title: Vibrational spectrum of the lumi intermediate in the room temperature rhodopsin photo-reaction.
abstract: The vibrational spectrum (650-1750 cm(-1)) of the lumi-rhodopsin (lumi) intermediate formed in the microsecond time regime of the room-temperature rhodopsin (RhRT) photoreaction is measured for the first time using picosecond time-resolved coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy (PTR/CARS). The vibrational spectrum of lumi is recorded 2.5 micros after the 3-ps, 500-nm excitation of RhRT. Complementary to Fourier transform infrared spectra recorded at Rh sample temperatures low enough to freeze lumi, these PTR/CARS results provide the first detailed view of the vibrational degrees of freedom of room-temperature lumi (lumiRT) through the identification of 21 bands. The exceptionally low intensity (compared to those observed in bathoRT) of the hydrogen out-of-plane (HOOP) bands, the moderate intensity and absolute positions of C-C stretching bands, and the presence of high-intensity C==C stretching bands suggest that lumiRT contains an almost planar (nontwisting), all-trans retinal geometry. Independently, the 944-cm(-1) position of the most intense HOOP band implies that a resonance coupling exists between the out-of-plane retinal vibrations and at least one group among the amino acids comprising the retinal binding pocket. The formation of lumiRT, monitored via PTR/CARS spectra recorded on the nanosecond time scale, can be associated with the decay of the blue-shifted intermediate (BSI(RT)) formed in equilibrium with the bathoRT intermediate. PTR/CARS spectra measured at a 210-ns delay contain distinct vibrational features attributable to BSI(RT), which suggest that the all-trans retinal in both BSI(RT) and lumiRT is strongly coupled to part of the retinal binding pocket. With regard to the energy storage/transduction mechanism in RhRT, these results support the hypothesis that during the formation of lumiRT, the majority of the photon energy absorbed by RhRT transfers to the apoprotein opsin.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Optical Science Center, University of Arizona, Tucson 85721-0041, USA.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ujj
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Jäger
authors.forename: G H
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Atkinson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D004867:Equipment Design; D012243:Rhodopsin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000528:radiation effects; D012374:Rod Cell Outer Segment / Q000378:metabolism; D013059:Spectrum Analysis, Raman / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D013816:Thermodynamics; D014732:Vibration
chemical_list: C018586:lumirhodopsin; C015017:bathorhodopsin; D012243:Rhodopsin