title: Ultrafast excited-state dynamics in the green fluorescent protein variant S65T/H148D. 3. Short- and long-time dynamics of the excited-state proton transfer.
abstract: Steady-state emission, femtosecond pump-probe spectroscopy, and time-correlated single-photon counting (TCSPC) measurements were used to study the photophysics and the excited-state proton transfer (ESPT) reactions in the green fluorescent protein (GFP) variant S65T/H148D at three pH values: 6.0, 7.9, and 9.5. Selective mutation of GFP caused a dramatic change in the steady-state and excited-state behavior as compared to the wild-type GFP (wt-GFP) studied earlier. An excitation wavelength dependence of the quantum yield of the strong emission band at 510 nm (I* band) indicates the competition between adiabatic and non-adiabatic excited-state proton-transfer reactions. Pump-probe measurements show that the signal buildup probed at 510 nm is biphasic, where 0.8 of the signal amplitude is ultrashort, <150 fs, and 0.2 of the signal decreases with a approximately 10 ps time constant. This effect is a summary result of adiabatic ESPT to the carboxylate group of Asp148 and nonradiative processes. When compared with the luminescence of wt-GFP, the steady-state intensity at 450 nm is lower by a factor of about 10. This very weak emission at 450 nm has a nonexponential decay. It is relatively pH insensitive and, at about 25 ps, is almost twice as long as in wt-GFP. The former exhibits a surprisingly small kinetic deuterium isotope effect (KDIE), compared with the KDIE of about 5 for wt-GFP. Such weak proton dependence may indicate that this emission comes from the species not directly involved in the ESPT. In contrast, pH and H/D isotope dependence of the intense nonexponential luminescence decay of the S65T/H148D deprotonated form measured at 510 nm may result from an isomerization-induced deactivation that is accompanied by the proton recombination quenching. The data are complementary to the femtosecond time-resolved emission data obtained by ultrafast fluorescence up-conversion spectroscopy, found in the preceding paper (Shi et al.). The spectroscopic results are discussed on the basis of the detailed X-ray structure of the mutant published in the preceding paper (Shu et al.).
authors.affiliation: Raymond and Beverly Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences, School of Chemistry, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel.
authors.forename: Pavel
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Leiderman
authors.forename: Liat
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Genosar
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Huppert
authors.forename: Xiaokun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Shu
authors.forename: S James
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Remington
authors.forename: Kyril M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Solntsev
authors.forename: Laren M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Tolbert
mesh_terms: D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D007700:Kinetics; D009154:Mutation; D011522:Protons; D011789:Quantum Theory
chemical_list: D011522:Protons; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins