Article

Determination of bacteriorhodopsin orientation in monolayers by infrared spectroscopy

Thin Solid Films (impact factor: 1.89). DOI:10.1016/S0040-6090(95)08407-X pp.627-630

ABSTRACT In the present study, Fourier transform infrared-attenuated total reflection spectroscopy has been used to characterize Langmuir-Blodgett films of purple membranes deposited on Ge crystals at different surface pressures. The results obtained indicate that the average angle of the protein's α-helices with respect to the interface normal remains unchanged with increasing lateral pressure. Moreover, the total absorbance of the films as a function of molecular area suggests that a multilayer structure is formed between 40 and 46 mN m−1.

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    Article: Structure and conformation of the disulfide bond in dimeric lung surfactant peptides SP-B1-25 and SP-B8-25.
    Nilanjana Biswas, Alan J Waring, Frans J Walther, Richard A Dluhy
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    ABSTRACT: Raman spectroscopy was used to determine the conformation of the disulfide linkage between cysteine residues in the homodimeric construct of the N-terminal alpha helical domain of surfactant protein B (dSP-B(1-25)). The conformation of the disulfide bond between cysteine residues in position 8 of the homodimer of dSP-B(1-25) was compared with that of a truncated homodimer (dSP-B(8-25)) of the peptide having a disulfide linkage at the same position in the alpha helix. Temperature-dependent Raman spectra of the S-S stretching region centered at approximately 500 cm(-1) indicated a stable, although highly strained disulfide conformation with a chi(CS-SC) dihedral angle of +/-10 degrees for the dSP-B(1-25) dimer. In contrast, the truncated dimer dSP-B(8-25) exhibited a series of disulfide conformations with the chi(CS-SC) dihedral angle taking on values of either +/-30 degrees or 85+/-20 degrees . For conformations with chi(CS-SC) close to the +/-90 degrees value, the Raman spectra of the 8-25 truncated dimers exhibited chi(SS-CC) dihedral angles of 90/180 degrees and 20-30 degrees . In the presence of a lipid mixture, both constructs showed a nu(S-S) band at approximately 488 cm(-1), corresponding to a chi(CS-SC) dihedral angle of +/-10 degrees . Polarized infrared spectroscopy was also used to determine the orientation of the helix and beta-sheet portion of both synthetic peptides. These calculations indicated that the helix was oriented primarily in the plane of the surface, at an angle of approximately 60-70 degrees to the surface normal, while the beta structure had approximately 40 degrees tilt. This orientation direction did not change in the presence of a lipid mixture or with temperature. These observations suggest that: (i) the conformational flexibility of the disulfide linkage is dependent on the amino acid residues that flank the cysteine disulfide bond, and (ii) in both constructs, the presence of a lipid matrix locks the disulfide bond into a preferred conformation.
    Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 06/2007; 1768(5):1070-82. · 4.66 Impact Factor
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