Nielsen S B, Lapierre A, Andersen J U, Pedersen U V, Tomita S, Andersen L H
Institute of Physics and Astronomy, Ny Munkegade, Building 520, University of Aarhus, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark.
Phys Rev Lett. 2001 Nov 26;87(22):228102. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.87.228102. Epub 2001 Nov 9.
A sensitive photoabsorption technique for studies of gas-phase biomolecules has been used at the ELISA electrostatic heavy-ion storage ring. We show that the anion form of the chromophore of the green fluorescent protein in vacuo has an absorption maximum at 479 nm, which coincides with one of the two absorption peaks of the protein. Its absorption characteristics are therefore ascribed to intrinsic chemical properties of the chromophore. Evidently, the special beta-can structure of the protein provides shielding of the chromophore from the surroundings without significantly changing the electronic structure of the chromophore through interactions with amino acid side chains.
一种用于研究气相生物分子的灵敏光吸收技术已在ELISA静电重离子储存环中得到应用。我们发现，绿色荧光蛋白发色团的阴离子形式在真空中的最大吸收波长为479nm，这与该蛋白的两个吸收峰之一相吻合。因此，其吸收特性归因于发色团的内在化学性质。显然，蛋白质特殊的β-桶状结构为发色团提供了与周围环境的屏蔽，而不会通过与氨基酸侧链的相互作用显著改变发色团的电子结构。
