Measurement of interfluorine distances in solids.

(19)F homonuclear dipolar recoupling methods were used to measure internuclear distances ranging from 5 to 12 A in fluorinated organic compounds in the solid state. Magic-angle-spinning-based high-resolution techniques were utilized. Trifluoromethyl and aromatic fluorine groups were separated by rigid aromatic spacers; these compounds were diluted into nonfluorinated host molecule matrices to give isolated homonuclear spin pairs with known internuclear distances. Radiofrequency-driven recoupling (RFDR) was used to elicit magnetization exchange between the spin pairs in 1D and 2D experiments. Simulation of the exchange was accomplished using a Monte Carlo-type algorithm to search the parameter space. These methods allow the determination of distances with an accuracy of 1 A at shorter distances and 2 A at longer distances, with the assumption of no prior knowledge of T(2)(ZQ).

The time scale of the catalytic loop motion in triosephosphate isomerase.

Loop 6 in the active site of Triosephosphate Isomerase (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) moves in order to reposition key residues for catalysis. The timescale of the opening and closing of this loop has been measured, at temperatures from -15 to +45 degrees C, using broadline solid state deuterium NMR of a single deuterated tryptophan located in the loop's N terminal hinge. The rate of the loop opening and closing was best detected using samples containing subsaturating amounts of a substrate analogue DL-glycerol 3-phosphate so that the populations of the open and closed forms were roughly equal, and using temperatures optimal for enzymatic function (30-45 degrees C). The T(2) values were much shorter than for unligated samples, consistent with full opening and closing of the loop at a rate of order 10(4) s(-1), and in good agreement with the rates estimated based on solution state 19F NMR. The loop motion appears to be partially rate limiting for chemistry in both directions.

Solution-state NMR investigations of triosephosphate isomerase active site loop motion: ligand release in relation to active site loop dynamics.

Product release is partially rate determining in the isomerization reaction catalyzed by Triosephosphate Isomerase, the conversion of dihydroxyacetone phosphate to D-glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate, probably because an active-site loop movement is necessary to free the product from confinement in the active-site. The timescale of the catalytic loop motion and of ligand release were studied using 19F and 31P solution-state NMR. A 5'-fluorotryptophan was incorporated in the loop N-terminal hinge as a reporter of loop motion timescale. Crystallographic studies confirmed that the structure of the fluorinated enzyme is indistinguishable from the wild-type; the fluorine accepts a hydrogen bond from water and not from a protein residue, with minimal perturbation to the flexible loop stability. Two distinct loop conformations were observed by 19F NMR. Both for unligated (empty) and ligated enzyme samples a single species was detected, but the chemical shifts of these two distinct species differed by 1.2 ppm. For samples in the presence of subsaturating amounts of a substrate analogue, glycerol 3-phosphate, both NMR peaks were present, with broadened lineshapes at 0 degrees C. In contrast, a single NMR peak representing a rapid average of the two species was observed at 30 degrees C. We conclude that the rate of loop motion is less than 1400 s(-1) at 0 degrees C and more than 1400 s(-1) at 30 degrees C. Ligand release was studied under similar sample conditions, using 31P NMR of the phosphate group of the substrate analogue. The rate of ligand release is less than 1000 s(-1) at 0 degrees C and more than 1000 s(-1) at 30 degrees C. Therefore, loop motion and product release are probably concerted and likely to represent a rate limiting step for chemistry.

Deuterium magic angle spinning studies of substrates bound to cytochrome P450.

We report solid-state deuterium magic angle spinning NMR spectra of perdeuterated adamantane bound to the active site of microcrystalline cytochrome P450cam (CP450cam) in its resting state. CP450cam contains a high-spin ferric (Fe3+) heme in the resting state; the isotropic shift was displaced from the diamagnetic value and varied with temperature consistent with Curie-law dependence. A nondeuterated competitive tighter binding ligand, camphor, was used to displace the adamantane-bound species. This addition resulted in the disappearance of the hyperfine-shifted signal associated with a perdeuterated adamantane bound to CP450cam, while signals presumably associated with adamantane bound to other cavities persisted. We simulated the deuterium spinning side-band intensities for the enzyme-bound species using dipolar hyperfine coupling as the only anisotropic interaction; the deuterium quadrupolar interaction was apparently averaged due to a fast high-symmetry motion. These data provide direct support for previous proposals that substrates are conformationally mobile on the time scale of enzymatic turnover. The simulations suggested that the adamantane binds with an average metal-deuterium distance of 6.2 (+/-0.2) A, corresponding to a dipolar coupling constant of 6.5 (+/-0.5) kHz.

A branch and bound algorithm for protein structure refinement from sparse NMR data sets.

We describe new methods for predicting protein tertiary structures to low resolution given the specification of secondary structure and a limited set of long-range NMR distance constraints. The NMR data sets are derived from a realistic protocol involving completely deuterated 15N and 13C-labeled samples. A global optimization method, based upon a modification of the alphaBB (branch and bound) algorithm of Floudas and co-workers, is employed to minimize an objective function combining the NMR distance restraints with a residue-based protein folding potential containing hydrophobicity, excluded volume, and van der Waals interactions. To assess the efficacy of the new methodology, results are compared with benchmark calculations performed via the X-PLOR program of Brünger and co-workers using standard distance geometry/molecular dynamics (DGMD) calculations. Seven mixed alpha/beta proteins are examined, up to a size of 183 residues, which our methods are able to treat with a relatively modest computational effort, considering the size of the conformational space. In all cases, our new approach provides substantial improvement in root-mean-square deviation from the native structure over the DGMD results; in many cases, the DGMD results are qualitatively in error, whereas the new method uniformly produces high quality low-resolution structures. The DGMD structures, for example, are systematically non-compact, which probably results from the lack of a hydrophobic term in the X-PLOR energy function. These results are highly encouraging as to the possibility of developing computational/NMR protocols for accelerating structure determination in larger proteins, where data sets are often underconstrained.

Tertiary structure prediction of mixed alpha/beta proteins via energy minimization.

We describe an improved algorithm for protein structure prediction, assuming that the location of secondary structural elements is known, with particular focus on prediction for proteins containing beta-strands. Hydrogen bonding terms are incorporated into the potential function, supplementing our previously developed residue-residue potential which is based on a combination of database statistics and an excluded volume term. Two small mixed alpha/beta proteins, 1-CTF and BPTI, are studied. In order to obtain native-like structures, it is necessary to allow the beta-strands in BPTI to distort substantially from an ideal geometry, and an automated algorithm to carry this out efficiently is presented. Simulated annealing Monte Carlo methods, which contain a genetic algorithm component as well, are used to produce an ensemble of low-energy structures. For both proteins, a cluster of structures with low RMS deviation from the native structure is generated and the energetic ranking of this cluster is in the top 2 or 3 clusters obtained from simulations. These results are encouraging with regard to the possibility of constructing a robust procedure for tertiary folding which is applicable to beta-strand containing proteins.

Sulfur K-edge x-ray absorption spectroscopy: a spectroscopic tool to examine the redox state of S-containing metabolites in vivo.

The sulfur K-edge x-ray absorption spectra for the amino acids cysteine and methionine and their corresponding oxidized forms cystine and methionine sulfoxide are presented. Distinct differences in the shape of the edge and the inflection point energy for cysteine and cystine are observed. For methionine sulfoxide the inflection point energy is 2.8 eV higher compared with methionine. Glutathione, the most abundant thiol in animal cells, also has been investigated. The x-ray absorption near-edge structure spectrum of reduced glutathione resembles that of cysteine, whereas the spectrum of oxidized glutathione resembles that of cystine. The characteristic differences between the thiol and disulfide spectra enable one to determine the redox status (thiol to disulfide ratio) in intact biological systems, such as unbroken cells, where glutathione and cyst(e)ine are the two major sulfur-containing components. The sulfur K-edge spectra for whole human blood, plasma, and erythrocytes are shown. The erythrocyte sulfur K-edge spectrum is similar to that of fully reduced glutathione. Simulation of the plasma spectrum indicated 32% thiol and 68% disulfide sulfur. The whole blood spectrum can be simulated by a combination of 46% disulfide and 54% thiol sulfur.

Conformation of the trypanocidal pharmaceutical suramin in its free and bound forms: transferred nuclear overhauser studies.

Suramin is a lead compound for treatment of cancer, HIV, and trypanosomiasis. The conformations of suramin in its free form and bound to phosphoglycerate kinases from T. brucei and S. cerevisae, have been studied in aqueous solutions using nuclear Overhauser effect (NOE) and transferred NOE NMR spectroscopies. The NOE data of the free drug can be accommodated by a model in which many of the single bonds of suramin are unrestricted at room temperature, consistent with molecular mechanics calculations. The angle between the naphthalene ring and the adjoining amide is essentially locked by a strong amide-sulfonate hydrogen bond into one preferred conformation. Another degree of freedom near the termini of the molecule has a rather pronounced preference, and a third exhibits a nearly perpendicular arrangement between the amide and adjacent aromatic ring. The other two degrees of freedom have weaker preferences. Molecular mechanics calculations using AMBER force field and charges on amides and sulfonates obtained from semiempirical or ab initio calculations reproduced the extent of nonplanarity but not the detailed preferences. 13C spin-lattice relaxation, proton NOE, and light-scattering measurements for free suramin indicate that the correlation time of the molecule is approximately 3 ns at 5 mM concentration, suggesting that suramin is multimeric. Lowering the temperature to 5 degrees C causes a dramatic broadening of all of the resonances in the NMR spectra of 5 mM suramin. This broadening probably is associated with further aggregation into micelles. Suramin is monomeric at 0.5 mM and room temperature, and the NOE cross-relaxation rate constants are close to the cancellation condition for a 500 MHz proton frequency; this concentration is typical of blood serum concentrations when the drug is utilized in humans. Changes in the conformational preferences for terminal degrees of freedom are observed in the bound states of suramin based upon the transferred NOE data. The data for the bound state cannot be accommodated by a symmetric conformer. Analysis of the transferred NOESY buildup curves indicates complex kinetics of binding, probably involving an electrostatically bound encounter complex. Despite the weak binding constant, the buildup curves cannot be treated as population-weighted averages of the free and bound cross-relaxation rates, and therefore complete relaxation-exchange matrix analysis has been performed to simulate the data sets.

Dynamics of the flexible loop of triosephosphate isomerase: the loop motion is not ligand gated.

Using solid-state deuterium NMR, we have measured the motion of the flexible loop of triosephosphate isomerase (TIM) with and without substrate and transition-state analogs. The measurements were carried out on a catalytically competent mutant of TIM W90Y W157F containing a single tryptophan (W168) in the flexible loop; W168 is the only strictly conserved tryptophan in the currently available TIM sequences. The solid-state NMR samples were prepared by precipitation using polyethylene glycol, and kinetic analysis of the PEG-precipitated TIM gave values for kcat, Km, and KI similar to those measured in solution for the substrate and substrate and transition-state analogs. Deuterium NMR spectra of samples prepared with tryptophan labeled at the indole positions with and without any substrate or analogs indicate that the loop jumps between two conformations at a rate of 3 x 10(4) s-1 (from the predominant to the less populated form) with a population ratio of 10:1. Surprisingly, spectra of TIM ligated with a substrate analog, glycerol 3-phosphate (G3P), or with a tight-binding transition-state analog, phosphoglycolate (PGA), show that the loop moves with a rate similar to the rate in the empty enzyme and also has a similar population ratio for the two conformers. This observation indicates that loop closure is not ligand gated but is a natural motion of the protein. Furthermore, the measured rate is approximately matched to the turnover time. We did not observe a signal for TIM labeled with alpha-deuteriotryptophan, although it was prepared in a fashion analogous to the ring-labeled sample and had a specific activity and protein concentration comparable to the latter. For this deuterium concentration, we would expect to observe the NMR signal unless the deuterium relaxation were very slow. The hypothesis that the spin-lattice relaxation of the alpha-deuteron is very slow would be consistent with the observed dynamics of the ring-deuterated TIM.

Determination of internuclear distances and the orientation of functional groups by solid-state NMR: rotational resonance study of the conformation of retinal in bacteriorhodopsin.

We have used a new solid-state NMR technique--rotational resonance--to determine both internuclear distances and the relative orientations of chemical groups (dihedral angles) in retinal bound to bacteriorhodopsin (bR) and in retinoic acid model compounds. By matching the rotational resonance condition (delta = n omega r/2 pi, where delta is the difference in isotropic chemical shifts for two dipolar coupled spins, omega r/2 pi is the mechanical rotational frequency of the sample in the MAS experiment, and n is a small integer denoting the order of the resonance), we selectively reintroduce the dipolar coupling and enhance the rate of magnetization exchange. Spectroscopic data and theoretical simulations of the magnetization exchange trajectories for the 8,18-13C dipolar coupled pair in retinoic acid model compounds, crystallized in both the 6-s-cis and 6-s-trans forms, indicate that an accurate determination of the internuclear distance is possible. For the n = 1 resonance we find the distance determination to be reasonably independent of the relative orientation of the groups. In contrast, for the n = 2 resonance, there is a more pronounced dependence on the relative orientation of the groups which permits an estimate of the angle around the 6-s bond for the cis and trans forms to be 42 +/- 5 degrees and 90 +/- 10 degrees, respectively, in good agreement with crystallography. In bR we demonstrate that the 8-13C-18-13C distance is 4.1 A and the average 8-13C-16-13C/8-13C-17-13C distance is 3.3-3.5 A.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Deuterium solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance studies of methyl group dynamics in bacteriorhodopsin and retinal model compounds: evidence for a 6-s-trans chromophore in the protein.

Solid-state deuterium NMR spectroscopy is used to examine the dynamic behavior of 18-CD3 methyl groups in microcrystalline 6-s-cis-retinoic acid (triclinic) and 6-s-trans-retinoic acid (monoclinic) model compounds, as well as in the membrane protein bacteriorhodopsin (bR), regenerated with CD3-labeled retinal. Temperature dependent quadrupolar echo line shapes and T1 anisotropy measurements were used to characterize activation energies for 3-fold hopping motion of the methyl groups. These data provide supporting evidence that the conformation of the retinal chromophore in bR is 6-s-trans. The 6-s-cis conformer is characterized by strong eclipsing interactions between the 8-C proton and the 18-C methyl group protons; the 18-CD3 group shows an activation energy barrier for methyl 3-fold hopping of 14.5 +/- 1 kJ/mol. In contrast, the 18-CD3 group in the 6-s-trans isomer shows a considerably lower activation energy barrier of 5 +/- 1 kJ/mol. In bR, it is possible to obtain an approximate activation energy of 9 kJ/mol. This data is inconsistent with a 6-s-cis conformer but is consistent with the existence of a 6-s-trans-retinal Schiff base in bR with some interaction with the protein matrix. These results suggest that methyl rotor motions can be used to probe the van der Waals contact between a ligand and a protein binding pocket. The 6-s-trans conformer of the [16,17-(CD3)2]retinal in frozen hexane exhibits a major kinetic component with an activation energy barrier of of 14 -/+ 2 kJ/mol.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Measurement of the g-tensor of the P700+. signal from deuterated cyanobacterial photosystem I particles.

We report high-field continuous wave EPR spectra of P700+. in preparations obtained from deuterated cyanobacteria (Synechococcus lividus). Measurements were performed with photosystem I (PS-I) preparations, whole cells from cyanobacteria grown in 2H2O, and photosystem II (PS-II) preparations, as well as with protonated PS-I preparations. Because of the significantly improved resolution of our 140-GHz spectrometer (as compared with X- or Q-band EPR) the principal values of the g-tensor of the primary donor P700+. could be resolved and measured with high accuracy as g11 = 2.00304, g22 = 2.00262, and g33 = 2.00232. Other signals arising from Mn2+ and a dark signal from PS-II at g approximately 2.00266 are distinguished from the P700+. g-tensor powder pattern. The measured g values are compared with those of several bacterial reaction center donors.

Solid-state 13C NMR study of a transglutaminase-inhibitor adduct.

We have used solid-state 13C NMR to study the structure of the adduct resulting from the inactivation of the enzyme transglutaminase by 3-halo-4,5-dihydroisoxazoles. These inhibitors were conceived on the assumption that they would inhibit transglutaminase by attack of an enzyme active site cysteine thiol on the imine carbon of the dihydroisoxazole ring. The tetrahedral intermediate formed could then break down with the loss of the halide group and the subsequent formation of a stable imino thioether adduct. We have compared the 13C CPMAS spectra of the chloro-, bromo-, and (ethylthio)dihydroisozazole inhibitors, and the results indicate that the chemical shift of the C-3 carbon is sensitive to the nature of the heteroatom. Subtraction of the natural-abundance 13C solid-state NMR spectrum of the enzyme from that of the enzyme inactivated by C-3-labeled chlorodihydroisoxazole reveals a broad peak at 156 ppm. The chemical shift of this peak is very close to that observed for a model 3-ethylthio compound and suggests the formation of a stable imino thioether enzyme adduct. Similar results were obtained for lyophilized enzyme adducts and for frozen solutions of the enzyme adduct in the absence and presence of Ca2+. We have also compared these results with those obtained by solution NMR on an aqueous solution of the enzyme-inhibitor complex. The 13C-labeled C-3 resonance was not observed in this case.

Rotational resonance NMR study of the active site structure in bacteriorhodopsin: conformation of the Schiff base linkage.

Rotational resonance, a new solid-state NMR technique for determining internuclear distances, is used to measure a distance in the active site of bacteriorhodopsin (bR) that changes in different states of the protein. The experiments are targeted to the active site of bR through 13C labeling of both the retinal chromophore and the Lys side chains of the protein. The time course of the rotor-driven magnetization exchange between a pair of 13C nuclei is then observed to determine the dipolar coupling and therefore the internuclear distance. Using this approach, we have measured the distance from [14-13C]retinal to [epsilon-13C]Lys216 in dark-adapted bR in order to examine the structure of the retinal-protein linkage and its role in coupling the isomerizations of retinal to unidirectional proton transfer. This distance depends on the configuration of the intervening C=N bond. The 3.0 +/- 0.2 A distance observed in bR555 demonstrates that the C=N bond is syn, and the 4.1 +/- 0.3 A distance observed in bR568 demonstrates that the C=N bond is anti. These direct distance determinations independently confirm the configurations previously deduced from solid-state NMR chemical shift and resonance Raman vibrational spectra. The spectral selectivity of rotational resonance allows these two distances to be measured independently in a sample containing both bR555 and bR568; the presence of both states and of 25% lipid in the sample demonstrates the use of rotational resonance to measure an active site distance in a membrane protein with an effective molecular mass of about 85 kDa.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

An unusual peptide conformation may precipitate amyloid formation in Alzheimer's disease: application of solid-state NMR to the determination of protein secondary structure.

The formation of insoluble proteinaceous deposits is characteristic of many diseases which are collectively known as amyloidosis. There is very little molecular-level structural information available regarding the amyloid deposits due to the fact that the constituent proteins are insoluble and noncrystalline. Therefore, traditional protein structure determination methods such as solution NMR and X-ray crystallography are not applicable. We report herein the application of the solid-state NMR technique rotational resonance (R2) to the accurate measurement of carbon-to-carbon distances in the amyloid formed from a synthetic fragment (H2N-LeuMetValGlyGlyValValIleAla-CO2H) of the amyloid-forming protein of Alzheimer's disease (AD). This sequence has been implicated in the initiation of amyloid formation. Two distances measured by R2 indicate that an unusual structure, probably involving a cis amide bond, is present in the aggregated peptide amyloid. This structure is incompatible with the accepted models of fibril structure. A relationship between this structure and the stability of the amyloid is proposed.

Mechanism of proton pumping in bacteriorhodopsin by solid-state NMR: the protonation state of tyrosine in the light-adapted and M states.

Solid-state 13C NMR spectra were employed to characterize the protonation state of tyrosine in the light-adapted (bR568) and M states of bacteriorhodopsin (bR). Difference spectra (isotopically labeled bR minus natural-abundance bR) were obtained for [4'-13C]Tyr-labeled bR, regenerated with [14-13C]retinal as an internal marker to identify the photocycle states. The [14-13C]retinal has distinct chemical shifts for bR555, for bR568, and for the M intermediate generated and thermally trapped at pH 10 in the presence of 0.3 M KCl or 0.5 M guanidine. Previous work has demonstrated that tyrosine and tyrosinate are easily distinguished on the basis of the chemical shift of the 4'-13C label and that both NMR signals are detectable in dark-adapted bR, although the tyrosinate signal is only present at pH values greater than 12. In the present work, we show that neither the light-adapted form of bR prepared at pH 7 or 10 nor the M state thermally trapped at -80 degrees C in 0.3 M KCl pH 10, or in 0.5 M guanidine pH 10, shows any detectable tyrosinate. In addition, after the M samples were briefly warmed (approximately 30 s), no tyrosinate was observed. However, small (1-2 ppm) changes in the structure or dispersion in the Tyr peak were observed in the M state phototrapped by either method. These changes were reversible when the sample was warmed, although on a time scale slower than the relaxation of the retinal back to the bR568 conformer.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Nitrogen ligation to manganese in the photosynthetic oxygen-evolving complex: continuous-wave and pulsed EPR studies of photosystem II particles containing 14N or 15N.

The possibility of nitrogen ligation to the Mn in the oxygen-evolving complex from photosystem II was investigated with electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and electron spin echo envelope modulation (ESEEM) spectroscopies using 14N- and 15N-labeled preparations. Oxygen-evolving preparations were isolated from a thermophilic cyanobacterium, Synechococcus sp., grown on a medium containing either 14NO3- or 15NO3- as the sole source of nitrogen. the substructure on the "multiline" EPR signal, which arises from Mn in the S2 state of the enzyme, was measured with continuous-wave EPR. No changes were detected in the substructure peak positions upon substitution of 15N for 14N, indicating that this substructure is not due to superhyperfine coupling from nitrogen ligands. To detect potential nitrogen ligands with superhyperfine couplings of lesser magnitude than could be observed with conventional EPR methods, electron spin-echo envelope modulation experiments were also performed on the multiline EPR signal. The Fourier transform of the light-minus-dark time domain ESEEM data shows a peak at 4.8 MHz in 14N samples which is absent upon substitution with 15N. This gives unambiguous evidence for weak hyperfine coupling of nitrogen to the Mn of the oxygen-evolving complex. Possible origins of this nitrogen interaction are discussed.

Rotational resonance determination of the structure of an enzyme-inhibitor complex: phosphorylation of an (aminoalkyl)phosphinate inhibitor of D-alanyl-D-alanine ligase by ATP.

We have used a newly developed solid-state NMR method, rotational resonance, to establish the structure of an inhibited complex formed upon reaction of D-alanyl-D-alanine ligase, ATP, and the aminoalkyl dipeptide analogue [1(S)-aminoethyl][2-carboxy-2(R)-methyl-1- ethyl]phosphinic acid (Ib). Analogue Ib was determined to be an ATP-dependent, slow-binding inhibitor of the D-Ala-D-Ala ligase from Salmonella typhimurium, with an enzyme-inhibitor half-life of 17 days at 37 degrees C. The inhibited complex shows a 31P NMR spectrum which is very different from that which would arise from a mixture of the free inhibitor and ATP. Four well-resolved lines were observed: two (at -8 and -14 ppm) are assignable as the phosphates of ADP, the third is assignable to an inhibitor resonance (at 53 ppm) that shifts by approximately 19 ppm on binding, and the fourth is assignable to a resonance (at -3 ppm) due to a polyphosphate or phosphate ester moiety. At rotational resonance the spectrum shows evidence for strong dipolar couplings between the phosphinate phosphorus and a phosphate ester species. The dipolar coupling between the phosphorus signals at 53 and -3 ppm was measured at rotational resonance by use of numerical simulations of both the line shape of the signal and the profile of magnetization transfer between the two sites. The measured coupling, 1.0 +/- 0.2 kHz, indicates that the two species are bridged in a P-O-P linkage, with a P-P through-space distance of 2.7 +/- 0.2 A. This proves that the mechanism of inactivation involves phosphorylation of the enzyme-bound inhibitor by ATP to form a phosphoryl-phosphinate adduct.

Solid-state 13C NMR study of tyrosine protonation in dark-adapted bacteriorhodopsin.

Solid-state 13C MAS NMR spectra were obtained for dark-adapted bacteriorhodopsin (bR) labeled with [4'-13C]Tyr. Difference spectra (labeled minus natural abundance) taken at pH values between 2 and 12, and temperatures between 20 and -90 degrees C, exhibit a single signal centered at 156 ppm, indicating that the 11 tyrosines are protonated over a wide pH range. However, at pH 13, a second line appears in the spectrum with an isotropic shift of 165 ppm. Comparisons with solution and solid-state spectra of model compounds suggest that this second line is due to the formation of tyrosinate. Integrated intensities indicate that about half of the tyrosines are deprotonated at pH 13. This result demonstrates that deprotonated tyrosines in a membrane protein are detectable with solid-state NMR and that neither the bR568 nor the bR555 form of bR present in the dark-adapted state contains a tyrosinate at pH values between 2 and 12. Deprotonation of a single tyrosine in bR568 would account for 3.6% of the total tyrosine signal, which would be detectable with the current signal-to-noise ratio. We observe a slight heterogeneity and subtle line-width changes in the tyrosine signal between pH 7 and pH 12, which we interpret to be due to protein environmental effects (such as changes in hydrogen bonding) rather than complete deprotonation of tyrosine residue(s).

The S3 state of photosystem II: differences between the structure of the manganese complex in the S2 and S3 states determined by X-ray absorption spectroscopy.

O2-evolving photosystem II (PSII) membranes from spinach have been cryogenically stabilized in the S3 state of the oxygen-evolving complex. The cryogenic trapping of the S3 state was achieved using a double-turnover illumination of dark-adapted PSII preparations maintained at 240 K. A double turnover of PSII was accomplished using the high-potential acceptor, Q400, which is the high-spin iron of the iron-quinone acceptor complex. EPR spectroscopy was the principal tool establishing the S-state composition and defining the electron-transfer events associated with a double turnover of PSII. The inflection point energy of the Mn X-ray absorption K-edge of PSII preparations poised in the S3 state is the same as for those poised in the S2 state. This is surprising in light of the loss of the multiline EPR signal upon advancing to the S3 state. This indicates that the oxidative equivalent stored within the oxygen-evolving complex (OEC) during this transition resides on another intermediate donor which must be very close to the manganese complex. An analysis of the Mn extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) of PSII preparations poised in the S2 and S3 states indicates that a small structural rearrangement occurs during this photoinduced transition. A detailed comparison of the Mn EXAFS of these two S states with the EXAFS of four multinuclear mu-oxo-bridged manganese compounds indicates that the photosynthetic manganese site most probably consists of a pair of binuclear di-mu-oxo-bridged manganese structures. However, we cannot rule out, on the basis of the EXAFS analysis alone, a complex containing a mononuclear center and a linear trinuclear complex. The subtle differences observed between the S states are best explained by an increase in the spread of Mn-Mn distances occurring during the S2----S3 state transition. This increased disorder in the manganese distances suggests the presence of two inequivalent di-mu-oxo-bridged binuclear structures in the S3 state.