No abstract

The cation-pi interaction, a noncovalent interaction of electrostatic nature between a cation and an electron-rich pi system, is increasingly recognized as an important force that influences the structures and functions of molecules including proteins. Unlike other metal cations, the transition metal cation Cu2+ is not regarded to take part in a cation-pi interaction because Cu2+ tends to oxidize the pi electron system, in particular that of Trp, and to introduce covalency in the metal-pi electron interaction. This paper reports the first spectral evidence for the cation-pi interaction between Cu2+ and Trp. The Cu2+ ion bound to the amino N-terminal Cu2+/Ni2+ binding motif composed of three amino acid residues interacts with the indole ring of the fourth Trp residue in a noncovalent manner. The Cu2+-Trp interaction produces a distinct negative band at 223 nm in circular dichroism (CD), which disappears upon mutation or depletion of the Trp residue or upon replacement of the Cu2+ ion by Ni2+. In UV absorption, a pair of negative/positive intensity changes is generated at 222/231 nm by the Cu2+-Trp interaction, being consistent with the previous observations on the indole ring interacting with K+ or a cationic His imidazole ring. The negative CD band around 223 nm is characteristic of the Cu2+-Trp pair and may be useful as a marker of the Cu2+-Trp cation-pi interaction. Coordination of negatively charged ligands to Cu2+ is suggested to be important for the cation to be involved in a cation-pi interaction.

A new approach for studying a peptide conformation of amyloid fibril has been developed. It is based on infrared linear dichroism analysis using an IR-microscope for aligned amyloid fibril. The polarization directions of amide I and II bands were perpendicular similarly for beta2-microglobulin and its #21-31 peptide. Furthermore, this approach has shown that the #21-31 peptide consists of two C=O bonds in the beta-sheet that makes 0 degrees with the fibril axis, three C=O bonds in the beta-sheet inclined by 27 degrees with respect to the fibril axis, four residues in the random coil by 47 degrees , and two residues in possible beta-bulge structure by 32 degrees . Plausible structures of the amyloid core in the fibril are proposed by taking account of these results.

We have constructed an infrared electroabsorption spectroscopic system employing the alternating current (AC) coupled dispersive method developed previously in our laboratory. It is highly sensitive, measuring electric-field-induced infrared absorption changes as small as 6 x 10(-8) in the mid-infrared region of 4000-820 cm(-1). Infrared electroabsorption spectra of liquids and solutions can be measured at room temperature. The system was first applied to liquid acetone to observe the orientational as well as the electronic polarization signals. These signals show distinct behaviors that are exactly predicted by theory. It was then applied to liquid 1,2-dichloroethane, for which electric-field-induced gauche/trans equilibrium changes were detected as infrared absorption changes. The gauche/trans ratio in room-temperature liquid 1,2-dichloroethane has been determined for the first time as 1.4 +/- 0.2. This equilibrium constant has led to the free energy difference deltaG of 0.9 +/- 0.4 kJ mol(-1) (deltaG = G(g) - G(t)) and the entropy difference of deltaS = -3.0 +/- 1.4 J K(-1) mol(-1) with the known enthalpy difference deltaH approximately 0.0 kJ mol(-1). Finally, the system was applied to 1,4-dioxane solutions of N-methylacetamide. The dipole moments of the monomer as well as that of the dimer of N-methylacetamide have been determined separately and a head-to-tail structure of the dimer has been clarified. The instrumentation and the theoretical basis of infrared electroabsorption spectroscopy are described in detail together with the above-mentioned experimental results.