We have developed vibrational Stark spectroscopy to probe electrostatics and dynamics in organized systems, in particular in proteins where they can report on functionally important electric fields.  Results will be presented for vibrational probes in simple solvents, in complexes, and then for several proteins.  These include ketosteroid isomerase, where the probes have led to unexpected discoveries concerning the ionization state(s) of active site residues, and GFP where the probes are used to understand electronic symmetry breaking and local motions following photoexcitation.  By combining measured vibrational spectral shifts with simulations, the role of specific amino acids in modulating active-site properties and affecting function can be elucidated.

Electrostatics and dynamics in proteins using vibrational Stark spectroscopy

244th National Meeting (2012)

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