Abstract
The bacteriophage T4 capsid protein gp23 was studied using time-resolved and steady-state fluorescence of the intrinsic protein fluorophore tryptophan. In-vitro gp23 consists mostly of monomers at low temperature but forms hexamers at room temperature. To extend our knowledge of the structure and hexamerization characteristics of gp23, the temperature-dependent fluorescence properties of a tryptophan mutant (W13V) were compared to those of wild-type gp23. The W13V mutation is located in the N-terminal part of the protein, which is cleaved off after prohead formation in the live bacteriophage. Results show that W13 plays a role in the hexamerization process but is not needed to stabilize the hexamer once it is formed. Furthermore, besides the monomer-to-hexamer temperature transition (15-23°C and 12-43°C for wild-type and W13V gp23, respectively), we were able to observe denaturation of the N-terminus in hexameric wild-type gp23 around 40°C. In addition, with the aid of a recently published homology model of gp23, the lifetimes obtained from time-resolved fluorescence measurements could tentatively be assigned to specific tryptophan residues. © 2006 American Chemical Society.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 25050-8 |
Journal | Journal of Physical Chemistry B |
Volume | 110 |
Issue number | 49 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2006 |