Orientation of Cyanine Fluorophores Terminally Attached to DNA Via Long, Flexible Tethers
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1148 Biophysical Journal Volume 101 September 2011 1148–1154 Orientation of Cyanine Fluorophores Terminally Attached to DNA via Long, Flexible Tethers Jonathan Ouellet, Stephanie Schorr, Asif Iqbal, Timothy J. Wilson, and David M. J. Lilley* Cancer Research UK Nucleic Acid Structure Research Group, The University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom ABSTRACT Cyanine fluorophores are commonly used in single-molecule FRET experiments with nucleic acids. We have previously shown that indocarbocyanine fluorophores attached to the 50-termini of DNA and RNA via three-carbon atom linkers stack on the ends of the helix, orienting their transition moments. We now investigate the orientation of sulfoindocarbocyanine fluorophores tethered to the 50-termini of DNA via 13-atom linkers. Fluorescence lifetime measurements of sulfoindocarbocya- nine 3 attached to double-stranded DNA indicate that the fluorophore is extensively stacked onto the terminal basepair at 15C, with properties that depend on the terminal sequence. In single molecules of duplex DNA, FRET efficiency between sulfoindo- carbocyanine 3 and 5 attached in this manner is modulated with helix length, indicative of fluorophore orientation and consistent with stacked fluorophores that can undergo lateral motion. We conclude that terminal stacking is an intrinsic property of the cyanine fluorophores irrespective of the length of the tether and the presence or absence of sulfonyl groups. However, compared to short-tether indocarbocyanine, the mean rotational relationship between the two fluorophores is changed by ~60 for the long- tether sulfoindocarbocyanine fluorophores. This is consistent with the transition moments becoming approximately aligned with the long axis of the terminal basepair for the long-linker species. INTRODUCTION Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) is exten- J(l) is the spectral overlap between donor emission and sively used to measure or compare distances in biological acceptor absorption, given by macromolecules (1), especially nucleic acids (2–5). It RN 4 provides distance information in a size range suitable for 4DðlÞεAðlÞl dl biological macromolecules, and because of the sensitivity JðlÞ¼ 0 (3) RN of fluorescence, it can be performed on single molecules 4DðlÞdl (6). However, the interpretation of FRET data is potentially 0 complicated by effects arising from the orientation of the fluorophores used. where 4D(l) is the spectral shape of donor emission and FRET arises from the dipolar coupling between the εA(l) the extinction coefficient for acceptor absorption transition moment vectors of fluorophores, a function of (MÀ1 cmÀ1). The value k2 describes the relative orientation distance and orientation. The efficiency of FRET (EFRET) of the fluorophores. It is given by as a function of fluorophore separation (R) is given by 2 2 Fo¨rster (7)as k ¼ðcos QT À 3  cos QD  cos QAÞ (4) 1 E ¼ (1) FRET 6 where the angles QT, QD, and QA describe the relative 1 þ R= orientation of the donor and acceptor transition dipole R0 moments (Fig. 1 A). Uncertainty in the value of k2 (8–10) provides the largest potential difficulty in the extraction of 2 where R0 is the distance at which energy transfer is 50% distance information from EFRET. The value k can take efficient. R0 depends upon the spectroscopic properties of values between 0 and 4, or between 0 and 1 if the transition the fluorophores and the medium, given by moments are coaxial and constrained to parallel planes. If 0:529  k2  f  JðlÞ the fluorophores undergo isotropic reorientation within the R6 ¼ D (2) k2 ¼ 0 N  n4 excited state lifetime of the donor, then 2/3 (9), thus simplifying the extraction of distance information. In many studies this is assumed to apply, explicitly or other- where the units of R and the wavelength l are cm. The 0 wise, but this may not necessarily be warranted. There has value f is the quantum yield of the donor, N is the Avoga- D been renewed interest in this problem recently (11–13). dro number, n is the index of refraction of the medium, and The cyanine fluorophores Cy3 and Cy5 are extensively used as a FRET donor acceptor pair attached to nucleic Submitted June 1, 2011, and accepted for publication July 11, 2011. acids, particularly in single-molecule studies (14). We have shown that the fluorophores Cy3 and Cy5 stack on *Correspondence: [email protected] 0 Editor: David P. Millar. the ends of DNA double helices when attached to the 5 Ó 2011 by the Biophysical Society 0006-3495/11/09/1148/7 $2.00 doi: 10.1016/j.bpj.2011.07.007 Cyanine Fluorophore Orientation on DNA 1149 2 A that an assumption of k ¼ 2/3 is not justified. This was demonstrated by making a series of DNA and DNA-RNA duplexes labeled at their 50-termini with Cy3 and Cy5 (12). We observed that the efficiency of energy transfer from Cy3 donor to Cy5 acceptor as a function of the length of the helix was significantly modulated in a periodic manner, with maxima and minima occurring twice per helix rotation. The profiles of EFRET as a function of helix length could be well simulated assuming standard B- and A-form helical geometries and terminally stacked fluorophores that can B undergo a significant degree of lateral mobility about a mean position deduced from NMR studies (12). Because the calculated transition moments for the p to p* transitions lie in the plane of the indole rings close to the poly-methine linker (16), the fluorophore positions are close to satisfying the conditions for a variation of 0 % k2 % 1, and the dipoles should be perpendicular twice per helical period (i.e., k2 ¼ 0) (Fig. 1 C). In principle, the orientational effects could be greater if the fluorophores planes are not parallel, for example when terminally attached to a helix that is bent by some discontinuity such as a junction or bulge. In that case, k2 could vary over its full range from 0 to 4. In our previous studies, the cyanine fluorophores were 0 linked to 5 -termini via a C3 linker. This is the same number of carbon atoms that exist when linked via a ribose ring, and C it is possible that this constrains the fluorophores to stack on the end of the helix in the manner of an additional nucleo- tide base. A commonly-used alternative approach is to con- jugate the fluorophores as N-hydroxysuccinimide esters to 0 a primary amine that is linked to the 5 -terminus by a C6 tether, generating a total tether length of 13 atoms. The structures created by use of the C3-linked phosphoramidite and conjugation using the C6 linker are compared in Fig. 2. In principle, the longer linker could provide much greater FIGURE 1 Orientation of the transition moments of cyanine fluoro- flexibility than the C3 tether. The structure of the fluoro- phores attached to DNA. (A) The orientation parameter k2. The transition phores used in the two methods also differs. The Cy3 and dipole vectors for the coupled donor and acceptor fluorophore are indicated 0 Cy5 N-hydroxysuccinimide esters carry sulfonyl groups at (arrows), labeled D and A. Vector A is generated by the in-plane translation 0 of vector A to share its origin with vector D. The definition of k2, given in the 5 and 5 positions of the indole rings. The presence of Eq. 4, is based upon the angles shown. (B) Parallel-eye stereoscopic view these negative charges could affect the stacking of the fluo- of a model of a duplex with Cy3 and Cy5 fluorophores attached to the rophores (17). The longer linker and altered structure of the 0 5 -termini via C3 linkers. This was generated using our NMR structures fluorophore might conceivably remove a constraint that of Cy3 and Cy5 attached to duplex DNA. The fluorophores lie in approxi- requires it to stack on the terminal basepair. On the other mately parallel planes, and thus the angular relationship between them (and thus their transition moments) will depend on the length of the DNA helix, hand, perhaps the tendency to stack is intrinsic to the and its helical periodicity. (C) Schematic to illustrate the principle of the cyanine fluorophores in general, and will occur irrespective experiment in which a series of DNA duplexes terminally labeled with of the nature of the linkage and substitution in the indole Cy3 and Cy5 is used. The cyanine fluorophores are represented as flat disks, ring. We have therefore set out to answer this question, with the direction of the transition moments indicated (arrows). As the helix which is of great practical significance for the interpretation length is increased there is a rotation of the relative angle between the two k2 of FRET experiments using these fluorophores. transition dipoles. The term takes the value 1 when they are parallel, and 0 0 when perpendicular. We have used a 10–24 bp duplex series with 5 sulfoindo- carbocyanine 3 and 5 attached via long tethers to examine whether the orientation observed with the shorter tether is termini via three-methylene carbon (C3) tethers generated maintained. We find significant modulation of EFRET with by coupling as phosphoramidites (15,16)(Fig. 1 B). This helix length measured in single-molecule experiments, generates a significant orientation of the fluorophores, so leading to the conclusion that the orientation of the cyanine Biophysical Journal 101(5) 1148–1154 1150 Ouellet et al. A Phospholipid encapsulation A 100:1 molar ratio of unmodified/biotinylated phospholipids was prepared by evaporating a number of aliquots of a mixture of 2.5 mg L-a-phosphatidylcholine and 35 mg 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phos- phoethanolamine-N-(cap biotinyl) (Avanti Polar Lipids, Alabaster, AL) from chloroform in a stream of argon.