1 Dynamics and Mechanism of Short-Range Electron Transfer
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Dynamics and Mechanism of Short-Range Electron Transfer Reactions in Flavoproteins Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Mainak Kundu, M.Sc. Graduate Program in Chemistry The Ohio State University 2019 Dissertation Committee Professor Dongping Zhong, Advisor Professor Heather Allen Professor Sherwin Singer 1 Copyrighted by Mainak Kundu 2019 2 Abstract Short-range electron transfer (ET) reactions are extensively used in light perception processes in flavoproteins. Such reactions an ultrafast and occur on the similar timescales as local protein-solvent fluctuations from femtoseconds to picoseconds and thus the two dynamics are expected to be coupled. Using the model protein of flavodoxin in its semiquinone state, we systematically characterized the photoinduced redox cycle of charge separation and charge recombination with mutations of different aromatic electron donors (tryptophan and tyrosine) and local residues to change the redox properties. We observed the ET dynamics in a few picoseconds, strongly following a stretched behavior resulting from a coupling between local environment fluctuations and these ET processes. We further observed the hot vibrational-state formation through charge recombination and the subsequent cooling dynamics and both processes are also in a few picoseconds. Combined with our previous studies of femtosecond ET in oxidized flavodoxin, these results coherently reveal the evolution of the ET dynamics from single to stretched exponential behaviors and elucidate the coupling mechanism. The observed hot vibration-state formation is robust and general and should be considered in all photoinduced back ET processes in flavoproteins. To analyze the role of tunneling distances in such reactions, we determined ET dynamics in a flavin–tryptophan pair at distances ranging from 3.2 to 18 Å, in 10 ii flavodoxin mutants with constant driving forces. We widely observed the stretched ET behavior with coupling from local solvation processes, and heterogenous ET dynamics from the large fluctuations (0.4 to 0.8 Å) in W donors located in flexible loop regions. We further observed the exponentially correlated distance–dependent ET severely impacted by local protein structures. At short distances, ET is highly favored by overlapping orbital interactions. At longer separation, tunneling pathways may uniquely differ within a protein and alter tunneling barriers to change the ET dynamics. Slow ET dynamics at long distances leads to energy loss via triplet dynamics, consistent with lower reaction yields. These results reveal how donor–acceptor configurations control ET mechanisms and signal transduction in photoreceptors. The accelerated growth in Oryza Sativa by the trimeric protein OsHAl3 is regulated by blue light through an unknown mechanism. We identified a photoreduction of the chromophore FMN from electron donors W79 and W82 on blue light illumination. At the active site, we obtained solvation dynamics in the ET-inert mutant in 1.9 ps (20%), 16 ps (42%), and 480 ps (37%), with the large energy relaxation of 217 cm-1, thus revealing a water-exposed FMN environment. We identified ultrafast forward ET and back ET dynamics in 1.2 ps, β=0.92 and 0.6 ps, β=0.97 for the donor W79. For W82, we resolved a faster forward ET and a slower back ET reaction in 4.0 ps, β=0.96 and 0.41 ps, β=1.0, respectively. With faster formation and longer recombination dynamics, W82 is the main electron donor, and the charge-separated intermediate could be key to downstream signaling. The large β values indicate minor ET coupling with solvent motions due to the slower environmental relaxations. We also observed formation of vibrationally hot BET iii product, consistent with the flavodoxin ET processes. These ET dynamics are essential for the blue light perception and is the primary event for signal transduction. For the special mutant C119S, we observed ET dynamics comparable to the wild-type, indicating absence of C119–C125 disulfide bond, in contrast to the light-inactive homolog AtHAL3. Together with the observation of C119-C125 disulfide bond in light structure of OsHAL3, the cysteines are possibly responsible for light induced structural changes. iv Dedication This document is dedicated to my friends and family. v Acknowledgments I take this opportunity to express my gratitude to my advisor Dr. Dongping Zhong for his dependable support and patience throughout my graduate studies. I thank him for his leadership and all the discussions on planning experiments, data analysis and manuscript preparation at various stages of research. His consistent guidance and scientific insight have been instrumental in the successful completion of this dissertation. I am grateful to Dr. Heather Allen and Dr. Sherwin Singer for their support and serving on my candidacy committee, annual progress reports, and the dissertation committee. I have also enjoyed learning the various physical chemistry courses they have taught. I thank Ms. Lijuan Wang for her help with biochemistry experiments, particularly during OsHAL3 purification. I specially thank Dr. Ting-Fang He for her preceding contributions in studying the protein flavodoxin, that paved the way for my research in electron transfer. I thank Drs. Zheyun Liu, Yangzhong Qin, Meng Zhang and Xiankun Li for their help with experiments and scientific discussions. I appreciate discussions with Dr. Xiaojing Yang from UIC, Chicago, and collaborations for the OsHAL3 project, and Dr. Richard Swenson for the gift of Flavodoxin plasmid. I also thank National Science Foundation for financial support and the Ohio Supercomputer Center for the computing facility. vi I like to thank Drs. Pratik Sen, Tarasankar Pal, Anjali Pal, Samrajnee Dutta, and my family for their support and encouragement that inspired me to pursue graduate studies. I am truly thankful to my friends, who have offered me help, advice and support on numerous occasions during my Ph.D. journey. vii Vita 2009 B.Sc. Chemistry. Presidency College, Calcutta University, India. Awarded Certificate of Merit, for top-10 university rank. 2011 M.Sc. Chemistry. Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, India. Dissertation: Spectroscopic Investigation of Synergistic Chloroform- Methanol Binary Mixture. 2012–present Graduate Teaching and Research Associate, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The Ohio State University. Publications 4. Short-range electron transfer in reduced flavodoxin: Ultrafast nonequilibrium dynamics coupled with protein fluctuations. M. Kundu, T-F. He, Y. Lu, L. Wang, and D. Zhong, J. Phys. Chem. Lett. (2018). 3. Galvanic replacement of As(0) nanoparticles by Au(III) for nanogold fabrication and SERS application. S. Saha, S. Maji, R. Sahoo, M. Kundu, A. Kundu, and A. Pal, New J. Chem. (2014). 2. Wet-chemical synthesis of spherical arsenic nanoparticles by a simple reduction method and its characterization. S. Saha, S. Maji, M. Kundu, A. Kundu, and A. Pal, Adv. Mat. Lett. (2012). viii 1. Origin of strong synergism in weakly perturbed binary solvent system: A case study of primary alcohols and chlorinated methanes. S. Gupta, S. Rafiq, M. Kundu, and P. Sen, J. Phys. Chem. B (2011). Fields of Study Major Field: Chemistry ix Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Dedication ........................................................................................................................... v Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................. vi Vita ................................................................................................................................... viii List of Tables .................................................................................................................... xii List of Figures .................................................................................................................. xiii Chapter 1. Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Photoreceptors and photoenzymes ............................................................................ 1 1.2 Flavoproteins............................................................................................................. 2 1.2.1 Flavodoxin and electron transfer processes ....................................................... 2 1.2.2 The Hal3 gene and bioregulation ....................................................................... 4 1.4 Methodology: Femtosecond-resolved spectroscopy ................................................. 5 Chapter 2. Short-Range Electron Transfer in Reduced Flavodoxin: Ultrafast Nonequilibrium Dynamics Coupled with Protein Fluctuations. ....................................... 12 2.1. Introduction ............................................................................................................ 12 2.2. Materials and methods ........................................................................................... 13 2.2.1. Protein purification ......................................................................................... 13 2.2.2. Femtosecond–resolved spectroscopy .............................................................. 13 2.3. Results and discussions .........................................................................................