Native Biomolecules in the Gas Phase? The Case of Green Fluorescent Protein

作者：Frankevich Vladimir; Barylyuk Konstantin; Chingin Konstantin; Nieckarz Robert; Zenobi Renato^*

来源：ChemPhysChem, 2013, 14(5): 929-935.

DOI：10.1002/cphc.201200959

• biomolecules
• conformational change
• fluorescence
• green fluorescent protein
• mass spectrometry

Green fluorescent protein (GFP) was ionized by native electrospray ionization and trapped for many seconds in high vacuum, allowing fluorescence emission to be measured as a probe of its biological function, to answer the question whether GFP exists in the native form in the gas phase or not. Although a narrow charge-state distribution, a collision cross-section very close to that expected for correctly folded GFP, and a large stability against dissociation all support a near-native gas-phase structure, no fluorescence emission was observed. The loss of the native form is attributed to the absence of residual water in the gas phase, which normally stabilizes the para-hydroxybenzylidene imidazolone chromophore of GFP.

• 出版日期2013-4-2