| Abstract: | An algorithm is presented for the Monte Carlo simulation of the decay of fluorescence polarization from segmentally flexible molecules. Based on the random walk model of Brownian motion, the treatment explicitly follows the stochastic changes in the diffusion coefficients as the molecule bends. It includes the effects of a linear restoring force opposing the bending and the effects of hydrodynamic coupling between the translational, rotational, and bending motions. One application is presented: the simulation of anisotropy decay curves for hinged rods. A variety of decay curves are obtained, including single- and multiexponential behavior, and the following conclusions are reached: (1) increasing the flexibility is usually, but not always, accompanied by a more rapid rate of depolarization; (2) reducing the size of the fluorescent subunit will usually, but not always, increase the rate of depolarization; and (3) the complex interplay between the effects of molecular shape, relative sizes of the subunits, restoring force, and orientation of the transition dipoles renders it unlikely that any simple method can be used to interpret anisotrophy data without simulation. In particular, it is not possible to determine the extent of bending by fitting the data with the two-exponential approximation used by some investigators in the past. |
