INFLUENCE OF THE LOCATION OF TRYPTOPHANYL RESIDUES IN PROTEINS ON THEIR PHOTOSENSITIVITY

The environmental effect on Trp residues photolysis was investigated on four proteins containing a single Trp residue in environments of various polarities: glucagon (exposed residue), nuclease (partially buried residue), RNase T₁ (fully buried residue) and melittin (exposed or partially buried residue depending on the salt concentration). Direct photolysis was performed in neutral N₂-saturated phosphate solution at 20°C using 302 nm monochromatic light. Tryptophan loss was monitored by both absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy and by amino acid analysis. The results suggest that tryptophan photodegradation depends on the location of the residue in the protein, with regard to the exposure to the aqueous medium and to the neighbouring amino acids in the primary amino acid sequence and in the three dimensional structure. Photochemical products were not analysed but fluorescence spectra indicate that they vary with protein.