Steady-state polarization anisotropy

The measurement of steady-state anisotropy r is simple and needs two polarizers, one in excitation and the other in emission beams. When the sample is excited... 

Situation with H-bonding also demands to take into account the fact that alcohols have ability to form various associates or even clusters at normal conditions. The most efficient method for determination of inhomogeneity in the excited states is fluorescence polarization measurements. These methods also frequently applied for studying of solvent viscosity, they may be provided in two variants steady state and time-resolved. Relations for time-resolved and steady state fluorescence anisotropy may be given as [1, 2, 75] ... 

Homo-FRET is a useful tool to study the interactions in living cells that can be detected by the decrease in anisotropy [106, 107]. Since commonly the donor and acceptor dipoles are not perfectly aligned in space, the energy transfer results in depolarization of acceptor emission. Imaging in polarized light can be provided both in confocal and time-resolved microscopies. However, a decrease of steady-state anisotropy can be observed not only due to homo-FRET, but also due to rotation of the fluorescence emitter. The only possibility of discriminating them in an unknown system is to use the variation of excitation wavelength and apply the... 

Dr can be determined by time-resolved fluorescence polarization measurements, either by pulse fluorometry from the recorded decays of the polarized components I l and 11, or by phase fluorometry from the variations in the phase shift between J and I as a function of frequency (see Chapter 6). If the excited-state lifetime is unique and determined separately, steady-state anisotropy measurements allow us to determine Dr from the following equation, which results from Eqs (5.10) and (5.41) ... 

Measurement of steady-state emission anisotropy. Polarization spectra... 

Fluorescence polarization 1) steady state 2) time-resolved emission anisotropy rotational diffusion of the whole probe simple technique but Perrin s Law often not valid sophisticated technique but very powerful also provides order parameters... 

At the present time, two methods are in common use for the determination of time-resolved anisotropy parameters—the single-photon counting or pulse method 55-56 and the frequency-domain or phase fluorometric methods. 57 59) These are described elsewhere in this series. Recently, both of these techniques have undergone considerable development, and there are a number of commercially available instruments which include analysis software. The question of which technique would be better for the study of membranes is therefore difficult to answer. Certainly, however, the multifrequency phase instruments are now fully comparable with the time-domain instruments, a situation which was not the case only a few years ago. Time-resolved measurements are generally rather more difficult to perform and may take considerably longer than the steady-state anisotropy measurements, and this should be borne in mind when samples are unstable or if information of kinetics is required. It is therefore important to evaluate the need to take such measurements in studies of membranes. Steady-state instruments are of course much less expensive, and considerable information can be extracted, although polarization optics are not usually supplied as standard. 

The emitted light is detected along y through a polarizer oriented either along z (Fz) or along x (Fx). In fluorescence polarization studies with continuous excitation (steady-state experiments), the emission anisotropy r and the emission polarization p are defined in eqs 8a and 8b. 

Steady-state fluorescence polarization studies have been carried out with a number of peptides, including model peptides, ACTH, glucagon, melittin, and thyrocalcitonin. This work has been reviewed 5 and will not be discussed in the present article. More recently, interesting information on the rotational behavior and structural flexibility of various peptides has been obtained from fluorescence anisotropy decay measurements. 

In subsequent sections we shall consider a few phenomenological axisymmetric potentials that determine the steady-state law of motion of a dipole. A polar fluid considered in most of our models is characterized by a local anisotropy—that is, by that in a short-range space scale. Correspondingly, we represent polar fluid as... 

For quite some time, there have been indications for a phase-separation in the shell of polyelectrolyte block copolymer micelles. Electrophoretic mobility measurements on PS-PMAc [50] indicated that a part of the shell exhibits a considerable higher ionic strength than the surrounding medium. This had been corroborated by fluorescence studies on PS-PMAc [51-53] and PS-P2VP-heteroarm star polymers [54]. According to the steady-state fluorescence and anisotropy decays of fluorophores attached to the ends of the PMAc-blocks, a certain fraction of the fluorophores (probably those on the blocks that were folded back to the core/shell interface) monitored a lower polarity of the environment. Their mobility was substantially restricted. It thus seemed as if the polyelectrolyte corona was phase separated into a dense interior part and a dilute outer part. Further experimental evidence for the existence of a dense interior corona domain has been found in an NMR/SANS-study on poly(methylmethacrylate-fr-acrylic acid) (PMMA-PAAc) micelles [55]. 

FP is an alternative readout principle for endopeptidase activity assays. FP or anisotropy measurements allow the detection of changes in the rotational correlation time of particles. These differences in the rotational correlation (or relaxation) time are related to different masses of particles. The experimental determination of steady-state fluorescence anisotropy requires the linear polarization of the light used for the excitation of the probe as well as linear polarization of the emitted fluorescence. Based on data of an appropriate experiment, the fluorescence anisotropy can be calculated as ... 

This system of equations shows, through even orders, that polarized light irradiation creates anisotropy and photo-orientation by photoisomerization. A solution to the time evolution of the cis and trans expansion parameters cannot be found without approximations this is when physics comes into play. Approximate numerical simulations are possible. 1 will show that for detailed and precise comparison of experimental data with the photo-orientation theory, it is not necessary to have a solution for the dynamics, even in the most general case where there is not enough room for approximations, i.e., that of push-pull azo dyes, such as DRl, because of the strong overlap of the linear absorption spectra of the cis and trans isomers of such chromophores. Rigorous analytical expressions of the steady-state behavior and the early time evolution provide the necessary tool for a full characterization of photo-orientation by photoisomerization. 

The fluorescent spectroscopy techniques were used to observe the interaction of dyes with macromolecules.5 The fluorescent spectra and steady-state fluorescence anisotropy of dyes in the presence of enzymes were determined with an Aminco-Bowman Series 2 spectrofluorimeter (ThermoSpectronic, USA) equipped with polarizers. 

Steady-State Anisotropy Following continuous excitation with vertically polarized light, a distribution of fluorophores whose transition vectors for the absorption process are vertically aligned will be photoselected, creating an excited state population, which possesses a degree of anisotropy (r) or optical order, in an otherwise isotropic distribution of fluorophores. Measurement of the intensity of fluorescence, via an emission polarizer in planes parallel (z n) and perpendicular (zx) to the vertical plane allows estimation of r from... 

The steady-state fluorescence anisotropy/polarization method is also simple and relies on the fact that the probe molecule will tumble rapidly in solution when free, but will have restricted motion upon binding to a macromolecule. Optical excitation of the probe by polarized light will result in preferential absorption by those molecules whose absorption transition dipole is parallel to the electric field vector direction of the light. The subsequent fluorescence will be partially polarized. The definitions of anisotropy (r) and polarization (P) are [188]... 

Recently, we have investigated in detail the steady state and transients of the photoinduced polar order and its related anisotropy in both trans and cis molecular distributions [70]. The effect of all the physical parameters involved in the PEP phenomena has been considered. These include molecular anisometry, pump intensity, pump polarization, strength of the poling field, molecular mobility, and retention of memory of the molecular orientation. Here, we discuss the photostationary state of the PEP process by means of analytical expressions. 

Figure 5.7. Steady-state fluorescence polarization versus temperature over viscosity ratio for Trp residues of human aj -acid glycoprotein prepared by acetonic precipitation. Data were obtained by thermal variations in the range 7-35" C. Xex = 300 nm. Xem = 330 nm. Protein concentration is equal to 10 pM. The rotational correlation time determined from the Perrin plot is equal to 13 ns at 20°C is in the same range as that (17 ns) expected for the protein at the same temperature, indicates the presence of residual motions. Also, the extrapolated anisotropy (0.264) is equal to that measured at -35 C (0.267). Source Albani, J. R. 1998, Spectrochimica Acta, Part A. 54, 173-183.

Steady-state fluorescence anisotropy of 10 pM of Calcofluor in the presence of 5 pM of ai -acid glycoprotein = 435 nm and Xqx 300 nm) was performed at different temperatures. A Perrin plot representation (Fig. 8.21a.) yields a rotational correlation time equal to 7.5 ns at 20 °C. This value is lower than that (16 ns) expected for a i-acid glycoprotein and thus indicates that calcofluor displays segmental motions independent of the global rotation of the protein. Thus, two motions contribute to the depolarization process, the local motion of the carbohydrate residues and the global rotation of the protein, i.e., a fraction of the total depolarization is lost due to the segmental motion, and the remaining polarization decays as a result of the rotational diffusion of the protein. 

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