The photophysical properties of three new water-soluble terrylenediimide (WS-TDI) derivatives are investigated and their utilization in biological experiments is demonstrated. Each of these dyes can be excited in the far red region of the visible spectrum, making them good candidates for in-vivo studies. Single-molecule techniques characterize their photophysics ...

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The photoinduced electrocyclic ring-opening of a fluorinated indolylfulgide is investigated by stationary and ultrafast spectroscopy in the UV/vis spectral range. Photoreactions, initiated by optical excitation into the S1 (570 nm) and SN (340 nm) absorption band of the closed isomer, lead to considerable differences in reaction dynamics and quantum yields. ...

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Photochemical solar energy conversion is considered as an alternative of clean energy. For future light converting nano-machines photosynthetic reaction centers are used as prototypes optimized during evolution. We introduce a reaction scheme for global optimization and simulate the ultrafast charge separation in photochemical energy conversion. Multiple ...

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Very often, the positions of flexible domains within macromolecules as well as within macromolecular complexes cannot be determined by standard structural biology methods. To overcome this problem, we developed a method that uses probabilistic data analysis to combine single-molecule measurements with X-ray crystallography data. The method determines not only the ...

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Self-assembly guided by molecular recognition has in the past been employed to assemble nanoparticle superstructures like hypercrystals or nanoparticle molecules. An alternative approach, the direct molecule-by-molecule assembly of nanoscale superstructures, was demonstrated recently. Here we present a hybrid approach where we first assemble a pattern of binding ...

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The directed application of force to different points on the surface of the green fluorescent protein (GFP) makes it possible to shift between two different pathways with distinct unfolding intermediates. One pathway resembles a “folding-like” pathway, whereas the other may play a role during processes such as import through a pore. The picture shows the energy ...

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Biological responses to mechanical stress require strain-sensing molecules, whose mechanically induced conformational changes are relayed to signaling cascades mediating changes in cell and tissue properties. In vertebrate muscle, the giant elastic protein titin is involved in strain sensing via its C-terminal kinase domain (TK) at the sarcomeric M-band and ...

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Endosomal escape is a well-known bottleneck for successful delivery of macromolecular drugs and genes. Photochemical disruption of endosomal membranes is an approach to overcome this bottleneck. In this study, we used the photosensitizer disulphonated meso-tetraphenylporphine with sulfonate groups on adjacent phenyl rings (TPPS2a) to investigate photoinduced ...

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Intracellular mRNA localization is a common mechanism to achieve asymmetric distributions of proteins. Previous studies have revealed that in a number of cell types, differentmRNA species are localized by the same transport machinery. However, it has been unclear if these individual mRNA species are specifically sorted into separate or common ribonucleoprotein ...

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Identifying independently folding cores or substructures is important for understanding and assaying the structure, function and assembly of large proteins. Here, we suggest mechanical stability as a criterion to identify building blocks of the 366 amino acid maltose-binding protein (MBP). We find that MBP, when pulled at its termini, unfolds via three (meta-) ...

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The GroEL/GroES chaperonin system mediates protein folding in the bacterial cytosol. Newly synthesized proteins reach GroEL via transfer from upstream chaperones such as DnaK/DnaJ (Hsp70).Here we employed single molecule and ensemble FRET to monitor the conformational transitions of amodel substrate as it proceeds along this chaperone pathway. We find that ...

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Hemithioindigo-molecules show a photochromic behavior due to a photo-induced Z/E-isomerization on a picosecond timescale. Changes in the reaction kinetics, caused by polar substituents attached to the thioindigo-moiety, are studied using time-resolved absorption spectroscopy. The experiments reveal that substituents in the thioindigo-part influence the reaction ...

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Bei PIE werden gepulste Anregungsquellen verwendet, wodurch die Information zugänglich ist, welche von ihnen für die Emission eines detektierten Photons verantwortlich war. Diese experimentell leicht zu installierende Technik bietet zahlreiche Vorteile, vor allem bei Untersuchungen an mehrfarbig markierten Molekülkomplexen. Beispielsweise besteht mit PIE die ...

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AFM-based single-molecule force spectroscopy has been used to study the effect of Hofmeister salts and protein hydrophobicity on the adhesion of recombinant spider silk proteins onto solid substrates. Therefore, a molecular probe consisting of a spider silk protein and an AFM tip has been developed, which (i) is a well-defined, small system that can be simulated ...

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Remodelling protein nucleic acid interfaces is an important biological task, which is often carried out by nucleic acid stimulated ATPases of the Swi2/Snf2 superfamily. Here we study the mechano-chemical cycle of such an ATPase, namely the catalytic domain of the Sulfolobus solfataricus Rad54 homologue (SsoRad54cd), by means of fluorescence resonance energy ...

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Single molecule spectroscopy was applied to study the optical properties of native and refolded peridinin–chlorophyll–protein (PCP) complexes. The native system is a trimer with six chlorophyll a (Chl a) molecules, while the refolded one contains two Chl a and resembles structurally and spectroscopically the PCP monomer. The fluorescence emission of single PCP ...

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Single-pair fluorescence resonance energy transfer was used to track RNA exiting from RNA polymerase II (Pol II) in elongation complexes. Measuring the distance between the RNA 5´ end and three known locations within the elongation complex allows us determine its position by means of triangulation. RNA leaves the polymerase active center cleft via the previously ...

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The photochemical reaction dynamics of a set of photochromic compounds based on thioindigo and stilbene molecular parts (hemithioindigos, HTI) are presented. Photochemical Z/E isomerization around the central double bond occurs with time constants of 216 ps (Z → E) and 10 ps (E → Z) for a 5-methyl-hemithioindigo. Chemical substitution on the stilbene moiety ...

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