Femtosecond IR Pump-Probe Spectroscopy of Nonlinear Energy Localization in Protein Models and Model Proteins

This paper reviews our experimental and theoretical efforts toward understanding vibrational self-trapping of the amide I and N–H mode of crystalline acetanilide (ACN), other similar hydrogen-bonded crystals, as well as of model peptides. In contrast to previous works, we used nonlinear IR spectroscopy as the experimental tool, which is specifically sensitive to the anharmonic contributions of the intramolecular interactions (as the nonlinear IR response of set of harmonic oscillators vanishes exactly). Our work reconfirms the previous assignment of the two bands of the amide I mode of ACN as being a self-trapped and a free exciton state, but in addition also establishes the lifetimes of these states and identifies the relevant phonons. Furthermore, we provide evidence for vibrationally self-trapped states also in model α-helices. However, given the short lifetime, any biological relevance in the sense of Davydov’s initial proposal can probably be ruled out.     

Chemical Modification of Hamster Arylamine N-Acetyltransferase 2 with Isozyme-Selective and Nonselective N-Arylbromoacetamido Reagents

Arylamine N-acetyltransferases (NATs) catalyze a variety of biotransformation reactions, including N-acetylation of arylamines and O-acetylation of arylhydroxylamines. Chemical modification of hamster recombinant NAT2 with 2-(bromoacetylamino)fluorene (Br-AAF) and bromoacetanilide revealed that Br-AAF is an affinity label for the enzyme whereas bromoacetanilide inactivates NAT2 through a bimolecular alkylation process. Electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry analysis of Br-AAF-treated NAT2 showed that a single molecule of 2-acetylaminofluorene had been adducted. Peptide sequencing with tandem mass spectrometry identified the catalytically essential Cys68 as the alkylated amino acid. Br-AAF exhibits similar affinity for hamster NAT1 and NAT2, but is a more effective inactivator of NAT1 because, subsequent to the formation of a reversible enzyme-Br-AAF complex, the rate of alkylation of NAT1 is greater than the rate of alkylation of NAT2. Bromoacetanilide alkylates Cys68 and, to a lesser extent, Cys237 of NAT2; it does not exhibit significant selectivity for either NAT1 or NAT2.     

Adaptation to phenylacetamide as a growth substrate by an acetanilide-utilizing mutant of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Mutants able to utilize phenylacetamide as sole nitrogen source were isolated from the acetanilide (N-phenylacetamide)-utilizing Pseudomonas aeruginosa mutant strain AI3 and from its parent strain L10. Growth properties of the mutants (Ph strains) on amide media and the physicochemical properties of their amidases in cell free extracts indicated that their phenylacetamidase activities were attributable to alterations in their amidases. Differences in amide hydrolase specificities between the AI3-and the L10-Ph mutants were observed. The AI3 group had a high level of activity towards 4-nitrophenylacetamide, activity towards phenylacetyl-4-nitroaniline but, unlike strain AI3, no activity towards acetyl-4-nitroaniline; the L10 group had a low activity towards 4-nitrophenylacetamide, no activity towards phenylacetyl-4-nitroaniline but retained the low level of activity towards acetyl-4-nitroaniline exhibited by strain L10. Confirmation of the association between these altered specificition of alterations in amidases was obtained from analysis of the properties of phenylacetamidases purified from an AI3-Ph mutant (pH5) and an L 10-Ph mutant (Ph14). The original mutation in the amidase gene of strain AI3 appeared responsible for the differences between the two groups of Ph mutants and the binding interactions with acetanilide that it determined were eliminated in AI3-Ph mutants.