Cation Specific Effects on the Domain-Domain Interaction of Heterogeneous Dimeric Protein Revealed by FRET Analysis

Specific monovalent cation effects on the domain-domain interaction of heterogeneous dimeric protein were investigated using green fluorescent protein (GFP)-glutathione-s-transferase (GST) fusion protein as a model protein. Conjugating N-terminal of GST domain with a fluorescence probe Cyanine3, complementary increase and decrease of fluorescence intensities of Cyanine3 and GFP were recognized on the exclusive excitation of GFP and further the fluorescence decay of GFP was remarkably accelerated to show that an excellent Förster type of resonance excitation energy transfer (FRET) pair was constructed between GFP- and GST-domain. The spectral overlap integral and critical distance of the FRET pair were estimated to be 5.96×10¹³ M^-1cm³ and 62.5 Å, respectively. The FRET rate and efficiency evaluated by fluorescence lifetime of the energy donor, GFP, were influenced by the monovalent cations included in the buffer solution to suggest that the domain-domain interactions of GFP-GST fusion protein would be susceptible to cation species and their concentrations. The order affecting the domain-domain interaction was estimated to be Li⁺>NH₄⁺ >Na⁺>K⁺>Cs⁺, almost corresponding to the reverse Hofmeister series.