Quantum efficiency of native and mutant bacteriorhodopsin obtained from blue light induced relaxation experiments

Bacteriorhodopsin was continuously excited with green background light. In this way a steady state distribution of all intermediates of the photocycle was obtained. Then a perturbation of the system was induced by a blue laser flash and the resulting absorption changes were measured. The experiments were done with native bacteriorhodopsin and with the point mutant BR _Asp96Asn , in which aspartate 96 is changed to asparagine. Blue light induced relaxation experiments revealed a rate constant belonging to the excitation of bacteriorhodopsin by the green background. With this rate constant the quantum efficiency of native bacteriorhodopsin and of BR _Asp96Asn was determined to be 0.60 ± 0.10. Signals obtained with native bacteriorhodopsin could be explained with a simple model of the photocycle consisting of three consecutive intermediates BR ₅₆₈, L ₅₅₀ and M ₄₁₂. To describe the behavior of BR _Asp96Asn , a further photoactive intermediate after the M ₄₁₂ state had to be postulated. Properties of this intermediate are similar to those of the N ₅₅₀ state.     

Electrooptical analysis of blue and of cation-regenerated bacteriorhodopsin

Blue bacteriorhodopsin was prepared by electrodialysis, cation-exchange chromatography and acidification. The electrooptical properties of these preparations compared to those of the native purple bacteriorhodopsin suggest that the blue bacteriorhodopsin has a smaller induced dipole moment than the native purple bacteriorhodopsin and that bound cations in the native bacteriorhodopsin stabilize the protein conformation in the membrane.Purple bacteriorhodopsin was regenerated by addition of potassium, magnesium or ferric ions to blue bacteriorhodopsin. Both spectrscopically and electrooptically the potassium- and ferric-regenerated samples are different from the native purple state. Although the magnesium-regenerated sample is spectroscopically similar to the native purple bacteriorhodopsin, the electrooptical properties are rather similar to those of the cation-depleted blue sample, suggesting that it is very difficult to re-stabilize protein structures once cations are depleted.     

Glycocardiolipin modulates the surface interaction of the proton pumped by bacteriorhodopsin in purple membrane preparations

Glycocardiolipin is an archaeal analogue of mitochondrial cardiolipin, having an extraordinary affinity for bacteriorhodopsin, the photoactivated proton pump in the purple membrane of Halobacterium salinarum. Here purple membranes have been isolated by osmotic shock from either cells or envelopes of Hbt. salinarum. We show that purple membranes isolated from envelopes have a lower content of glycocardiolipin than standard purple membranes isolated from cells. The properties of bacteriorhodopsin in the two different purple membrane preparations are compared; although some differences in the absorption spectrum and the kinetic of the dark adaptation process are present, the reduction of native membrane glycocardiolipin content does not significantly affect the photocycle (M-intermediate rise and decay) as well as proton pumping of bacteriorhodopsin. However, interaction of the pumped proton with the membrane surface and its equilibration with the aqueous bulk phase are altered.     

Fast electric response signals in the bacteriorhodopsin photocycle

The time behavior of flash-induced charge movements during the first steps in the bacteriorhodopsin photocycle was measured on a suspension of purple membranes oriented by an electric field. The experiments were done in the temperature range 80–278 K. During the formation of the intermediate K, two negative (with respect to the direction of the proton pump) components of the response signal are well resolved with time constants τ₁ < 3 μs and $\text{τ}{}_2\text{? 150 μ}\text{s}$ at 200 K. The distances of the charge displacements responsible for the electric signals are estimated. On the basis of the results the two components are assigned to two steps in the trans-cis isomerization of the retinal. A third negative component appears at higher temperatures which is related by time constant measurements to the K → L transition.     

On the two forms of bacteriorhodopsin

In our previous work [(1993) FEBS Lett. 313, 248-250; (1993) Biochem. Int. 30,461-469] M-intermediate formation of wild-type bacteriorhodopsin was shown to involve two components differing in time constants (τ₁ = 60–70 μs and τ₂ = 220–250 μs), which were suggested to reflect two independent pathways of M-intermediate formation. The contribution of the fast M was 4-times higher than the slow one. Our present research on M-intermediate formation in the D115N bacteriorhodopsin mutant revealed the same components but at a contribution ratio of 1:1. Upon lowering the pH, the slow phase of M-formation vanished at a pK of 6.2, and in the pH region 3.0–5.5 only the M-intermediate with a rise time of 60 μs was present. A 5–6 h incubation of D115N bacteriorhodopsin at pH 10.6 resulted in the irreversible transformation of 50% of the protein into a form with a difference absorbance maximum at 460 nm. This form was stable at pH 7.5 and had no photocycle, including M-intermediate formation. The remaining bacteriorhodopsin contained 100% fast M-intermediate. The disappearance of the 250-μs phase concomitant with bR460 formation indicates that at neutral pH bacteriorhodopsin exists as two spectroscopically indistinguishable forms.     

Optical picosecond studies of bacteriorhodopsin containing a sterically fixed retinal

The photochemical behaviour of an analogous bacteriorhodopsin (9,12-Ph-BR) which contains the sterically fixed 9,12-phenylretinal has been investigated with picosecond spectroscopy. The following results have been obtained. No ground-state intermediate photoproduct is found in agreement with the previous observation that 9,12-Ph-BR does not exhibit proton pumping under illumination. The excited singlet state has a lifetime of τ_S = 10 ± 2 ps. This lifetime agrees favourably with the value calculated from the radiative lifetime τ_rad = 6.2 ns and the fluorescence quantum efficiency of 1.2·10⁻³. Excited-state absorption occurs which results in fluorescence in the ultraviolet region. These various observations differ drastically from the corresponding findings on bacteriorhodopsin. Most important for an understanding of the differences is the fact that 9,12-phenylretinal does not isomerize in the protein's binding site in contrast to retinal. Our data therefore suggest that the formation of the intermediate K observed in bacteriorhodopsin is accompanied by the all-trans to 13-cis isomerization.     

Carbodiimides inhibit the acid-induced purple-to-blue transition of bacteriorhodopsin

Reaction of purple membrane with water soluble carbodiimides inhibits the spectral transition from purple to blue observed at acid pH. The pK and Hill constant for this transition are shifted from 3.4 to 2.6 and from 1.8 to 0.85, respectively. The results suggest a connection between the uptake side of the proton pump and the purple-to-blue transition.     

Effects of electric field on the photocycle of bacteriorhodopsin

The photoconversion of bacteriorhodopsin and the effects of an applied electric field (5 · 10⁷ V · m^?1) were studied in dry films of purple membranes from Halobacterium halobium. The electric field was found to cause at least two different effects: (1) it blocks in part the formation of the batho-bacteriorhodopsin (K), most probably due to electrically-induced dark transition of some bacteriorhodopsin molecules into the photochemically inactive form; (2) it decreases the rate of the intermediate M decay, the rise time of the M formation being unaffected by electric field. The observed phenomena may suggest a feedback control mechanism for the regulation of the bacteriorhodopsin photocycle in purple membranes.     

水在菌紫质光循环和质子泵中的作用

用圆二色仪和闪光动力学先谱仪分别测量了空气干燥紫膜薄层的圆二色谱及紫膜LB膜的M_(412)的衰减过程.在于燥紫膜的圆二色谱上出现412nm的正峰,它是光循环中间体M_(412)的特征峰.在无水介质中,紫膜LB膜中的BR仍能进行先化学循环而检测到中间体M_(412),但M_(412)的衰减速度减慢,产生M_(412)的堆积,质子化过程受阻.在有水的介质中,只要有足够的H~+存在,紫膜LB膜中的BR的中间体M_(412)的衰减速度明显加快.说明水介质的H~+是完成正常光化学循和质子化过程必不可少的.     

Detection and expression of a gene encoding a new bacteriorhodopsin from an extreme halophile strain HT (JCM 9743) which does not possess bacteriorhodopsin activity

Membrane vesicles prepared from an extreme halophile strain, HT (JCM 9743), showed no bacteriorhodopsin activity. However, a DNA fragment, amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), appeared to encode the C to G helices of a bacteriorhodopsin(bR)-like protein. With the PCR product as a probe, the gene coding for a novel bacteriorhodopsin was cloned from the genomic DNA of the strain HT. The open reading frame of the gene was ligated with the promoter region of the bop gene of Halobacterium salinarum bR, and expressed in a bR-deficient host strain, L33, using the plasmid vector pXLNov-R. The purplish membrane fraction purified from cells of a transformant exhibited a cyclic photoreaction characteristic of bacteriorhodopsin. Received: August 12, 1997 / Accepted: October 20, 1997     

The reaction cycle of bacteriorhodopsin: an analysis using visible absorption,photocurrent and infrared techniques

The light activated absorbance changes and photo-electric events of bacteriorhodopsin (bR) were simultaneously measured. The results were compared with the kinetics of the time resolved infrared signals which are characteristic for protonation changes of Asp residues, chromophore vibrations, and amide I vibrations. Each data set was analyzed separately. Assuming first order reactions the experimental curves in the time range from L back to bR could be fitted by a sum of five exponentials. However, for the photocurrent signal only four exponentials were necessary. The corresponding half-life times were of the same order of magnitude. Simultaneous fits of the traces from absorption changes in the visible range and the photocurrent signal provided evidence that the photocurrent data could also be described by the same sum of exponentials as the data obtained in the visible range. The rate constants obtained from the different methods applied were, within the limits of error, identical. These results demonstrate that retinal monitors not only charge displacements but also conformational movements of the protein moiety. The reprotonation of the Schiff base occurs synchronously with a protonation change of an internal aspartic acid which absorbs at 1755 cm^–1. From the IR-signals, amplitude spectra could be derived which provided evidence that Asp-residues absorbing at 1765 cm^–1 (Asp85) and 1755 cm^–1 are still protonated in the O-intermediate. Major conformational changes of the peptide back bone occur in the time range of the L M transition and with opposite sign during the decay of the O-intermediate. Offprint requests to: M. Engelhard     

The pH-dependence of photochemical intermediates of O and P in bacteriorhodopsin by continuous light

The pH-dependence of the O and P intermediates in the photocycle of bacteriorhodopsin (bR) on the intensity and duration of the exciting flash was investigated for bR glycerol suspensions and bR gelatin films. Green and red laser flashes (532 and 670 nm) were utilized to generate a photoequilibrium state of bR and O at ambient temperature, and UV-vis spectroscopy was used to determine the photoconversion for the bR suspensions and films. The maximal concentration of the O intermediate was observed to be pH-dependent and the dependency was most pronounced at a slightly alkaline pH values. The photochemical conversion from the O to P intermediate was investigated for both bR suspensions and films. The P intermediate was only found in bR gelatin film. These results indicate that bR gelatin film may be an attractive candidate for the information storage based on P intermediate. It is possible, with red light, to create photoproducts which are thermally stable at ambient temperature and that can be photochemically erased.     

Simultaneous measurements of fast optical and proton current kinetics in the bacteriorhodopsin photocycle using an enhanced spectrophotometer

A one-of-a-kind high speed optical multichannel spectrometer was designed and built at NIH and described in this journal in 1997 [J.W. Cole, R.W. Hendler, P.D. Smith, H.A. Fredrickson, T.J. Pohida, W.S. Friauf. A high speed optical multichannel analyzer. J Biochem Biophys Methods 1997;35:16–174.]. The most unique aspect of this instrument was the ability to follow an entire time course from a single activation using a single sample. The instrument has been used to study rapid kinetic processes in the photon-driven bacteriorhodopsin photocycle and electron transport from cytochrome c to cytochrome aa₃ and from cytochrome aa₃ to oxygen. The present paper describes a second generation instrument with a number of important enhancements which significantly improve its capabilities for multichannel kinetic studies. An example application is presented in which the kinetics of photon-induced proton flow across the biological membrane is measured simultaneously with the individual steps of the photocycle determined optically. Matching the time constants for the two processes indicates which molecular transformations are associated with major proton movements.     

Characteristics of fluorescamine modified bacteriorhodopsin

The light activated proton pump, bacteriorhodopsin was modified with varying amounts of flourescamine, the fluorescamine to protein ratio ranging from 1 to 100. The modified protein was washed free of excess of fluorescamine and reconstituted into phospholipid vesicles to check the proton pumping activity. Although the spectral investigations indicated chemical modification, the circular dichroism measurements pointed to an overall loss of the trimeric structure of the protein. The implications of the present study are that the modifying agent can interact non-specifically with the protein, altering its structural parameters, which in turn affects the function of the protein     

Functional roles of tyrosine 185 during the bacteriorhodopsin photocycle as revealed by in situ spectroscopic studies

Tyrosine 185 (Y185), one of the aromatic residues within the retinal (Ret) chromophore binding pocket in helix F of bacteriorhodopsin (bR), is highly conserved among the microbial rhodopsin family proteins. Many studies have investigated the functions of Y185, but its underlying mechanism during the bR photocycle remains unclear. To address this research gap, in situ two-dimensional (2D) magic-angle spinning (MAS) solid-state NMR (ssNMR) of specifically labelled bR, combined with light-induced transient absorption change measurements, dynamic light scattering (DLS) measurements, titration analysis and site-directed mutagenesis, was used to elucidate the functional roles of Y185 during the bR photocycle in the native membrane environment. Different interaction modes were identified between Y185 and the Ret chromophore in the dark-adapted (inactive) state and M (active) state, indicating that Y185 may serve as a rotamer switch maintaining the protein dynamics, and plays an important role in the efficient proton-pumping mechanism in the bR purple membrane.     

Regeneration and inhibition of proton pumping activity of bacteriorhodopsin blue membrane by cationic amine anesthetics

Bacteriorhodopsin (bR) is the prototype of an integral membrane protein with seven membrane-spanning α-helices and serves as a model of the G-protein-coupled drug receptors. This study is aimed at reaching a greater understanding of the role of amine local anesthetic cations on the proton transport in the bR protein, and furthermore, the functional role of “the cation” in the proton pumping mechanism. The effect of the amine anesthetic cations on the proton pump in the bR blue membrane was compared with those by divalent (Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺ and Mn²⁺) and monovalent metal cations (Li⁺, Na⁺, K⁺ and Cs⁺), which are essential for the correct functioning of the proton pumping of the bR protein. The results suggest that the interacting site of the divalent cation to the bR membrane may differ from that of the monovalent metal cation. The electric current profile of the bR blue membrane in the presence of the amine anesthetic cations was biphasic, involving the generation and inhibition of the proton pumping activity in a concentration-dependent manner. The extent of the regeneration of the proton pump by the additives increased in the order of monovalent metal cation<monovalent amine anesthetic cation<divalent metal cation. We found that organic cations such as the amine anesthetics can also regenerate the proton pump in the bR protein. The inhibition of proton transport in the bR protein by the anesthetic cations was elucidated using the wild type, the E204Q and the D96N mutated bRs. The hydrophobic interaction of the amine anesthetics with the bR protein plays an important part in inhibiting the bR proton pump.     

Superoxide-dependent formation of hydroxyl radical catalyzed by transferrin

Hydroxyl radicals are generated in the hypoxanthine-xanthine oxidase system in the presence of iron-saturated transferrin isolated from human serum. This has been demonstrated by colorimetrically measuring the hydroxylation of salicylic acid and by EPR using the spin trap DMPO (5,5-dimethyl-1-pyrroline-N-oxide). A Fenton-type Harber-Weiss reaction catalyzed by transferrin is proposed.     

Membrane curvature affects the stability and folding kinetics of bacteriorhodopsin

Biological membrane is crucial for the function, stability and folding of membrane proteins. By studying the stability and folding kinetics of bacteriorhodopsin (bR) in lipid vesicles with different sizes, here we report the influence of membrane curvature (vesicle size) on the stability and folding kinetics of bR. The results show that both the stability and folding kinetics of bR can be significantly changed when reconstituted into mimic membranes with different curvatures. The stability of bR decreases and unfolding rate of bR increases with the growth of vesicle size, i.e. decrease of membrane curvature. Our results suggest that it is possible to regulate the properties of membrane proteins by changing the curvature of membranes.     

Crystal structures of bR(D85S) favor a model of bacteriorhodopsin as a hydroxyl-ion pump

Structural features on the extracellular side of the D85S mutant of bacteriorhodopsin (bR) suggest that wild-type bR could be a hydroxyl-ion pump. A position between the protonated Schiff base and residue 85 serves as an anion-binding site in the mutant protein, and hydroxyl ions should have access to this site during the O-intermediate of the wild-type bR photocycle. The guanidinium group of R82 is proposed (1) to serve as a shuttle that eliminates the Born energy penalty for entry of an anion into this binding pocket, and conversely, (2) to block the exit of a proton or a related proton carrier.     

Effect of water on the structure of bacteriorhodopsin and photochemical processes in purple membranes

Visible and infrared spectra of bacteriorhodopsin films under different humidities at room and low temperatures are investigated. On dehydration of purple membranes at room temperatures an additional chromophore state with the absorption band at 506 nm is revealed. The photocycle of purple membranes in the dry state is devoid of the 550 nm intermediate and involves the long-lived intermediate at 412 nm. As water is removed, the 550 nm intermediate becomes undetectable. The analysis of the infrared spectra shows that dehydration does not affect the ordering of the main network of the interpeptide hydrogen bonds which stabilizes the -helical conformation (slightly distorted in the initial humid dark- and light-adapted state); light adaptation (cis-trans isomerization) of bacteriorhodopsin results in an increase of sorbed water in purple membranes. Dehydration of purple membranes decreases the reaction rate of cis-trans isomerization.