Monitoring conformational dynamics of a single molecule by selective fluorescence spectroscopy

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1998 Feb 17;95(4):1556-61. doi: 10.1073/pnas.95.4.1556.

Abstract

A recently developed, real-time spectroscopic technique, burst-integrated fluorescence lifetime (BIFL), is shown to be well suited for monitoring the individual molecular conformational dynamics of a single molecule diffusing through the microscopic, open measurement volume (approximately 10 fl) of a confocal epi-illuminated set-up. In a highly diluted aqueous solution of 20-mer oligonucleotide strand of DNA duplex labeled with the environment-sensitive fluorescent dye tetramethylrhodamine (TMR), fluorescence bursts indicating traces of individual molecules are registered and further subjected to selective burst analysis. The two-dimensional BIFL data allow the identification and detection of different temporally resolved conformational states. A complementary autocorrelation analysis was performed on the time-dependent fluctuations in fluorescence lifetime and intensity. The consistent results strongly support the hypothesized three-state model of the conformational dynamics of the TMR-DNA duplex with a polar, a nonpolar, and a quenching environment of TMR.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Kinetics
  • Motion
  • Nucleic Acid Conformation*
  • Oligodeoxyribonucleotides*
  • Rhodamines
  • Spectrometry, Fluorescence / methods*

Substances

  • Oligodeoxyribonucleotides
  • Rhodamines