Oral Presentation 18th International Congress on Photobiology 2024

Ultrafast primary dynamics and isomerization mechanism of a far-red sensing cyanobacteriochrome   (#23)

Dongping Zhong 1
  1. The Ohio State University/Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Columbus, OHIO, United States

Far-red cyanobacteriochromes (CBCRs) are newly discovered bilin-based photosensory proteins that promise to offer novel optical agents in optogenetics and deep tissue imaging. Recent structural studies of a far-red CBCR 2551g3 have revealed a unique all-Z,syn chromophore conformation in the far-red-absorbing Pfr state. Understanding the photo-switching mechanism through bilin photoisomerization is important for developing novel biomedical applications. Here, we employ femtosecond spectroscopy and site-directed mutagenesis to systematically characterize the dynamics of the wild-type 2551g3 and four critical mutants in the 15Z Pfr state. We captured local relaxations in several picoseconds and isomerization dynamics in hundreds of picoseconds. Most mutants exhibited faster local relaxation while their twisting dynamics and photoproducts depend on specific protein-chromophore interactions around the D-ring and C-ring. These results collectively reveal a unique dynamic pattern of excited-state evolution arising from a relatively rigid protein environment, thereby elucidating the molecular mechanism of Pfr-state photoisomerization in far-red CBCRs.