Photocoupled Time-Resolved Small Angle X-ray Scattering Applied to a Blue Light Sensing Protein

Jessica Scherrer Lamb (National Institutes of Health)

Many biomolecules respond to environmental cues by large, functionally relevant changes in shape. To enable time-resolved study of such phenomena, we engineered a photocoupled flow cell for use with Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS). This allows us to initiate changes in proteins via light excitation and measure them with a capillary focused x-ray beam. Studies were carried out on VVD, a blue light photosensor in the PAS-LOV family of proteins. These studies provide insight into the mechanism of rapid dimerization of the protein upon photoexcitation. We have also considered the analysis of time-resolved SAXS data, which can be acquired using such a system, with recently popular reconstruction methods.

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