Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

The comparison of Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) efficiencies between two fluorophores covalently attached to a single protein or DNA molecule is an elegant approach for deducing information about their structural and dynamical heterogeneity. For a more detailed structural interpretation of single-molecule FRET assays, information about the positions as well as the dynamics of the dye labels attached to the biomolecule is important. In this work, Rhodamine 6G (2-[3'-(ethylamino)-6'-(ethylimino)-2',7'-dimethyl-6'H-xanthen-9'-yl]-benzoic acid) bound to the 5'-end of a 20 base pair long DNA duplex is investigated by both single-molecule multiparameter fluorescence detection (MFD) experiments and NMR spectroscopy. Rhodamine 6G is commonly employed in nucleic acid research as a FRET dye. MFD experiments directly reveal the equilibrium of the dye bound to DNA between three heterogeneous environments, which are characterized by distinct fluorescence lifetime and intensity distributions as a result of different guanine-dye excited-state electron transfer interactions. Sub-ensemble fluorescence autocorrelation analysis shows the highly dynamic character of the dye-DNA interactions ranging from nano- to milliseconds and species-specific triplet relaxation times. Two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy corroborates this information by the determination of the detailed geometric structures of the dye-nucleobase complex and their assignment to each population observed in the single-molecule fluorescence experiments. From both methods, a consistent and detailed molecular description of the structural and dynamical heterogeneity is obtained.

Original publication

DOI

10.1021/ja0722574

Type

Journal article

Journal

J Am Chem Soc

Publication Date

24/10/2007

Volume

129

Pages

12746 - 12755

Keywords

DNA, Fluorescence Polarization, Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer, Fluorescent Dyes, Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy, Models, Chemical, Molecular Conformation, Nanotechnology, Nucleic Acid Conformation, Photons, Protein Structure, Secondary, Rhodamines, Spectrometry, Fluorescence, Stereoisomerism, Time Factors