Dataset Information

Local protein solvation drives direct down-conversion in phycobiliprotein PC645 via incoherent vibronic transport.

ABSTRACT: The mechanisms controlling excitation energy transport (EET) in light-harvesting complexes remain controversial. Following the observation of long-lived beats in 2D electronic spectroscopy of PC645, vibronic coherence, the delocalization of excited states between pigments supported by a resonant vibration, has been proposed to enable direct excitation transport from the highest-energy to the lowest-energy pigments, bypassing a collection of intermediate states. Here, we instead show that for phycobiliprotein PC645 an incoherent vibronic transport mechanism is at play. We quantify the solvation dynamics of individual pigments using ab initio quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) nuclear dynamics. Our atomistic spectral densities reproduce experimental observations ranging from absorption and fluorescence spectra to the timescales and selectivity of down-conversion observed in transient absorption measurements. We construct a general model for vibronic dimers and establish the parameter regimes of coherent and incoherent vibronic transport. We demonstrate that direct down-conversion in PC645 proceeds incoherently, enhanced by large reorganization energies and a broad collection of high-frequency vibrations. We suggest that a similar incoherent mechanism is appropriate across phycobiliproteins and represents a potential design principle for nanoscale control of EET.

SUBMITTER: Blau SM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5899487 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Local protein solvation drives direct down-conversion in phycobiliprotein PC645 via incoherent vibronic transport.

Blau Samuel M SM Bennett Doran I G DIG Kreisbeck Christoph C Scholes Gregory D GD Aspuru-Guzik Alán A

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20180327 15

The mechanisms controlling excitation energy transport (EET) in light-harvesting complexes remain controversial. Following the observation of long-lived beats in 2D electronic spectroscopy of PC645, vibronic coherence, the delocalization of excited states between pigments supported by a resonant vibration, has been proposed to enable direct excitation transport from the highest-energy to the lowest-energy pigments, bypassing a collection of intermediate states. Here, we instead show that for phy ...[more]

PMID: 29588417

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Project description:In this contribution we present a mixed quantum-classical dynamical approach for the computation of vibronic absorption spectra of molecular aggregates and their nonadiabatic dynamics, taking into account the coupling between local excitations (LE) and charge-transfer (CT) states. The approach is based on an adiabatic (Ad) separation between the soft degrees of freedom (DoFs) of the system and the stiff vibrations, which are described by the quantum dynamics (QD) of wave packets (WPs) moving on the coupled potential energy surfaces (PESs) of the LE and CT states. These PESs are described with a linear vibronic coupling (LVC) Hamiltonian, parameterized by an overlap-based diabatization on the grounds of time-dependent density functional theory computations. The WPs time evolution is computed with the multiconfiguration time-dependent Hartree method, using effective modes defined through a hierarchical representation of the LVC Hamiltonian. The soft DoFs are sampled with classical molecular dynamics (MD), and the coupling between the slow and fast DoFs is included by recomputing the key parameters of the LVC Hamiltonians, specifically for each MD configuration. This method, named Ad-MD|gLVC, is applied to a perylene diimide (PDI) dimer in acetonitrile and water solutions, and it is shown to accurately reproduce the change in the vibronic features of the absorption spectrum upon aggregation. Moreover, the microscopic insight offered by the MD trajectories allows for a detailed understanding of the role played by the fluctuation of the aggregate structure on the shape of the vibronic spectrum and on the population of LE and CT states. The nonadiabatic QD predicts an extremely fast (∼50 fs) energy transfer between the two LEs. CT states have only a moderate effect on the absorption spectrum, despite the fact that after photoexcitation they are shown to acquire a fast and non-negligible population, highlighting their relevance in dictating the charge separation and transport in PDI-based optical devices.

Project description:Building on the SVPE (surface and volume polarization for electrostatics) model for electrostatic contributions to the free energy of solvation with explicit consideration of both surface and volume polarization effects, on the SMx approach to including first-solvation-shell contributions, and on the linear relationship between the electric field and short-range electrostatic contributions found by Chipman, we have developed a new method for computing absolute aqueous solvation free energies by combining the SVPE method with semiempirical terms that account for effects beyond bulk electrostatics. The new method is called SMVLE, and the elements it contains are denoted by SVPE-CDSL where SVPE denotes accounting for bulk electrostatic interactions between solute and solvent with both surface and volume contributions, CDS denotes the inclusion of solvent cavitation, changes in dispersion energy, and possible changes in local solvent structure by a semiempirical term utilizing geometry-dependent atomic surface tensions as implemented in SMx models, and L represents the local electrostatic effect derived from the outward-directed normal electric field on the cavity surface. The semiempirical CDS and L terms together represent the deviation of short-range contributions to the free energy of solvation from those accounted for by the SVPE term based on the bulk solvent dielectric constant. A solute training set containing a broad range of molecules used previously in the development of SM6 is used here for SMVLE model calibration. The aqueous solvation free energies predicted by the parameterized SMVLE model correlate exceedingly well with experimental values. The square of the correlation coefficient is 0.9949 and the slope is 1.0079. Comparison of the final SMVLE model against the earlier SMx solvation model shows that the parameterized SMVLE model not only yields good accuracy for neutrals but also significantly increases the accuracy for ions, making it the best implicit solvation model to date for aqueous solvation free energies of ions. The semiempirical terms associated with the outward-directed electric field account in a physical way for the improvement in the predictive accuracy for ions. The SMVLE method greatly decreases the need to include explicit water molecules for accurate modeling of solvation free energies of ions.

Dataset Information

Local protein solvation drives direct down-conversion in phycobiliprotein PC645 via incoherent vibronic transport.

Publications

Local protein solvation drives direct down-conversion in phycobiliprotein PC645 via incoherent vibronic transport.

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