The detection and characterization of radicals in biomolecules are challenging due to their high reactivity and low concentration. Mass spectrometry (MS) provides a tool for the unambiguous identification of protein-based radicals by exploiting their reactivity with suitable reagents. To date, protein-radical detection by MS has been modeled after electron paramagnetic resonance experiments, in which diamagnetic spin traps, such as 3,5-dibromo-4-nitrosobenzene sulfonic acid, convert unstable radicals to more stable spin adducts. Since MS detects mass changes, and not unpaired spins, conversion of radicals to stable diamagnetic adducts is more desirable. The use of 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidinyl-1-oxy (TEMPO(*)) in the MS identification of protein-based radicals was explored here to establish whether scavenging via radical combination would give rise to TEMPO adducts that were stable to MS analysis. The horseradish peroxidase/H(2)O(2) reaction was used to generate radicals in derivatives of tyrosine, tryptophan, and phenylalanine as models of protein-based radicals. TEMPO(*) was added as a radical scavenger, and the products were analyzed by electrospray ionization (ESI) MS. Dramatically higher mass-adduct yields were obtained using radical scavenging vs radical trapping, which greatly enhanced the sensitivity of radical detection. The efficiency of TEMPO(*) in protein radical scavenging was examined in horse heart myoglobin and cytochrome c peroxidase (CCP) from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. On H(2)O(2) binding to their ferric hemes, two oxidizing equivalents are transferred to the proteins as an Fe(IV)=O species and a polypeptide-based radical. In addition, CCP has been shown to reduce up to 10 equiv of H(2)O(2) using endogenous donors, thereby generating as many as 20 radicals on its polypeptide. Following myoglobin and CCP incubation with a 10-fold molar excess of H(2)O(2) and TEMPO(*), matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) time-of-flight analysis of the tryptic peptides derived from the proteins revealed 1 and 9 TEMPO adducts of myoglobin and CCP, respectively. Given the high scavenging efficiency of TEMPO(*) and the stability of TEMPO-labeled peptides in ESI and MALDI sources, scavenging by stable nitroxide radicals coupled with MS analysis should provide sensitive and powerful technology for the characterization of protein-based radicals.
[reaction: see text] Photolysis of 3 in argon-saturated 2-propanol led to formation of 5 via intermolecular H-atom abstraction followed by lactonization. Irradiation of 4 in 2-propanol gave compounds 6 and 7 that also come from intermolecular H-atom abstraction. In contrast, photolysis of an oxygen-saturated solution of 3 in 2-propanol yields products 8, 9, and 10, which were all formed from intramolecular H-atom abstraction and trapping of the corresponding biradical with oxygen. Laser flash photolysis of 3 in methanol showed formation of biradical 3BR (lambda(max) 330 nm, and tau = 50 ns) via intramolecular H-atom abstraction as the main photoreactivity of 3. Biradical 3BR decayed into photoenols 3Z and 3E (lambda(max) 390 nm, tau = 6.5 micros and tau = 162 micros, respectively). In comparison, laser flash photolysis of 4 yielded photoenols 4Z and 4E (lambda(max) 390 nm, tau = 15 micros and tau = 3.6 ms, respectively). Thus photoenol 3E is unusually short-lived, and therefore it does not undergo the intramolecular lactonization as we have observed for the analogous photoenol 1E. Photoenol 3Z decays back to 3 via an intramolecular 1,5-H shift, whereas photoenol 3E reforms 3 efficiently via the solvent with the aid of the ortho ester group. The intramolecular lactonization of photoenols 1E and 3E must be a slow process, presumably because the photoenols are rigid and the hydroxyl group is inhibited, by intramolecular hydrogen bonding, from acquiring the correct geometry for lactonization. Thus only photoenols that are resistant to reformation of their ketone via the solvent are long-lived enough to undergo lactonization and release the alcohol moiety.
At low pH in solutions of 50% methanol, proteins form expanded denatured states (the "H" state). In 90% methanol, proteins form expanded helical denatured states with artificial ␣-helices (the "H c " state). Gas-phase ions of ubiquitin, cytochrome c, apomyoglobin, and native and disulfide-reduced -lactoglobulin were formed by electrospray ionization (ESI) of the proteins from the H and H c states in solution. Both states in solution produce the same charge states in ESI. The conformations of the ions were studied with cross section measurements and gas-phase H/D exchange experiments. The cross sections show that the ions retain considerable folded structure. For a given protein and given charge state, ions produced from the H and H c states showed the same cross sections (within ϳ1%). Ions of cytochrome c, apomyoglobin, and native and reduced -lactoglobulin of a given charge state showed no differences in H/D exchange level when produced from the H or H c state. However, ubiquitin ions produced from the H c state consistently exchange fewer (ϳ13%) hydrogens than ions produced from the H state, suggesting that in this case the gas-phase protein ions retain some memory of their solution conformations. (J
The conformations of gas-phase ions of hemoglobin, and its dimer and monomer subunits have been studied with H/D exchange and cross section measurements. During the H/D exchange measurements, tetramers undergo slow dissociation to dimers, and dimers to monomers, but this did not prevent drawing conclusions about the relative exchange levels of monomers, dimers, and tetramers. Assembly of the monomers into tetramers, hexamers, and octamers causes the monomers to exchange a greater fraction of their hydrogens. Dimer ions, however, exchange a lower fraction of their hydrogens than monomers or tetramers. Solvation of tetramers affects the exchange kinetics. Solvation molecules do not appear to exchange, and solvation lowers the overall exchange level of the tetramers. Cross section measurements show that monomer ions in low charge states, and tetramer ions have compact structures, comparable in size to the native conformations in solution. Dimers have remarkably compact structures, considerably smaller than the native conformation in solution and smaller than might be expected from the monomer or tetramer cross sections. This is consistent with the relatively low level of exchange of the dimers. . Electrospray ionization has allowed the study of protein ions in the gas phase, free of water. In the absence of water, monomeric proteins can adopt compact conformations similar to the solution conformations, but also extended conformations far removed from the native state [2,3]. Much of the current understanding of the "size" of protein ions in the gas phase comes from physical methods of measuring collision cross sections using ion mobility spectrometry at pressures of a few Torr [4 -7], at atmospheric pressure [8], or at pressures of ca. 1 ϫ 10 Ϫ3 Torr [7,9,10]. Measurements of ion kinetic energy loss in triple quadrupole systems have also been used to determine collision cross sections of proteins [11][12][13] and protein-ligand complexes [11,14,15]. Chemical probes of protein conformation have been used as well, with much of the work using gas-phase hydrogen deuterium exchange (H/Dx) of trapped ions, either in linear [16 -19] or 3D [20] quadrupole ion traps, or ion cyclotron resonance (ICR) mass spectrometers [21][22][23][24][25].The study of the structure of monomeric proteins in the gas phase has been extended to assemblies containing more than one protein. Ion mobility measurements of complex macromolecular protein complexes at atmospheric pressure [8] or at a pressures of ca. 1 ϫ 10 Ϫ3 Torr have shown some success [9,10]. The resolution of these experiments, ca. 5-20, is lower than more conventional mobility measurements at pressures of a few Torr.Protein-protein and protein-ligand complexes can be studied by gas-phase H/Dx of trapped ions. The pressures of deuterating reagent in linear trap experiments can be ϳ5 ϫ 10 Ϫ3 Torr, ca. 10 3 times greater than used in 3D traps [20], 10 1 to 10 2 times greater than used in mobility experiments [26,27], and 10 3 to 10 4 times greater than in ICR experiments [21][22][2...
Pyrene binds to γ-cyclodextrin and forms host-guest complexes with different stoichiometries. The fluorescence of pyrene was employed as a qualitative signature for these different complexes. Solutions prepared at room temperature were shown not to be in thermodynamic equilibrium, since a heating cycle of 20 min at 80°C followed by cooling led to changes in the relative concentrations of the pyrene-γ-cyclodextrin complexes. This temperatureannealing effect has consequences when determining thermodynamic parameters such as equilibrium constants and host-guest stoichiometries.Résumé : Le pyrène se lie à la γ-cyclodextrine pour former des complexes hôte-invité de stoechiométries diverses. On a utilisé la fluorescence du pyrène comme signature qualitative de ces différents complexes. On a démontré que des solutions préparées à la température ambiante ne présentent pas d'équilibre thermodynamique puisqu'un cycle de chauffage de 20 min à 80°C, suivi par un refroidissement, conduit à des changements dans les concentrations relatives des complexes pyrène-γ-cyclodextrine. Cet effet d'annellation lié à la température a des conséquences lorsqu'on veut déter-miner des paramètres thermodynamiques, tels les constantes d'équilibre et les stoechiométries hôte-invité.
Despite highly conserved active-site structures, members of the plant peroxidase superfamily exhibit a wide range of pH optima. Horseradish peroxidase isozyme C (HRPC) is an ideal peroxidase to investigate the structural determinants of pH stability and activity in superfamily members. Conflicting reports exist on the low-pH stability of HRPC and consequently the pKa of the catalytic distal histidine, which is neutral in active peroxidases. Towards resolving such discrepancies, acid-induced changes in HRPC from two popular commercial suppliers were systematically analyzed. Specifically, FTIR v(CO) and Soret-CD spectra of HRPC-CO and Soret absorption of ferric HRPC were recorded to probe time-dependent heme-pocket changes at pH 3.0 in phosphate, citrate and formate buffers, while the FTIR amide I' and far-UV CD spectra were examined to probe changes in secondary structure. Both HRPC-CO samples exhibited identical pH 7.0 v(CO) bands at 1934 and 1905 cm-1. In the pH 3.0 spectrum of sample A, the 1934 cm-1 band was dominant while a broad 1969 cm-1 band appeared in sample B. The intensity of this band, which is assigned to solvent-exposed heme, was greater in citrate than phosphate buffer, but in formate the 1934 cm-1 band remained dominant. Other spectral changes mirrored the v(CO) trends. No time- or buffer-anion-dependent conformation changes were detected in 1 mM CaCl2, revealing that buffer-anion-dependent leaching of stabilizing Ca2+ from HRPC occurs at pH 3.0. Since the N-glycans present in HRPC are of the flexible protein-surface-shielding type, the variation in low-pH conformational stability of the HRPC samples could be attributed to heterogeneous glycosylation, which was detected by SDS-PAGE. It is further proposed that glycosylation patterns may affect the low-pH stability of class II and III plant peroxidases.
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