Environment Fluorescent

The lifetime of the excited state of fluorophores may be altered by physical and biochemical properties of its environment. Fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) is thus a powerful analytical tool for the quantitative mapping of fluorescent molecules that reports, for instance, on local ion concentration, pH, and viscosity, the fluorescence lifetime of a donor fluorophore, Forster resonance energy transfer can be also imaged by FLIM. This provides a robust method for mapping protein-protein interactions and for probing the complexity of molecular interaction networks. 

The intrinsic UV fluorescence of proteins is dominated by the tryptophan indole rings. The absorption maximum is 280-290 nm with the fluorescence maximum ranging from 315-355 nm, depending on the local environment of the indole side-chains. Quantum yields range from 0.04 to 0.50 0.10 is a common value. As the local environment polarity or dielectric constant increases, the fluorescence maximum shifts up to 355 nm, such as for an indole ring in water or buffer. Trp moieties in highly hydro-phobic environments fluoresce at 315-320 nm. Thus the fluorescence emission maximum (and the quantum yield) provide indirect information as to the local environment of the Trp fluors. 

Many reactions between fluorophores and their environment will reduce DOM fluorescence and are termed quenching reactions. Huorescence is related primarily to various chemical components constituting DOM, which is reflects DOM sources and molecular size and mass. Colloidal organic matter (COM), fractionated by a variety of ultrafiltration and flow fractionation methods, shows distinct patterns in fluorescence, but these patterns are not consistent among freshwater and seawater sources. In freshwater environments protein fluorescence is often found in the highest molecular size fractions, whereas in seawater environments, fluorescence is often found in lower molecular size fractions. 

Mosshauer effect The resonance fluorescence by y-radiation of an atomic nucleus, returning from an excited state to the ground state. The resonance energy is characteristic of the chemical environment of the nucleus and Mossbauer spectroscopy may be used to yield information about this chemical environment. Used particularly in the study of Fe. Sn and Sb compounds. 

The attachment of pyrene or another fluorescent marker to a phospholipid or its addition to an insoluble monolayer facilitates their study via fluorescence spectroscopy [163]. Pyrene is often chosen due to its high quantum yield and spectroscopic sensitivity to the polarity of the local environment. In addition, one of several amphiphilic quenching molecules allows measurement of the pyrene lateral diffusion in the mono-layer via the change in the fluorescence decay due to the bimolecular quenching reaction [164,165]. 

Figure Cl.5.9. Vibrationally resolved dispersed fluorescence spectra of two different single molecules of terrylene in polyetliylene. The excitation wavelengtli for each molecule is indicated and tlie spectra are plotted as the difference between excitation and emitted wavenumber. Each molecule s spectmm was recorded on a CCD detector at two different settings of tire spectrograph grating to examine two different regions of tlie emission spectmm. Type 1 and type 2 spectra were tentatively attributed to terrylene molecules in very different local environments, although tlie possibility tliat type 2 spectra arise from a chemical impurity could not be mled out. Furtlier details are given in Tchenio [105-1071.

Single molecules also have promise as probes for local stmcture when doped into materials tliat are tliemselves nonfluorescent. Rlrodamine dyes in botli silicate and polymer tliin films exliibit a distribution of fluorescence maxima indicative of considerable heterogeneity in local environments, particularly for the silicate material [159]. A bimodal distribution of fluorescence intensities observed for single molecules of crystal violet in a PMMA film has been suggested to result from high and low viscosity local sites witliin tire polymer tliat give rise to slow and fast internal conversion, respectively [160]. 

The sensitivities of particular spectroscopic teclmiques to specific chemical features are described more fully in tire next section. Perhaps tire most common and versatile probes of reaction dynamics are time-resolved UV-vis absorjDtion and fluorescence measurements. Wlren molecules contain cliromophores which change tlieir stmcture directly or experience a change of environment during a reaction, changes in absorjDtion or fluorescence spectra can be expected and may be used to monitor tire reaction dynamics. Altliough absorjDtion measurements are less sensitive tlian fluorescence measurements, tliey are more versatile in tliat one need not rely on a substantial fluorescence yield for tire reactants, products or intennediates to be studied. 

Approximately a minimum of 1 to 5,000 is required before complexation is no longer dependent on molecular weight for small anions such as KI and l-ariiLinonaphthaLine-8-sulfonate (ANS) (86,87). The latter anion is a fluorescent probe that, when bound in hydrophobic environments, will display increased fluorescence and, as expected, shows this effect in the presence of aqueous PVP. PVP, when complexed with Hl, shrinks in si2e as it loses hydrodynamic volume, possibly because of interchain complexation. ANS, on the other hand, causes the polymer to swell by charge repulsion because it behaves like a typical polyelectrolyte (88). 

The mechanism of the reaction has not been elucidated. Berberine is probably enriched in the lipophilic chromatogram zones which then fluoresce more intensely than the environment. 

The conformation of bovine myelin basic protein (MBP) in AOT/isooctane/water reversed micellar systems was studied by Waks et al. 67). This MBP is an extrinsic water soluble protein which attains an extended conformation in aqueous solution 68 but is more density packed at the membrane surface. The solubilization of MBP in the AOT reversed micelles depends on the water/AOT-ratio w0 68). The maximum of solubilization was observed at a w0-value as low as 5.56. The same value was obtained for another major protein component of myelin, the Folch-Pi proteolipid 69). According to fluorescence emission spectra of MBP, accessibility of the single tryptophane residue seems to be decreased in AOT reversed micelles. From CD-spectra one can conclude that there is a higher conformational rigidity in reversed micelles and a more ordered aqueous environment. 

The product coelenteramide is not noticeably fluorescent in aqueous solutions, but is highly fluorescent in organic solvents and also when the compound is in the hydrophobic environment of a protein. When coelenterazine is luminesced in the presence of Oplophorus luciferase, the solution after luminescence (the spent solution) is not fluorescent, presumably due to the dissociation of coelenteramide from the luciferase that provided a hydrophobic environment at the time of light emission. An analogous situation exists in the bioluminescence system of Renilla (Hori et al., 1973). 

Although aequorin is non-fluorescent, the spent solution after luminescence is brightly fluorescent in blue due to the presence of coelenteramide. Although pure coelenteramide is poorly fluorescent in aqueous solutions, it becomes strongly fluorescent in a hydrophobic environment. In the presence of Ca2+, coelenteramide... 

It is generally believed that the absorption (and fluorescence excitation) peak at about 400 nm is caused by the neutral form of the chro-mophore, 5-(p-hydroxybenzylidene)imidazolin-4-one, and the one in the 450-500 nm region by the phenol anion of the chromophore that can resonate with the quinoid form, as shown below (R1 and R2 represent peptide chains). However, the emission of light takes place always from the excited anionic form, even if the excitation is done with the neutral form chromophore. This must be due to the protein environment that facilitates the ionization of the phenol group of the chromophore. This is also consistent with the fact that the pACa values of phenols in excited state are in an acidic range, between 3 and 5 (Becker, 1969), thus favoring anionic forms at neutral pH. 

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