title: Pyrene: a probe to study protein conformation and conformational changes.
abstract: The review focuses on the unique spectral features of pyrene that can be utilized to investigate protein structure and conformation. Pyrene is a fluorescent probe that can be attached covalently to protein side chains, such as sulfhydryl groups. The spectral features of pyrene are exquisitely sensitive to the microenvironment of the probe: it exhibits an ensemble of monomer fluorescence emission peaks that report on the polarity of the probe microenvironment, and an additional band at longer wavelengths, the appearance of which reflects the presence of another pyrene molecule in spatial proximity (~10 Å). Its high extinction coefficient allows us to study labeled proteins in solution at physiologically relevant concentrations. The environmentally- and spatially-sensitive features of pyrene allow monitoring protein conformation, conformational changes, protein folding and unfolding, protein-protein, protein-lipid and protein-membrane interactions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, 1250 Bellflower Boulevard, California State University Long Beach, Long Beach, CA 90840, USA.
authors.forename: Gursharan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bains
authors.forename: Arti B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.forename: Vasanthy
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Narayanaswami
mesh_terms: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D011485:Protein Binding; D011487:Protein Conformation; D017510:Protein Folding; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D011721:Pyrenes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D011506:Proteins; D011721:Pyrenes; C030984:pyrene