Pulsed dye laser excitation spectroscopy of the 7F0----5D0 transition of Eu(III) reveals only a single peak as this ion is titrated into apocalmodulin. A titration based on the intensity of this transition shows that the first two Eu(III) ions bind quantitatively to two tight sites, followed by weaker binding (Kd = 2 microM) to two additional sites under conditions of high ionic strength (0.5 M KC1). This excitation experiment is also shown to be a general method for measuring contaminating levels of EDTA down to 0.2 microM in proton solutions. Experiments with Tb(III) using both direct laser excitation and indirect sensitization of Tb(III) luminescence through tyrosine residues in calmodulin also give evidence for two tight and two weaker binding sites (Kd = 2-3 microM). The indirect sensitization results primarily upon binding to the two weaker sites, implying that Tb(III) binds first to domains I and II, which are remote from tyrosine-containing domains III and IV. The 7F0----5D0 excitation signal of Eu(III) was used to measure the relative overall affinities of the tripositive lanthanide ions, Ln(III), across the series. Ln(III) ions at the end of the series are found to bind more weakly than those at the beginning and middle of the series. Eu(III) excited-state lifetime measurements in H2O and D2O reveal that two water molecules are coordinated to the Eu(III) at each of the four metal ion binding sites. Measurements of Förster-type nonradiative energy-transfer efficiencies between Eu(III) and Nd(III) in the two tight sites were carried out by monitoring the excited-state lifetimes of Eu(III) in the presence and absence of the energy acceptor ion Nd(III).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

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7F0----5D0 excitation spectroscopy of Eu3+ has been used to study the catalytic Ca2+-binding site of pancreatic phospholipases A2. Eu3+ binds competitively with Ca2+ to the enzyme with retention of about 5% of the activity found with Ca2+. The dissociation constants for the Eu3+-enzyme complexes of bovine phospholipase A2 and porcine isophospholipase A2 are 0.22 mM and 0.16 mM, respectively. Results obtained with the porcine phospholipase A2 at neutral pH indicate aggregation of this enzyme at protein concentrations above 0.18 mM. The Eu3+ bound at the catalytic site of pancreatic phospholipase A2 is coordinated to four or five water molecules, which, in conjunction with binding constant data, suggests the involvement of two or three protein ligands. Addition of a monomeric substrate analogue to the enzyme-Eu3+ complex results in the loss of an additional water molecule from the first coordination sphere of the bound Eu3+. This result suggests an interaction between the negative charge of the polar head group of the substrate analogue and the Eu3+. Binding of the enzyme-Eu3+ complex to micelles results in a nearly complete dehydration of the Eu3+ bound to the catalytic center. In the phospholipase A2-Eu3+-micelle complex, only one H2O molecule is coordinated to Eu3+. This dehydration at the active site of phospholipase A2 in the protein-lipid complex can be an important reason for the enhanced activity of this enzyme at lipid-water interfaces.

Changes in the intrinsic fluorescence intensity of glutamine synthetase induced by lanthanide(III) ion binding demonstrate the existence of three types of sites for these ions. The sites are populated sequentially during titrations of the enzyme, and the first two have a stoichiometry of 1 per enzyme subunit. The number of water molecules coordinated to Eu(III) bound to the first site was determined by luminescence lifetime techniques to be 4.1 +/- 0.5. The hydration of Gd(III) bound to the same site was studied by magnetic field dependent water proton longitudinal relaxation rate measurements, and by water proton and deuteron relaxation measurements of one sample at single magnetic fields. The magnetic resonance techniques also yield a value of 4 for the hydration number.

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