School of Physical Sciences
Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
Title : Microsecond conformational dynamics of biopolymers studied by two- dimensional fluorescence lifetime correlation spectroscopy (2D FLCS)
Speaker: Bidyut Sarkar
Molecular Spectroscopy Laboratory, RIKEN, Wako, Japan
Date: 03-January-2019
Time: 4:00 p.m, Friday
Venue: Seminar Room, SPS
Abstract : Many biological functions of biopolymers, such as proteins, DNA or RNA, are realized with their spontaneous structural fluctuation. Therefore, the elucidation of their energy landscapes and their structural dynamics are essential. Single molecule spectroscopy is a powerful tool to investigate this problem, and the single molecule Förster resonance energy transfer (smFRET) technique is most widely utilized. However, conventional smFRET detects only millisecond and slower dynamics. In this presentation, I will introduce a new single molecule technique, recently developed by our laboratory, named two-dimensional fluorescence lifetime correlation spectroscopy (2D FLCS)1,2. This method distinguishes the conformers of a biopolymer by their fluorescence lifetimes, and reports their interconverstion dynamics with a microsecond time resolution. By employing this method we could resolve the heterogeneous folding dynamics and the distinct ligand binding mechanisms of a preQ1 riboswitch, which is an important antibiotic drug target.3 I will also introduce a new variant of this method that combines dynamic fluorescence quenching (DQ) and 2D FLCS.4 In comparison to FRET which detects relatively large structural change, DQ is more sensitive to the local solvent accessibility of the attached dye. And, a major advantage of this method is that it requires only single-dye labeling compared to FRET which requires double-labeling. By applying this DQ 2D FLCS to a singly-labeled DNA hairpin, we succesfully resolved the open and closed forms in the equilibrium and detected their microsecond interconversion dynamics.