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The unique features of a macromolecule and water as a solvent make the issue of solvation unconventional, with questions about the static versus dynamic nature of hydration and the physics of orientational and translational diffusion at the boundary. For proteins, the hydration shell that covers the surface is critical to the stability of its structure and function. Dynamically speaking, the residence time of water at the surface is a signature of its mobility and binding. With femtosecond time resolution it is possible to unravel the shortest residence times which are key for the description of the hydration layer, static or dynamic. In this article we review these issues guided by experimental studies, from this laboratory, of polar hydration dynamics at the surfaces of two proteins (Subtilisin Carlsberg (SC) and Monellin). The natural probe tryptophan amino acid was used for the interrogation of the dynamics, and for direct comparison we also studied the behavior in bulk watersa complete hydration in 1 ps. We develop a theoretical description of solvation and relate the theory to the experimental observations. In this theoretical approach, we consider the dynamical equilibrium in the hydration shell, defining the rate processes for breaking and making the transient hydrogen bonds, and the effective friction in the layer which is defined by the translational and orientational motions of water molecules. The relationship between the residence time of water molecules and the observed slow component in solvation dynamics is a direct one. For the two proteins studied, we observed a "bimodal decay" for the hydration correlation function, with two primary relaxation times: ultrafast, typically 1 ps or less, and longer, typically 15-40 ps, and both are related to the residence time at the protein surface, depending on the binding energies. We end by making extensions to studies of the denatured state of the protein, random coils, and the biomimetic micelles, and conclude with our thoughts on the relevance of the dynamics of native structures to their functions.

Biological water at the interface of proteins is critical to their equilibrium structures and enzyme function and to phenomena such as molecular recognition and protein-protein interactions. To actually probe the dynamics of water structure at the surface, we must examine the protein itself, without disrupting the native structure, and the ultrafast elementary processes of hydration. Here we report direct study, with femtosecond resolution, of the dynamics of hydration at the surface of the enzyme protein Subtilisin Carlsberg, whose single Trp residue (Trp-113) was used as an intrinsic biological fluorescent probe. For the protein, we observed two well separated dynamical solvation times, 0.8 ps and 38 ps, whereas in bulk water, we obtained 180 fs and 1.1 ps. We also studied a covalently bonded probe at a separation of Ϸ7 Å and observed the near disappearance of the 38-ps component, with solvation being practically complete in (time constant) 1.5 ps. The degree of rigidity of the probe (anisotropy decay) and of the water environment (protein vs. micelle) was also studied. These results show that hydration at the surface is a dynamical process with two general types of trajectories, those that result from weak interactions with the selected surface site, giving rise to bulk-type solvation (Ϸ1 ps), and those that have a stronger interaction, enough to define a rigid water structure, with a solvation time of 38 ps, much slower than that of the bulk. At a distance of Ϸ7 Å from the surface, essentially all trajectories are bulk-type. The theoretical framework for these observations is discussed.W ater is essential for the stability and function of biological macromolecules, proteins and DNA. Hydration plays a major role in the assembly of a protein's structure and dynamics. For example, water molecules around hydrophobic and hydrophilic sites are important to the understanding of the activity of enzyme proteins (see, e.g., refs. 1-3) and are part of the recognition process by other molecules or proteins. The water molecules that make up the hydration shell in the immediate vicinity of the surface are particularly relevant to the function and, in that sense, are termed biological water; this distinction has been discussed clearly by Nandi and Bagchi (4) in relation to dielectric relaxations. The nature of this shell ''layer'' has been the focus of numerous studies both theoretically and experimentally (see refs. 5-12), yet there is no generalized picture of the dynamics at the local molecular level.X-ray crystallography, neutron diffraction, and molecular dynamics studies have shown (5-10) that at protein surfaces, water molecules are site-selective and can be restricted in their motion, even existing in the form of clusters in some cases. For example, neutron diffraction experiments (9) followed by molecular dynamics simulations on carboxymyoglobin (10) revealed that among the 89 water molecules associated with the protein, 4 remain bound during the entire length of the molecular dynamics simulation (50 ps), whereas ...

Water molecules at the surface of DNA are critical to its equilibrium structure, DNA-protein function, and DNA-ligand recognition. Here we report direct probing of the dynamics of hydration, with femtosecond resolution, at the surface of a DNA dodecamer duplex whose native structure remains unperturbed on recognition in minor groove binding with the bisbenzimide drug (Hoechst 33258). By following the temporal evolution of fluorescence, we observed two well separated hydration times, 1.4 and 19 ps, whereas in bulk water the same drug is hydrated with time constants of 0.2 and 1.2 ps. For comparison, we also studied calf thymus DNA for which the hydration exhibits similar time scales to that of dodecamer DNA. However, the time-resolved polarization anisotropy is very different for the two types of DNA and clearly elucidates the rigidity in drug binding and difference in DNA rotational motions. These results demonstrate that hydration at the surface of the groove is a dynamical process with two general types of trajectories; the slowest of them (Ϸ20 ps) are those describing dynamically ordered water. Because of their ultrafast time scale, the ''ordered'' water molecules are the most weakly bound and are accordingly involved in the entropic (hydration͞dehydration) process of recognition. H ydration of DNA plays important role in its structure, conformation, and function. Of significance to the function is the selective recognition by DNA of small molecules (ref. 1 and references therein). X-ray crystallography, NMR, dielectric relaxation, and molecular dynamics simulation studies have shown that a significant amount of water molecules are bound to DNA (for reviews, see refs. 2-6). For example, measurements of dielectric relaxation caused by water molecules bound to DNA in mixed water-ethanol solutions have found that 18-19 water molecules per nucleotide are present in B-DNA, but only 13-14 water molecules are bound in A-DNA (5). The study also suggested that a structural transition of poly(dG-dC)⅐poly(dGdC) DNA from its B to Z form takes place on the removal of the bound water molecules, preferentially from the phosphate groups.The molecular picture of hydration in the minor groove of B-DNA is unique. An x-ray crystallographic investigation (7) followed by solution NMR study (8) on a model dodecamer B-DNA duplex (for the sequence of A͞T tracts, CGCGAAT-TCGCG) showed that the minor groove is hydrated in an extensive and regular manner, with a zigzag ''spine'' of firstand second-shell hydration along the f loor of the groove. In contrast, hydration within the major groove is principally confined to a monolayer of water molecules. The conformational energy calculation suggested that the presence of the spine of hydration is the prime reason for the further narrowing of minor groove (9).The influence of drug binding on DNA hydration is striking. Acoustic and densimetric studies have shown that a fraction (not total) of the water molecules is released on recognition (10, 11). Hence, the balance between enthalpic and entr...

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We report the synthesis of highly luminescent, water soluble quantum clusters (QCs) of gold, which are stabilized by an iron binding transferrin family protein, lactoferrin (Lf). The synthesized AuQC@Lf clusters were characterized using UV-Visible spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), photoluminescence (PL), matrix assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS), FTIR spectroscopy and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy along with picosecond-resolved lifetime measurements. Detailed investigations with FTIR and CD spectroscopy have revealed changes in the secondary structure of the protein in the cluster. We have also studied Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) occurring between the protein and the cluster. The ability of the clusters to sense cupric ions selectively at ppm concentrations was tested. The stability of clusters in widely varying pH conditions and their continued luminescence make it feasible for them to be used for intracellular imaging and molecular delivery, particularly in view of Lf protection.

A one-pot synthesis of extremely stable, water-soluble Cu quantum clusters (QCs) capped with a model protein, bovine serum albumin (BSA), is reported. From matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry, we assign the clusters to be composed of Cu(5) and Cu(13) cores. The QCs also show luminescence properties having excitation and emission maxima at 325 and 410 nm, respectively, with a quantum yield of 0.15, which are found to be different from that of protein alone in similar experimental conditions. The quenching of luminescence of the protein-capped Cu QCs in the presence of very low hydrogen peroxide concentration (approximately nanomolar, or less than part-per-billion) reflects the efficacy of the QCs as a potential sensing material in biological environments. Moreover, as-prepared Cu QCs can detect highly toxic Pb(2+) ions in water, even at the part-per-million level, without suffering any interference from other metal ions.

A novel interfacial route has been developed for the synthesis of a bright-red-emitting new subnanocluster, Au(23), by the core etching of a widely explored and more stable cluster, Au(25)SG(18) (in which SG is glutathione thiolate). A slight modification of this procedure results in the formation of two other known subnanoclusters, Au(22) and Au(33). Whereas Au(22) and Au(23) are water soluble and brightly fluorescent with quantum yields of 2.5 and 1.3 %, respectively, Au(33) is organic soluble and less fluorescent, with a quantum yield of 0.1 %. Au(23) exhibits quenching of fluorescence selectively in the presence of Cu(2+) ions and it can therefore be used as a metal-ion sensor. Aqueous- to organic-phase transfer of Au(23) has been carried out with fluorescence enhancement. Solvent dependency on the fluorescence of Au(23) before and after phase transfer has been studied extensively and the quantum yield of the cluster varies with the solvent used. The temperature response of Au(23) emission has been demonstrated. The inherent fluorescence of Au(23) was used for imaging human hepatoma cells by employing the avidin-biotin interaction.