Water penetration into protein secondary structure revealed by hydrogen-deuterium exchange two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy

J Am Chem Soc. 2006 Dec 27;128(51):16520-1. doi: 10.1021/ja067723o.

Abstract

Two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy in conjunction with hydrogen-deuterium exchange experiments provides detailed information about solvent penetration into protein structure. Correlating the secondary-structure sensitivity of the amide I vibration and the solvent-exposure sensitivity of amide II provides a direct probe of solvent-inaccessible residues of proteins embedded in the hydrophobic core or those involved in strong hydrogen bonds in secondary structures. Distinct spectral signatures of the cross-peak region arising from the coupling of the amide I and II modes imply a significant degree of structural stability of hydrogen-bonded contacts in alpha-helices and beta-sheets in a series of proteins. Ubiquitin, an alpha/beta-protein, exhibits strong alpha-helical signatures and lacks those of the beta-sheet in the cross-peak region, demonstrating that ubiquitin's beta-sheet exchanges protons with the surrounding solvent and is conformationally unstable.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Amides / chemistry
  • Deuterium Exchange Measurement*
  • Hydrogen Bonding
  • Protein Folding
  • Protein Structure, Secondary
  • Proteins / chemistry*
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared / methods
  • Vibration
  • Water / chemistry

Substances

  • Amides
  • Proteins
  • Water