Transient 2D IR spectroscopy of ubiquitin unfolding dynamics

Transient two-dimensional infrared (2D IR) spectroscopy is used as a probe of protein unfolding dynamics in a direct comparison of fast unfolding experiments with molecular dynamics simulations. In the experiments, the unfolding of ubiquitin is initiated by a laser temperature jump, and protein structural evolution from nanoseconds to milliseconds is probed using amide I 2D IR spectroscopy. The temperature jump prepares a subensemble near the unfolding transition state, leading to quasi-barrierless unfolding (the "burst phase") before the millisecond activated unfolding kinetics. The burst phase unfolding of ubiquitin is characterized by a loss of the coupling between vibrations of the beta-sheet, a process that manifests itself in the 2D IR spectrum as a frequency blue-shift and intensity decrease of the diagonal and cross-peaks of the sheet's two IR active modes. As the sheet unfolds, increased fluctuations and solvent exposure of the beta-sheet amide groups are also characterized by increases in homogeneous linewidth. Experimental spectra are compared with 2D IR spectra calculated from the time-evolving structures in a molecular dynamics simulation of ubiquitin unfolding. Unfolding is described as a sequential unfolding of strands in ubiquitin's beta-sheet, using two collective coordinates of the sheet: (i) the native interstrand contacts between adjacent A-strands I and II and (ii) the remaining beta-strand contacts within the sheet. The methods used illustrate the general principles by which 2D IR spectroscopy can be used for detailed dynamical comparisons of experiment and simulation.