EXCITED STATE DYNAMICS AND CHARGE REDISTRIBUTION OF EXTREMOPHILE DNA PHOTOLYASE AND FLAVIN COFACTORS

Abstract

Repair mechanisms for damaged DNA are essential for the proliferation of nearly all forms of life. Although DNA is quite robust, the vital information-storing molecule can often be damaged from environmental exposures such as ultra-violet (UV) light. Exposure to UV light can result in various types of mutagens creating structural damages. One specific type of UV-induced damage is the creation of a cyclobutylpyrimidine dimer (CPD). This specific type of lesion can be efficiently repaired by the flavoenzyme DNA photolyase (PL). DNA photolyase is an ancient protein found across kingdoms and plays a crucial role in preventing mutagenesis and cell death. DNA photolyase is a monomeric flavoprotein that utilizes blue light to repair UV-induced CPD lesions in DNA via an electron transfer mechanism. All photolyases contain at least one flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) molecule as the catalytic cofactor responsible for initiating the electron transfer induced repair process. Flavin cofactors are intriguing because of their unique ability to donate one or two electrons. The conservation of FAD and the unique U-shaped configuration of FAD in PL led researchers to question if the adenine moiety of the FAD molecule was essential in the DNA repair mechanism and generated a spectral signature indicative of a radical adenine species. The importance of the adenine moiety could be linked to structural changes associated with environmental temperature. The rate of electron transfer is exponentially dependent on temperature and DNA photolyase is found in organisms which thrive in harsh environments that vary in temperature, pH, ionic strength etc. Photolyase presents a unique opportunity to study the adaptations that are required for proteins to function in extreme environments where temperature dependent processes should show dramatic differences. We have used ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy to compare the similarities and differences in excited state dynamics of the FAD cofactor. Photolyase isolated from the hyperthermophilic archaea Sulfolobus solfataricus (SsPL) is compared to PL isolated from the mesophilic E. coli (EcPL). These results indicate differences in the dynamics of fully reduced flavin between enzymes as a function of temperature. We present evidence for charge separation in the FAD cofactor in the thermophilic enzyme previously seen in computation studies of photolyase. To investigate the excited state charge redistribution of flavin which is critical to its role in nature, the charge redistribution of the precursors to flavin biosynthesis were examined. Lumazine is a precursor in the biosynthetic pathway of flavins. As such, lumazine could have served as an enzymatic cofactor prior to flavins. Lumazine has been identified in biological processes, however it is not as prevalent as flavins. We utilize Stark spectroscopy to examine the charge redistribution in excited state lumazine to understand