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Fourier transform infrared micro-spectroscopy (FTIRM) and imaging (FTIRI) have become valuable techniques for examining the chemical makeup of biological materials by probing their vibrational motions on a microscopic scale. Synchrotron infrared (S-IR) light is an ideal source for FTIRM and FTIRI due to the combination of its high brightness (i.e., flux density), also called brilliance, and broadband nature. Through a 10-microm pinhole, the brightness of a synchrotron source is 100-1000 times higher than a conventional thermal (globar) source. Accordingly, the improvement in spatial resolution and in spectral quality to the diffraction limit has led to a plethora of applications that is just being realized. In this review, we describe the development of synchrotron-based FTIRM, illustrate its advantages in many applications to biological systems, and propose some potential future directions for the technique.

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Strong epidemiologic evidence suggests an association between Alzheimer disease (AD) and type 2 diabetes. To determine if amyloid beta (Aβ) and hyperphosphorylated tau occurs in type 2 diabetes, pancreas tissues from 21 autopsy cases (10 type 2 diabetes and 11 controls) were analyzed. APP and tau mRNAs were identified in human pancreas and in cultured insulinoma beta cells (INS-1) by RT-PCR. Prominent APP and tau bands were detected by Western blotting in pancreatic extracts. Aggregated Aβ, hyperphosphorylated tau, ubiquitin, apolipoprotein E, apolipoprotein(a), IB1/JIP-1 and JNK1 were detected in Langerhans islets in type 2 diabetic patients. Aβ was co-localized with amylin in islet amyloid deposits. In situ beta sheet formation of islet amyloid deposits was shown by infrared microspectroscopy (SIRMS). LPS increased APP in non-neuronal cells as well. We conclude that Aβ deposits and hyperphosphorylated tau are also associated with type 2 diabetes, highlighting common pathogenetic features in neurodegenerative disorders, including AD and type 2 diabetes and suggesting that Aβ deposits and hyperphosphorylated tau may also occur in other organs than the brain.

Protein misfolding and aggregation are the hallmark of a number of diseases including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and the prion diseases. In all cases, a naturally-occurring protein misfolds and forms aggregates that are thought to disrupt cell function through a wide range of mechanisms that are yet to be fully unraveled. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy is a technique that is sensitive to the secondary structure of proteins and has been widely used to investigate the process of misfolding and aggregate formation. This review focuses on how FTIR spectroscopy and spectroscopic microscopy are being used to evaluate the structural changes in disease-related proteins both in vitro and directly within cells and tissues. Finally, ongoing technological advances will be presented that are enabling time-resolved FTIR imaging of protein aggregation directly within living cells, which can provide insight into the structural intermediates, time scale, and mechanisms of cell toxicity associated with aggregate formation.

Synchrotron infrared microspectroscopy (SIRMS) was used for the first time to image the distribution and secondary structure of an enzyme (lipase B from Candida antarctica, CALB) immobilized within a macroporous polymer matrix (poly(methyl methacrylate)) at 10 microm resolution. The beads of this catalyst (Novozyme435) were cut into thin sections (12 microm). SIRMS imaging of these thin sections revealed that the enzyme is localized in an external shell of the bead with a thickness of 80-100 microm. Also, the enzyme was unevenly distributed throughout this shell. Furthermore, by SIRMS-generated spectra, it was found that CALB secondary structure was not altered by immobilization. Unlike CALB, polystyrene molecules of similar molecular weight diffuse easily throughout Novozyme435 beads. Scanning electron micrograph (SEM) images of the Novozyme435 beads showed that the average pore size is 10 times larger than CALB or polystyrene molecules, implying that there is no physical barrier to enzyme or substrate diffusion throughout the bead. Thus, the difference between polystyrene and enzyme diffusivity suggests that protein-matrix and protein-protein interactions govern the distribution of the enzyme within the macroporous resin.

Hemeproteins play an important role in the signaling processes mediated by nitric oxide (NO). For example, the production of NO by nitric oxide synthase, the activation of guanylate cyclase by binding NO, and the scavenging of NO by hemoglobin, myoglobin, and cytochrome c oxidase all occur through unique mechanisms of interaction between NO and hemeproteins. Unlike carbon monoxide (CO) and oxygen (O2), which have been studied extensively, the reactions of NO with ferric and ferrous hemeproteins are not as well characterized. In this work, NO binding to myoglobin is studied using cryogenic optical spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) in order to characterize the ligand-bound and photoproduct states involved in the interaction of NO with the heme iron and the distal pocket of the protein. For ferrous nitrosyl myoglobin (MbIINO), optical spectroscopy is used to show that the ligand-bound state can be converted to >95% stable photoproduct below 10 K. The Soret peak of the photoproduct is red-shifted by 4 nm relative to deoxy-myoglobin (Mb), similar to previous results for carbonmonoxy- (MbCO) and oxy-myoglobin (MbO2) (Miller et al., 1996). MbIINO completely rebinds by 35 K, indicating that the rebinding barrier for NO is lower than MbCO, consistent with room temperature picosecond kinetic measurements. For ferric nitrosyl myoglobin (MbIIINO), we find that the photoproduct yield at cryogenic temperatures is less than unity and dependent on the distal pocket residue. Native MbIIINO has a lower photoproduct yield than the mutant, MbIII(H64L)NO, where the distal histidine is replaced by leucine. The rebinding rates for the native and mutant species are similar to each other and to MbIINO. By using FTIR difference spectroscopy (photolyzed/unphotolyzed) of isotopically labeled ferrous nitrosyl myoglobin (MbIINO), the NO stretching frequencies in both the ligand-bound states and photoproduct states are determined. Two ligand-bound conformational states (1607 and 1613 cm-1) and two photoproduct conformational states (1852 and 1857 cm-1) are observed for MbIINO. This is the first direct observation of photolyzed NO in the distal pocket of myoglobin. The ligand-bound frequencies are consistent with a bent MbIINO moiety, where the unpaired pi*(NO) electron remains localized on NO, causing nu(N-O) to be approximately 300 cm-1 lower than MbIIINO. Similar to MbO2, we suggest that Nepsilon of the distal histidine is protonated, forming a hydrogen bond to the NO ligand. For native MbIIINO, a single ligand-bound conformational state with respect to nu(N-O) is observed at 1927 cm-1. This frequency decreases to 1904 cm-1 for the mutant, MbIII(H64L)NO, contrary to the increase of the carbon monoxide (CO) stretching frequency in the isoelectronic MbII(H64L)CO mutant versus native MbCO. For linear MbIIINO, we suggest that backbonding from the unpaired pi*(NO) electron to iron results in an increased positive charge on the NO ligand, Fe(delta-)-NO(delta+). This can be facilitated by tautomerism of the distal hist...