Tryptophan Fluorescence Quenching Assays for Measuring Protein-ligand Binding Affinities: Principles and a Practical Guide.

Tryptophan fluorescence quenching is a type of fluorescence spectroscopy used for binding assays. The assay relies on the ability to quench the intrinsic fluorescence of tryptophan residues within a protein that results from changes in the local environment polarity experienced by the tryptophan(s) upon the addition of a binding partner or ligand. The quenching can arise from local changes near the interaction site or from binding-induced conformational changes. In cases where the titrant absorbs at or near the excitation or emission wavelengths of tryptophan, significant quenching can occur even without an interaction. This is known as the inner filter effect. This protocol describes how to use tryptophan fluorescence quenching to investigate the binding affinity of a protein for its partner/ligand and how to check and correct for the inner filter effect. As an example, we measured the binding affinity of the haem-binding protein, HusA, from Porphyromonas gingivalis for haem, and showed how we accounted for the inner filter effect.

Structural properties of a haemophore facilitate targeted elimination of the pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis.

Porphyromonas gingivalis is a keystone bacterial pathogen of chronic periodontitis. P. gingivalis is unable to synthesise the porphyrin macrocycle and relies on exogenous porphyrin, including haem or haem biosynthesis intermediates from host sources. We show that under the iron-limited conditions prevailing in tissue environments, P. gingivalis expresses a haemophore-like protein, HusA, to mediate the uptake of essential porphyrin and support pathogen survival within epithelial cells. The structure of HusA, together with titration studies, mutagenesis and in silico docking, show that haem binds in a hydrophobic groove on the α-helical structure without the typical iron coordination seen in other haemophores. This mode of interaction allows HusA to bind to a variety of abiotic and metal-free porphyrins with higher affinities than to haem. We exploit this unusual porphyrin-binding activity of HusA to target a prototypic deuteroporphyrin-metronidazole conjugate with restricted antimicrobial specificity in a Trojan horse strategy that effectively kills intracellular P. gingivalis.