This FIRCA proposal is a collaboration between the protein biophysics program of Professor Demchenko at the Ukrainian Academy of Science, Kiev, Ukraine, and Professors Gratton and Mantulin of the Laboratory for FIuorescence Dynamics (LFD) at the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign. The research is aimed at exploiting a series of monoclonal antibodies (Mab) against the antigen, 9,9'-bianthryl(BA), as catalytic antibodies of the intramolecular photochemical electron transport reaction of the BA hapten bound to a specific Mab. We propose that each isoltated Mab, through variations in the hapten binding pocket, will catalyze the charge transfer (CT) reaction differently. The CT reaction can be identified by a characteristic fluorescence emission that is induced by excitation at the red (long wavelength) edge. For each murine immunization with BA, we anticipate producing 2-12 different Mab. In each isolated Mab, the individual molecules exist in a conformational landscape of subconformations over a narrow energy distribution. When BA binds to this conformational distribution, the resulting fluorescence decay is also distributed, or inhomogeneous. We will examine these inhomogeneous kinetics by steady-state (spectral broadening) and time-resolved fluorescence. We anticipate a non-Arrhenius thermal dependence of the CT reaction in the BA-Mab complex, and we will use global analysis procedures to model this process. We believe that this project offers a high degree of cooperation between the two laboratories and a good likelihood of success in studying the modulation of intramolecular BA charge transfer by Mab, acting as catalytic antibodies.
