Accurate Determination of the Average Rate Constant of Pyrene Excimer Formation for Pyrene-Labeled Macromolecules from the Analysis of Individual Fluorescence Decays with Sums of Exponentials

Abstract

The average rate constant (⟨k⟩) for pyrene excimer formation (PEF) between an excited and a ground-state pyrenyl label covalently attached to a pyrene-labeled macromolecule (PyLM) has been found to be an ideal parameter to probe macromolecular conformations due to its proportionality to the local concentration ([Py] loc ) of pyrenyl labels in PyLM. To date, ⟨k⟩ has only been determined with the model-free analysis (MFA) involving the global analysis of the pyrene monomer and excimer fluorescence decays of PyLM. Unfortunately, the MFA is computationally demanding which prevents its widespread use. To circumvent this complication, a methodology is introduced that involves the analysis of individual fluorescence decays with sums of exponentials (SoE), which are commonly used in the analysis packages of commercial time-resolved fluorometers. The individual fluorescence decays of the pyrene monomer acquired with 286 PyLM were analyzed with a SoE to yield ⟨k SoE-M ⟩. The strong correlation between ⟨k SoE-M ⟩ and ⟨k MF ⟩ obtained from the global MFA indicated that ⟨k SoE-M ⟩ was a good representation of ⟨k⟩. Furthermore, the A E− /A E+ ratio, equal to the ratio of the sum of the negative pre-exponential factors over the sum of the positive preexponential factors, was determined by fitting the individual pyrene excimer fluorescence decays of the 286 PyLM with a SoE. A E− /A E+ was found to take a value between −1.0 and −0.8, indicating that the pyrenyl labels were not aggregated. This result indicated that [Py] loc was well described by ⟨k SoE-M ⟩, so that ⟨k SoE-M ⟩ could be used to describe the conformation of macromolecules in the same manner as ⟨k MF ⟩. Consequently, the methodology based on the analysis of individual fluorescence decays with sums of exponentials to determine ⟨k SoE-M ⟩ and A E− /A E+ provides a robust alternative to the use of the MFA for the study of PyLM to many scientists interested in the characterization of macromolecular conformations.