title: Using saturation-recovery EPR to measure distances in proteins: applications to photosystem II.
abstract: The stable tyrosine radical YD. (tyrosine 160 in the D2 polypeptide) in photosystem II (PSII) exhibits nonexponential electron spin-lattice relaxation transients at low temperature. As previously reported, the tetranuclear Mn complex in PSII significantly enhances the spin-lattice relaxation of YD.. However, in Mn-depleted PSII membranes, the spin-lattice relaxation transients of YD. are also nonexponential, and progressive power saturation (P 1/2) experiments show that it does not behave like an isolated tyrosine radical. A model is developed to treat the interaction of two paramagnets in a rigid lattice at a fixed distance apart but with a random orientation in a magnetic field. This model describes the spin-lattice relaxation of a radical in proximity to another paramagnetic site in terms of three relaxation rate constants: the "intrinsic" relaxation rate, the relaxation rate due to scalar exchange, and the relaxation rate due to dipole-dipole interactions. The intrinsic and the scalar exchange relaxation rates are isotropic and together contribute a single rate constant to the spin-lattice relaxation transients. However, the dipolar relaxation rate is orientation dependent. Each orientation contributes a different dipolar relaxation rate constant to the net spin-lattice relaxation rate constant. The result is a superposition of single-exponential recoveries, each with a different net rate constant, causing the observed saturation-recovery transients to be non-(single)-exponential. Saturation-recovery relaxation transients of YD. are compared with those of a model tyrosine radical, generated by UV photolysis of L-tyrosine in a borate glass. From this comparison, we conclude that scalar exchange does not make a significant contribution to the spin-lattice relaxation of YD. in Mn-depleted PSII. We account for the nonexponential relaxation transients obtained from YD. in Mn-depleted PSII membranes in terms of dipolar-induced relaxation enhancement from the non-heme Fe(II). From simulations of the spin-lattice relaxation transients, we obtain the magnitude of the magnetic dipolar interaction between YD. and the non-heme Fe(II), which can be used to calculate the distance between them. Using data on the non-heme Fe(II) in the reaction center of Rhodobacter sphaeroides to model the non-heme Fe(II) in PSII, we calculate a YD.-Fe(II) distance of greater than or equal to 38 A in PSII. This agrees well with the distance predicted from the structure of the bacterial reaction center.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06511.
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Hirsh
authors.forename: W F
authors.initials: WF
authors.lastname: Beck
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Innes
authors.forename: G W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Brudvig
mesh_terms: D004578:Electron Spin Resonance Spectroscopy; D007700:Kinetics; D008345:Manganese / Q000737:chemistry; D008958:Models, Molecular; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D045322:Photosynthetic Reaction Center Complex Proteins; D045332:Photosystem II Protein Complex; D014443:Tyrosine / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D045322:Photosynthetic Reaction Center Complex Proteins; D045332:Photosystem II Protein Complex; D014443:Tyrosine; D008345:Manganese