寿命的变化原因。     

激光诱导叶绿素荧光寿命的测量及其特性分析

提出了一种用于评估植物生长状况及环境监测的激光诱导叶绿素荧光寿命测量方法. 采用波长355 nm的激光作为光源激发叶绿素荧光, 由光电倍增管接收其荧光信号, 由于被测叶绿素荧光衰减函数与激光脉冲、仪器响应函数卷积在一起, 根据它们的特性, 运用时间分辨测量法分别测得叶绿素荧光及其背景信号, 并结合一种新型解卷积算法可分离出真实的叶绿素荧光衰减函数, 从而获取叶绿素的荧光寿命. 测试结果表明: 该方法能够实现叶绿素荧光寿命的高精度实时监测, 对不同叶绿素含量的溶液荧光寿命进行了测试, 证明叶绿素含量与其荧光寿命具有相关性, 并且拟合了叶绿素含量与荧光寿命的标定曲线. 关键词： 荧光寿命 激光诱导荧光 时间分辨测量法 叶绿素含量