Internal water molecules of the proton-pumping halorhodopsin in the presence of azide.

In the FTIR study of rhodopsins, we have so far found that strongly hydrogen-bonded water molecules (O-D stretch at <2400 cm-1) are only present in the proteins exhibiting proton-pumping activity. Halorhodopsin (HR) is a light-driven chloride pump in haloarchaea, which does not possess such water molecules. On the other hand, it is known that addition of azide converts HR into a proton pump. Although the mechanism has not been understood, we observed strongly hydrogen-bonded water molecules in the azide-bound HR of Natronobacterium pharaonis (pHR). This finding is consistent with the previous results, implying that the presence of strongly hydrogen-bonded water molecules is requested for the proton-pumping function of rhodopsins.

Hydrogen-bonding alterations of the protonated Schiff base and water molecule in the chloride pump of Natronobacterium pharaonis.

Halorhodopsin is a light-driven chloride ion pump. Chloride ion is bound in the Schiff base region of the retinal chromophore, and unidirectional chloride transport is probably enforced by the specific hydrogen-bonding interaction with the protonated Schiff base and internal water molecules. In this article, we study hydrogen-bonding alterations of the Schiff base and water molecules in halorhodopsin of Natronobacterium pharaonis (pHR) by assigning their N-D and O-D stretching vibrations in D(2)O, respectively. Highly accurate low-temperature Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy revealed that hydrogen bonds of the Schiff base and water molecules are weak in the unphotolyzed state, whereas they are strengthened upon retinal photoisomerization. Halide dependence of the stretching vibrations enabled us to conclude that the Schiff base forms a direct hydrogen bond with Cl(-) only in the K intermediate. Hydrogen bond of the Schiff base is further strengthened in the L(1) intermediate, whereas the halide dependence revealed that the acceptor is not Cl(-), but presumably a water molecule. Thus, it is concluded that the hydrogen-bonding interaction between the Schiff base and Cl(-) is not a driving force of the motion of Cl(-). Rather, the removal of its hydrogen bonds with the Schiff base and water(s) makes the environment around Cl(-) less polar in the L(1) intermediate, which presumably drives the motion of Cl(-) from its binding site to the cytoplasmic domain.