Electrochemical tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy of electron transfer proteins
[eng] Electron Transfer (ET) plays essential roles in crucial biological processes such as cell respiration and photosynthesis. It takes place between redox proteins and in protein complexes that display an outstanding efficiency and environmental adaptability. Although the fundamental aspects of ET...
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| Tipo de recurso: | tesis doctoral |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2017 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universidad de Barcelona |
| Repositorio: | Dipòsit Digital de la UB |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:diposit.ub.edu:2445/120869 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/2445/120869 http://hdl.handle.net/10803/462883 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Reacció d'oxidació-reducció Proteïnes Transferència d'energia Oxidation-reduction reaction Proteins Energy transfer |
| Sumario: | [eng] Electron Transfer (ET) plays essential roles in crucial biological processes such as cell respiration and photosynthesis. It takes place between redox proteins and in protein complexes that display an outstanding efficiency and environmental adaptability. Although the fundamental aspects of ET processes are well understood, more experimental methods are needed to determine electronic pathways. Understanding how ET works is important not only for fundamental reasons, but also for the potential technological applications of these redox‐active nanoscale systems. The general objective of this thesis is to investigate electron transfer in redox proteins at the single molecule level. To that end, we use Electrochemical Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (ECSTM) and conductive Atomic Force Microscopy (cAFM), excellent tools to study electronic materials and redox molecules including proteins. In this thesis, we focused on two redox protein systems: azurin, a small electron carrier protein and photosystem I, a light‐sensitive oxidoreductase protein complex. In azurin, we studied the protein conductance as a function of its redox state and location on the protein surface, and the effect of technical parameters such as the contact properties between azurin and the metal electrodes, and the mechanical force applied in such contact. For that we adapted our ECSTM setup for an alternating current method often used in ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) STMs. We also worked in the development of a methodology that combines AFM‐based single‐molecule force measurements with single‐molecule electrical measurements, while working in an electrochemically controlled environment. These techniques can lead to a more detailed description of the ET pathways, and to a deeper understanding of the complex relation between the structure of redox proteins and their electronic properties. In photosystem I, developed a method to immobilize complexes on a substrate suitable for ECSTM imaging and spectroscopy, atomically flat gold. In these conditions, we characterized photosystem I by imaging and spectroscopy, and evaluated its conductance and distance‐decay properties in a wide range of biologically relevant electrochemical potentials. The characterization of conduction pathways in redox proteins at the nanoscale would enable important advances in biochemistry and would cause a high impact in the field of nanotechnology. |
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