title: Conformational effects on tryptophan fluorescence in cyclic hexapeptides.
abstract: The peptide bond quenches tryptophan fluorescence by excited-state electron transfer, which probably accounts for most of the variation in fluorescence intensity of peptides and proteins. A series of seven peptides was designed with a single tryptophan, identical amino acid composition, and peptide bond as the only known quenching group. The solution structure and side-chain chi(1) rotamer populations of the peptides were determined by one-dimensional and two-dimensional (1)H-NMR. All peptides have a single backbone conformation. The -, psi-angles and chi(1) rotamer populations of tryptophan vary with position in the sequence. The peptides have fluorescence emission maxima of 350-355 nm, quantum yields of 0.04-0.24, and triple exponential fluorescence decays with lifetimes of 4.4-6.6, 1.4-3.2, and 0.2-1.0 ns at 5 degrees C. Lifetimes were correlated with ground-state conformers in six peptides by assigning the major lifetime component to the major NMR-determined chi(1) rotamer. In five peptides the chi(1) = -60 degrees rotamer of tryptophan has lifetimes of 2.7-5.5 ns, depending on local backbone conformation. In one peptide the chi(1) = 180 degrees rotamer has a 0.5-ns lifetime. This series of small peptides vividly demonstrates the dominant role of peptide bond quenching in tryptophan fluorescence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
authors.forename: Chia-Pin
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Mary D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Barkley
mesh_terms: D000596:Amino Acids / Q000737:chemistry*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry*; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence; D014364:Tryptophan / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D010455:Peptides; D014364:Tryptophan