0000000000162657
AUTHOR
Vukica ŠRajer
Femtosecond structural dynamics drives the trans/cis isomerization in photoactive yellow protein
Many biological processes depend on detecting and responding to light. The response is often mediated by a structural change in a protein that begins when absorption of a photon causes isomerization of a chromophore bound to the protein. Pande et al. used x-ray pulses emitted by a free electron laser source to conduct time-resolved serial femtosecond crystallography in the time range of 100 fs to 3 ms. This allowed for the real-time tracking of the trans-cis isomerization of the chromophore in photoactive yellow protein and the associated structural changes in the protein.Science, this issue p. 725A variety of organisms have evolved mechanisms to detect and respond to light, in which the re…
Room temperature crystal structure of the fast switching M159T mutant of the fluorescent protein dronpa
The fluorescent protein Dronpa undergoes reversible photoswitching reactions between the bright ‘on’ and dark ‘off’ states via photoisomerisation and proton transfer reactions. We report the room temperature crystal structure of the fast switching Met159Thr mutant of Dronpa at 2.0 A resolution in the bright on state. Structural differences with the wild type include shifted backbone positions of strand β8 containing Thr159 as well as an altered A-C dimer interface involving strands β7, β8, β10, and β11. The Met159Thr mutation increases the cavity volume for the p-hydroxybenzylidene-imidazolinone chromophore as a result of both the side chain difference and the backbone positional difference…