Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 13, 2026

In Vitro Reconstitution of Light-harvesting Complexes of Plants and Green Algae
Published on: October 10, 2014
Design, synthesis and properties of synthetic chlorophyll proteins
1Institut für Biologie II/Biochemie, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Germany.
Abstract:
A chemoselective method is described for coupling chlorophyll derivatives with an aldehyde group to synthetic peptides or proteins modified with an aminoxyacetyl group at the epsilon-amino group of a lysine residue. Three template-assembled antiparallel four-helix bundles were synthesized for the ligation of one or two chlorophylls. This was achieved by coupling unprotected peptides to cysteine residues of a cyclic decapeptide by thioether formation. The amphiphilic helices were designed to form a hydrophobic pocket for the chlorophyll derivatives. Chlorophyll derivatives Zn-methyl-pheophorbide b and Zn-methyl-pyropheophorbide d were used. The aldehyde group of these chlorophyll derivatives was ligated to the modified lysine group to form an oxime bond. The peptide-chlorophyll conjugates were characterized by electrospray mass spectrometry, analytical HPLC, and UV/visible spectroscopy. Two four-helix bundle chlorophyll conjugates were further characterized by size-exclusion chromatography, circular dichroism, and resonance Raman spectroscopy.
More Related Videos
11:26Water in Oil Emulsions: A New System for Assembling Water-soluble Chlorophyll-binding Proteins with Hydrophobic Pigments
Published on: March 21, 2016
10:31Residue-Specific Exchange of Proline by Proline Analogs in Fluorescent Proteins: How "Molecular Surgery" of the Backbone Affects Folding and Stability
Published on: February 3, 2022
Related Concept Videos
Anatomy of Chloroplasts
Photoreceptors and Plant Responses to Light
The Anatomy of Chloroplasts
Structure of Chloroplasts
A...
The Antenna Complex
Photosystems
Functioning of Photosystems
Photosystems contain many pigment molecules, such as chlorophylls and carotenoids, arranged in a particular organization across two domains — the antenna complex and the reaction center. The main aim of the pigment molecules...
Channel Rhodopsins
Rhodopsins belong to the family of cell surface proteins called G-protein coupled receptors,...