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Biomedical subjects

D Mauzerall

Publications and source records attributed to D Mauzerall.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

A simple light-driven transmembrane proton pump.

Light-induced lipophilic porphyrin/aqueous acceptor charge separation across a single lipid-water interface can pump protons across the lipid bilayer when the hydrophobic weak acids, carbonylcyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone and its p-trifluoromethoxyphenyl analogue, are present. These compounds act as proton carriers across lipid bilayers. In their symmetric presence across the bilayer, the positive currents and voltages produced by the photogeneration of porphyrin cations are replaced by larger negative currents and voltages. The maximum negative current and voltage occur at the pH of maximum dark conductance. The reversed larger current and voltage show a positive ionic charge transport in the same direction as the electron transfer. This transport can form an ion concentration gradient. The movement of protons is verified by an unusual D2O isotope effect that increases the negative ionic current by 2- to 3-fold. These effects suggest that an interfacial pK shift of the weak acid caused by the local electric field of photoformed porphyrin cations/acceptor anions functions as the driving force. The estimated pumping efficiency is 10-30%. Time-resolved results show that proton pumping across the bilayer occurs on the millisecond time scale, similar to that of biological pumps. This light-driven proteinless pump offers a simple model for a prebiological energy transducer.

Acids

Evidence for ion chain mechanism of the nonlinear charge transport of hydrophobic ions across lipid bilayers.

The conductivity across a lipid bilayer by tetraphenylborate anion is increased 10-fold on the photoformation of lipophilic porphyrin cations. The cations alone have negligible conductivity. This nonlinear photogenerated increase of ion conductivity is termed the photogating effect. Substitution of H by Cl in the para position of tetraphenylborate leads to a 100-fold enhancement of conductivity, whereas the dark conductivities for this and other substituted borates are the same. Moreover, the halo-substituted borates show a large enhancement of conductivity in the low concentration range (10(-8) M), whereas that of tetraphenylborate is small and space charge is negligible. The enhanced ion conductivity has great structural sensitivity to the structure of the anion, the cation, and the lipid, whereas the partition coefficient of all the borates and the concentration of photoformed cations are only slightly affected. The photogated ion transport has a twofold larger activation energy than transport in the dark. Time-resolved photocurrents and voltages demonstrate that the translocation rate of the porphyrin cation is also enhanced 100-fold by the Cl-borate anion but only 10-fold by the H-borate anion. For these reasons the nonlinear gating effect cannot be explained by electrostatics alone, but requires an ion chain or ion aggregate mechanism. Kinetic modeling of the photoinduced current with a mixed cation-anion ion chain can fit the data well. The photogating effect allows the direct study of ion interactions within the bilayer.

1,2-Dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine

Charge transfer across a single lipid-water interface causes ion pumping across the bilayer.

The photoformation of magnesium-porphyrin cations (P+) at a single lipid bilayer-water interface can pump lipophilic borate anions completely across the lipid bilayer and causes an actual reversal of the photovoltage. The system consists of a lipid bilayer containing magnesium octaethylporphyrin, an aqueous or interfacial electron acceptor on one side, and chloro- or fluoro-substituted tetraphenylborate in both aqueous electrolyte solutions. With 1-micros pulsed illumination, an immediate positive photovoltage is observed, which decreases on the microsecond and millisecond time scales. On the time scale of seconds, as the P+ cation concentration decays in reverse electron transfer, the voltage swings negative to a value almost equal to its initial value and finally decays with a half-time (approximately 20 s) longer than the time constant of the system (approximately 5 s). Thus, an ion gradient across the membrane is formed, trapped by the nonlinear relation between ion mobility and ion concentration. Continuous light illumination confirms that negative charge moves in the direction opposite that of the initial photoinduced electron transfer. Steady-state measurements indicate an ion pumping efficiency of approximately 30%. This simple mechanism may be a progenitor of photobiological ion pumps.

Biophysical Phenomena

Volume and enthalpy changes in the early steps of bacteriorhodopsin photocycle studied by time-resolved photoacoustics.

We have studied the photoinduced volume changes, energetics, and kinetics in the early steps of the bacteriorhodopsin (BR) photocycle with pulsed, time-resolved photoacoustics. Our data show that there are two volume changes. The fast volume change ( < or = 200 ns) is an expansion (2.5 +/- 0.3 A3/molecule) and is observed exclusively in the purple membrane (PM), vanishing in the 3-[(3-cholamidopropyl)-dimethylammonio] -1-propane-sulfonate-sulfonate-solubilized BR sample; the slow change (approximately 1 micros) is a volume contraction (-3.7 +/- 0.3 A3/molecule). The fast expansion is assigned to the restructuring of the aggregated BR in the PM, and the 1-micros contraction to the change in hydrogen bonding of water at Asp 212 (Kandori et al. 1995. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 117:2118-2119). The formation of the K intermediate releases most of the absorbed energy as heat, with delta Hk = -36 +/- 8 kJ/mol. The activation energy of the K --> L step is 49 +/- 6 kJ/mol, but the enthalpy change is small, -4 +/- 10 kJ/mol. On the time scale we studied, the primary photochemical kinetics, enthalpy, and volume changes are not affected by substituting the solvent D2O for H2O. Comparing data on monomeric and aggregated BR, we conclude that the functional unit for the photocycle is the BR monomer, because both the kinetics (rate constant and activation energy) and the enthalpy changes are independent of its aggregation state.

Acoustics

Synthesis of amphipathic porphyrins and their photoinduced electron transfer reactions at the lipid bilayer-water interface.

A one flask synthesis of cis-substituted amphipathic porphyrins is reported. These porphyrins were used to study electrostatic effects on photoinduced electron transfer across the lipid bilayer-water interface. A neutral porphyrin undergoes only dynamic interfacial electron transfer reactions irrespective of charge of the acceptor, although ionic strength effects indicate a negative charge on the porphyrin donor species. A dianionic porphyrin forms an interfacial static complex with a dicationic electron acceptor, methyl viologen, at low ionic strength. The electron transfer rate within the complex is slow, 10(5) approximately 10(6) s-1, which is attributed to a near orthogonal orientation between the donor and the acceptor pi orbitals.

Electrochemistry

Photoinduced electron transport across a lipid bilayer mediated by C70.

Electron transport across a membrane is central to photosynthesis, to mitochondrial respiration and to the design of molecular systems for solar energy conversion. Relatively few synthetic molecules, however, have been shown to facilitate transport of electrons across a lipid bilayer. We report here that C70 can act as both a photosensitizer for electron transfer from a donor molecule and a mediator for electron transport across a lipid bilayer membrane. The steady-state photocurrent density obtained from the C70-bilayer system is about 40 times higher, at comparable light intensities, than that of the carotene-porphyrinquinone system, previously the most efficient artificial system. The C70-bilayer system has a quantum yield of about 0.04, while the stability (tens of minutes) and turnover number (electrons transported per C70 before decay) of 10(3) are one to three orders of magnitude greater than those of other systems. We anticipate that other higher fullerenes may also provide the basis for efficient transmembrane electron-transport systems.

Electron Transport

Photogating of ionic currents across a lipid bilayer.

Photoformation of metalloporphyrin cations in a lipid bilayer increases the ionic currents of negative and decreases those of positive hydrophobic ions. At low concentrations of the mobile hydrophobic ion, a 30% change in conductivity is observed that decreases with increasing concentration of positive tetraphenylphosphonium ion and increases drastically with increasing concentration of negative tetraphenylboride ion. In the region of saturated conductance of boride ion, the increase in conductivity is 3.6-fold. A 15-fold increase is observed with the protonophore carbonyl cyanide 3-chlorophenylhydrazone. In this case the net charge gated is 300 times greater than the photogenerated charge in the bilayer membrane. Thus there is a net gain in this organic field effect phototransistor. The gating can also be accomplished by continuous light or chemical oxidants. Photogating is explained as space charge effects inside the bilayer.

Indicators and Reagents

Photoinduced electron transfer across lipid bilayers containing magnesium octaethylporphyrin.

Both photoinitiated (thermodynamically downhill) and photodriven (thermodynamically uphill) electron transfer reactions across lipid bilayers are sensitized by magnesium octaethyl porphyrin (MgOEP). It is shown that the reaction mechanism is via reduction of photoexcited MgOEP at the reducing (ascorbate) side of the bilayer and the charge carrier is likely the neutral protonated MgOEP anion. The MgOEP cation (or its neutral form) does not contribute to charge passage across the bilayer even though it is readily formed at the acceptor (ferricyanide or methyl viologen) side of the membrane. Photoelectric measurements on planar bilayers show that the time constant for reduction of excited MgOEP is about 10 microseconds with 10 mM ascorbate. The membrane transport of the mediator appears to be rate limiting when the reaction is photoinitiated and the interfacial reaction appears to be limiting when the reaction is photodriven. The quantum yield of the process is about 0.1 in the latter case and about 0.02 in the former. The former yield is increased to about 0.15 in the presence of a redox mediator, duroquinone. In these systems, the magnesium porphyrin is both sensitizer and trans membrane redox mediator.

Electron Transport

Channel-forming properties of cecropins and related model compounds incorporated into planar lipid membranes.

Cecropins, positively charged antibacterial peptides found in the cecropia moth, and synthetic peptide analogs form large time-variant and voltage-dependent ion channels in planar lipid membranes in the physiological range of concentration. Single-channel conductances of up to 2.5 nS (in 0.1 M NaCl) were observed, which suggests a channel diameter of 4 nm. Channels formed by the peptides cecropin AD and MP3 had a permeability ratio of Cl-/Na+ = 2:1 in 0.1 M NaCl. A comparative study of the three cecropins, cecropins A, B, and D, and of six synthetic analogs allowed determination of structural requirements for pore formation. Shorter amphipathic peptides did not form channels, although they adsorbed to the bilayer. A flexible segment between the N-terminal amphipathic region and the C-terminal more hydrophobic region of the peptide was required for the observation of a time-variant, voltage-dependent conductance. Cecropin AD was the most effective voltage-dependent pore-forming peptide and was also the most potent antibacterial peptide against several test organisms. A positive surface charge or cholesterol in the bilayer reduced the conductances caused by cecropin AD or MP3 by at least 5-fold. This behavior is consistent with the known insensitivity of eukaryotic cells to cecropins. Our observations suggest that the broad antibacterial activity of cecropins is due to formation of large pores in bacterial cell membranes.

Amino Acid Sequence

Photophysical properties of Sn-porphyrins: potential clinical implications.

The photophysical properties of Sn-protoporphyrin and two of its synthetic analogues, Sn-mesoporphyrin and Sn-diiododeuteroporphyrin, were examined. All three compounds are potent competitive inhibitors of heme oxygenase, the rate-limiting enzyme in the catabolism of heme to bilirubin, and can suppress completely or diminish significantly experimentally induced or naturally occurring forms of jaundice in animals or man. The results of these studies show that all three compounds have long-lived triplet states which are quenched by molecular oxygen both in solution and when incorporated in liposomes. However, the addition of quenching groups such as iodine to the porphyrin macrocycle results in a marked (approximately 60%) decrease in the triplet yield and a threefold decrease in the triplet lifetime. The triplet yield was shown to be independent of the excitation wavelength, and as a result, the metalloporphyrins were extremely poor photosensitizers when excited in the spectral region commonly used in phototherapy. In the presence of serum albumin, the triplet state of Sn-protoporphyrin was not quenched by oxygen. These results indicate that Sn-porphyrins can be custom designed with considerably reduced photosensitizing properties for potential clinical use as inhibitors of bilirubin production.

Humans

Kinetics of charge transfer at the lipid bilayer-water interface on the nanosecond time scale.

Advances in instrumentation allow electrical measurements across the planar lipid bilayer to be made with nanosecond time resolution. The electron transfer reaction between photoexcited magnesium octaethylporphyrin in the lipid to a variety of ionically charged acceptors in the water is found to be purely dynamic over a wide range of concentrations of acceptors and up to the time constant of the apparatus, 4 ns. The saturation of the amplitude of the photovoltage with increasing concentration of acceptor is caused by the finite lifetime of the excited state, not by formation of a static pigment-acceptor complex. The reactions are an excellent probe of the lipid-water interface over an extended time scale. No appreciable barrier to reaction exists at this interface beyond the 5-ns time. That is, any water or choline group structure may be evanescent on this time scale. Electrostatic interactions indicate that the acceptor molecules penetrate to the level of the phosphocholine groups with differing orientations. It will be possible to extend the time scale into the picosecond range by decreasing the response time and by deconvolutions.

Electric Conductivity

Large transient nonproton ion movements in purple membrane suspensions are abolished by solubilization in Triton X-100.

Light-induced release/uptake of both protons and other ions cause transient changes in conductivity in suspensions of purple membrane (PM) fragments (Marinetti, Tim, and David Mauzerall, 1983, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 80:178-180). We find that the release/uptake of nonproton ions with quantum yield greater than 1 is observed at most pHs and ionic strengths. Only at both low pH and low ionic strength is the conductivity transient mostly due to protons. Our hypothesis is that during the photocycle, changes occur in the PM's dense surface charge distribution that result in changes in the number of counterions bound or condensed at the membrane surface. To test this, the PM structure was perturbed with the nonionic detergent Triton X-100. Immediately after addition, Triton does not abolish the nonproton ion movements; in fact at low detergent concentrations (0.02% vol/vol) the signal amplitudes increased considerably. However, when PM is completely solubilized into monomers in Triton, the conductivity transients are due to protons alone, though at lower quantum yield compared with native PM. These results suggest that changes in the surface charge distribution in native PM's photocycle could contribute to proton transfer between the aqueous phase and bR itself.

Bacteriorhodopsins

Photoinitiated ion movements in bilayer membranes containing magnesium octaethylporphyrin.

A photocurrent produced by planar lipid bilayers containing Mg-octaethylporphyrin in the presence of oxygen has been investigated to determine if the current is due to movement of the MgOEP+ ion in the bilayer. Photoexcitation of the MgOEP is known to produce MgOEP+ in the bilayer when an electron acceptor is present. However, the aqueous electron acceptors ferricyanide and methyl viologen (MV+2) have opposite effects on the photocurrent. Ferricyanide decreases the photo current, even in the presence of oxygen, whereas methyl viologen increases the photocurrent, but only when oxygen is present. We attribute most of the photocurrent to the movement of superoxide anion. The difference in effect between ferricyanide and methyl viologen is attributed to the different rates of reduction of O2 by reduced MV+ (fast) vs. ferrocyanide (slow) and the known competition between ferricyanide and oxygen as the acceptor for the photoexcited porphyrin. It is inferred that most of the MgOEP is localized in the polar region of the lipid bilayer. Addition of ferrocyanide to the aqueous phase on one side of the bilayer, to trap MgOEP+ produced on the other side by MV+2, fails to increase the lifetime of the photovoltage. With a pH gradient across the bilayer, we observed only 5% of the photovoltage expected for the selective transport of H+ or OH- by MgOEP+. Thus, these measurements set the lower limit for the cross bilayer transit time of MgOEP+ or its charge in the range of 0.1-0.5 s.

Bacteriorhodopsins

Dielectric properties of the polar head group region of zwitterionic lipid bilayers.

A theoretical model describing the dielectric properties of the lipid membrane-water interface region was developed. The rotating polar head groups (e.g. phosphatidylcholine) were simulated as a collection of interacting dipoles imbedded in a nonhomogeneous dielectric. The interactions between the nearest neighborhood were explicitly taken into account, while the other interactions were evaluated by means of the continuum theories. The values of the dielectric constant, its anisotropy and the spontaneous polarization of the interface were evaluated. As an application, we calculated the energy of interaction between an ion and the membrane polar head group region. The results indicate a small spontaneous polarization of the interface (1-1.7 Debyes per lipid molecule) due to the tilting angle of the choline residue with respect to the membrane surface. This dipolar field partially compensates that of opposite orientation originating from the ester group region, giving calculated overall dipolar potentials in better agreement with the experimental data. Our model suggests also a very strong dielectric anisotropy of the interface region, the component of the dielectric constant perpendicular to the membrane plane being much smaller than the parallel component.

Calorimetry

Distributed kinetics of decay of the photovoltage at the lipid bilayer-water interface.

The decay kinetics of the photovoltage formed on pulsed illumination of a chlorophyll a- (chl a-) containing lecithin-bilayer adjacent to a ferricyanide solution on one side show characteristics of a system with distributed rate constants, i.e., the decay approaches linearity in log of time. The kinetics can be explained by a distribution of the chl cation over a few angstroms depth in the interfacial region of the bilayer and a rate constant exponentially dependent on distance as expected from tunneling theory. Addition of the donor ferrocyanide both increases the average rate and sharpens the distribution. There is a competitive inhibition by ferricyanide of the reaction of pigment cation with ferrocyanide. Removal of oxygen increases the rate of decay when an acceptor, methyl viologen or anthraquinone-2-sulfonate, forms oxygen-sensitive radicals. The cation charge does not cross the bilayer on a time scale of less than 0.01 s. These data define a reaction localized precisely in the finite interfacial region of the lipid bilayer-water interface.

Chlorophyll

The effect of oxygen on the amplitude of photodriven electron transfer across the lipid bilayer-water interface.

The surprisingly small effect of oxygen on photoelectron transfer in pigmented lipid bilayers is traced to a short lifetime of the excited states. Decreasing the oxygen concentration by greater than 100-fold decreases the half saturating concentration of acceptor by only threefold and has no effect on the maximum photovoltage observed at acceptor saturation. This holds true for both magnesium octaethylporphyrin and chlorophyll with both ferricyanide and methyl viologen as acceptors. Since oxygen quenches excited states at near the encounter limit, the lifetime of reactive state must be short, less than 100 ns. About 100-fold higher concentrations of acceptor are required to quench the fluorescence (in liposomes) than to saturate the photoeffect. Thus the reactive state is most likely the triplet. The short life of the excited state is caused by concentration quenching, i.e., their reaction with ground state molecules. The increase of photovoltage with increasing pigment concentration shows that this quenching in a condensed form of the pigment produces ions that lead to the observed photovoltage by interfacial reaction of the anion with acceptor.

Half-Life