High pressure EPR studies of protein mobility in reversed micelles

We have investigated the effect of pressure on structural properties of subtilisin solubilized in reversed micelles of Tween-85/isopropanol in hexane. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra of spin-labeled enzyme indicate a reduction in spin-label mobility when the enzyme is transferred from aqueous solution to the microemulsion. One explanation for the spectral broadening is a change in the protein's active-site conformation and/or dynamics. However, over a W(0) range of 80 to 180, EPR spectroscopy could detect no change in the enzyme's environment, conformation, or molecular dynamics. The EPR spectra also contained a contribution from free spin label located in an environment with a polarity roughly between that of propanol and bulk water. No changes in the polarity surrounding the free spin label nor in the enzyme's structural properties were evident at pressures up to 10,000 psi. Previous work has demonstrated that pressure can be used to manipulate the size of some reversed micelles, and the EPR data indicated that for this system such pressure tuning of micellar properties will not adversely affect the structure of solubilized enzyme. (c) 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.