@phdthesis{BathePeters2022, author = {Bathe-Peters, Marc}, title = {Spectroscopic approaches for the localization and dynamics of β\(_1\)- and β\(_2\)-adrenergic receptors in cardiomyocytes}, doi = {10.25972/OPUS-25812}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-258126}, school = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg}, year = {2022}, abstract = {In the heart the β\(_1\)-adrenergic receptor (AR) and the β\(_2\)-AR, two prototypical G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), are both activated by the same hormones, namely adrenaline and noradrenaline. Both receptors couple to stimulatory G\(_s\) proteins, mediate an increase in cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) and influence the contractility and frequency of the heart upon stimulation. However, activation of the β\(_1\)-AR, not the β\(_2\)-AR, lead to other additional effects, such as changes in gene transcription resulting in cardiac hypertrophy, leading to speculations on how distinct effects can arise from receptors coupled to the same downstream signaling pathway. In this thesis the question of whether this distinct behavior may originate from a differential localization of these two receptors in adult cardiomyocytes is addressed. Therefore, fluorescence spectroscopy tools are developed and implemented in order to elucidate the presence and dynamics of these endogenous receptors at the outer plasma membrane as well as on the T-tubular network of intact adult cardiomyocytes. This allows the visualization of confined localization and diffusion of the β\(_2\)-AR to the T-tubular network at endogenous expression. In contrast, the β\(_1\)-AR is found diffusing at both the outer plasma membrane and the T-tubules. Upon overexpression of the β\(_2\)-AR in adult transgenic cardiomyocytes, the receptors experience a loss of this compartmentalization and are also found at the cell surface. These data suggest that distinct signaling and functional effects can be controlled by specific cell surface targeting of the receptor subtypes. The tools at the basis of this thesis work are a fluorescent adrenergic antagonist in combination of fluorescence fluctuation spectroscopy to monitor the localization and dynamics of the lowly expressed adrenergic receptors. Along the way to optimizing these approaches, I worked on combining widefield and confocal imaging in one setup, as well as implementing a stable autofocus mechanism using electrically tunable lenses.}, subject = {G-Protein gekoppelte Rezeptoren}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Bollmann2013, author = {Bollmann, Stefan}, title = {Structural Dynamics of Oligopeptides determined by Fluorescence Quenching of Organic Dyes}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-92191}, school = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg}, year = {2013}, abstract = {For determination of structures and structural dynamics of proteins organic fluorophores are a standard instrument. Intra- and intermolecular contact of biomolecular structures are determined in time-resolved and stationary fluorescence microscopy experiments by quenching of organic fluorophores due to Photoinduced Electron Transfer (PET) and dimerization interactions. Using PET we show in this work that end-to-end contact dynamics of serine-glycine peptides are slowed down by glycosylation. This slow down is due to a change in reaction enthalpy for end-to-end contact and is partly compensated by entropic effects. In a second step we test how dimerization of MR121 fluorophore pairs reports on end-to-end contact dynamics. We show that in aqueous solutions containing strong denaturants MR121 dimerization reports advantageously on contact dynamics for glycine-serine oligopeptides compared to the previously used MR121/tryptophane PET reporters. Then we analyze dimer interactions and quenching properties of different commercially available fluorophores being standards in F{\"o}rster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) measurements. Distances in biomolecules are determinable using FRET, but for very flexible biomolecules the analysis of masurement data can be distorted if contact of the two FRET fluorophores is likely. We quantify how strong the quenching of fluorophore pairs with two different or two identical fluorophores is. Dimer spectra and association constants are quantified to estimate if fluophores are applicable in various applications, e.g. in FRET measurements with unstructured peptides and proteins.}, subject = {Fluorophore}, language = {en} }