Insights into excited-state and isomerization dynamics of bacteriorhodopsin from ultrafast transient UV absorption

Schenkl, S.; Chergui, M.; van Mourik, F.; Haacke, S.; Schlesinger, R.; Friedman, N.; Sheves, M.

doi:10.1073/pnas.0506303103

Journal Article

Insights into excited-state and isomerization dynamics of bacteriorhodopsin from ultrafast transient UV absorption

Schenkl, S. ; van Mourik, F. ; Friedman, N. ; Sheves, M. ; Schlesinger, R.FZJ* ; Haacke, S. ; Chergui, M.

2006
Academy Washington, DC

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 103, 4101 - 4106 (2006) [10.1073/pnas.0506303103]

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Please use a persistent id in citations: http://hdl.handle.net/2128/2655 doi:10.1073/pnas.0506303103

Abstract: A visible-pump/UV-probe transient absorption is used to characterize the ultrafast dynamics of bacteriorhodopsin with 80-fs time resolution. We identify three spectral components in the 265- to 310-nm region, related to the all-trans retinal, tryptophan (Trp)-86 and the isomerized photoproduct, allowing us to map the dynamics from reactants to products, along with the response of Trp amino acids. The signal of the photoproduct appears with a time delay of approximately 250 fs and is characterized by a steep rise ( approximately 150 fs), followed by additional rise and decay components, with time scales characteristic of the J intermediate. The delayed onset and the steep rise point to an impulsive formation of a transition state on the way to isomerization. We argue that this impulsive formation results from a splitting of a wave packet of torsional modes on the potential surface at the branching between the all-trans and the cis forms. Parallel to these dynamics, the signal caused by Trp response rises in approximately 200 fs, because of the translocation of charge along the conjugate chain, and possible mechanisms are presented, which trigger isomerization.

Keyword(s): Bacteriorhodopsins: chemistry (MeSH) ; Bacteriorhodopsins: genetics (MeSH) ; Biophysical Phenomena (MeSH) ; Biophysics (MeSH) ; Halobacterium salinarum: chemistry (MeSH) ; Halobacterium salinarum: genetics (MeSH) ; Isomerism (MeSH) ; Kinetics (MeSH) ; Mutagenesis, Site-Directed (MeSH) ; Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet (MeSH) ; Thermodynamics (MeSH) ; Tryptophan: chemistry (MeSH) ; Bacteriorhodopsins ; Tryptophan ; J ; ultrafast spectroscopy (auto) ; retinal proteins (auto) ; translocation of charge (auto) ; structural dynamics (auto)