Pressure-sensitive reaction yield of the TePixD blue-light sensor protein

The effect of pressure on the dissociation reaction of the TePixD decamer was investigated by high-pressure transient grating (TG). The TG signal intensity representing the dissociation reaction of the TePixD decamer significantly decreased by applying a relatively small pressure. On the other hand, the reaction rate increased with increasing pressure. The equilibrium between the pentamer and the decamer was investigated by high-pressure dynamic light scattering. The results indicated that the fraction of the decamer slightly increased in the high-pressure region. From these measurements, it was concluded that the pressure-dependent signal intensity originated from the decrease of the quantum yield of the dissociation reaction of the decamer, indicating that this reaction efficiency is very sensitive to pressure. Using densimetry at high pressures, the compressibility was found to be pressure dependent even in a relatively low pressure range. We attributed the origin of the pressure-sensitive reaction yield to the decrease of compressibility at high pressure. Because the compressibility is related to the volume fluctuation, this observation suggests that the driving force for this reaction is fluctuation of the protein. The relationship between the cavities at the interfaces of the monomer units and the reactivity is also discussed.