0000000000241968
AUTHOR
Nikolai V. Tkachenko
Enhanced electronic communication through a conjugated bridge in a porphyrin-fullerene donor-acceptor couple
A ZnP-2EDOTV-C60 triad, with enhanced electronic communication between terminus donor and acceptor moieties, was synthesized and studied both experimentally and theoretically. Electrochemical measurements and density functional theory calculations support that the first oxidation takes place on the 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophenevinylene (2EDOTV) bridge followed by the oxidation of the ZnP moiety at slightly higher energies. The electronic communication between the terminal electron-donor ZnP and the electron-acceptor C60 units is enhanced by the conjugated EDOTV-based spacer leading to photoinduced electron transfer over the distance >2 nm in the picosecond time domain. The involvement of the s…
Structural photoactivation of a full-length bacterial phytochrome
Time-resolved x-ray solution scattering reveals the conformational signaling mechanism of a bacterial phytochrome.
Subcellular localization of bacteriophage PRD1 proteins in Escherichia coli
Bacteria possess an intricate internal organization resembling that of the eukaryotes. The complexity is especially prominent at the bacterial cell poles, which are also known to be the preferable sites for some bacteriophages to infect. Bacteriophage PRD1 is a well-known model serving as an ideal system to study structures and functions of icosahedral internal membrane-containing viruses. Our aim was to analyze the localization and interactions of individual PRD1 proteins in its native host Escherichia coli. This was accomplished by constructing a vector library for production of fluorescent fusion proteins. Analysis of solubility and multimericity of the fusion proteins, as well as their …
Role of the bridge in photoinduced electron transfer in porphyrin-fullerene dyads.
The role of π-conjugated molecular bridges in through-space and through-bond electron transfer is studied by comparing two porphyrin-fullerene donor-acceptor (D-A) dyads. One dyad, ZnP-Ph-C60 (ZnP = zinc porphyrin), incorporates a phenyl bridge between D and A and behaves very similarly to analogous dyads studied previously. The second dyad, ZnP-EDOTV-C60, introduces an additional 3,4-ethylenedioxythienylvinylene (EDOTV) unit into the conjugated bridge, which increases the distance between D and A, but, at the same time, provides increased electronic communication between them. Two essential outcomes that result from the introduction of the EDOTV unit in the bridge are as follows: 1) faster…
Fluorescence Properties of the Chromophore-Binding Domain of Bacteriophytochrome from Deinococcus radiodurans
Fluorescent proteins are versatile tools for molecular imaging. In this study, we report a detailed analysis of the absorption and fluorescence properties of the chromophore-binding domain from Deinococcus radiodurans and its D207H mutant. Using single photon counting and transient absorption techniques, the average excited state lifetime of both studied systems was about 370 ps. The D207H mutation slightly changed the excited state decay profile but did not have a considerable effect on the average decay time of the system or the shape of the absorption and emission spectra of the biliverdin chromophore. We confirmed that the fluorescence properties of both samples are very similar in vivo…
Photo-induced electron transfer at nanostructured semiconductor–zinc porphyrin interface
Abstract Electron transfer at metal oxide–organic dye interface on ZnO nanorod (ZnOr) templates was studied by femtosecond absorption spectroscopy method. Further confirmation of the electron transfer was obtained from photoelectrical studies. The fastest electron transfer from zinc porphyrin (ZnP) to semiconductor was observed for ZnOr modified by a 5 nm layer of TiO2 (