Diss. (sammanfattning) Linköping : Linköpings universitet, 2008. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Ce mémoire de thèse est consacré au développement et à la caractérisation de nouveaux complexes homo- et hétéronucléaires de manganèse et de métaux alcalino-terreux dans le cadre de la modélisation du cluster inorganique Mn4CaO5 de l’OEC du photosystème II.De nouveaux ligands incluant un nombre variable de groupements pyridine-carboxylates basés sur les architectures tris-(2-picolyl)amine et bis-(2-picolyl)ethylamine ont été synthétisés. Ces ligands ont permis d’isoler de nouveaux complexes homonucléaires avec Ca2+ et Sr2+ et ainsi que des complexes hétéronucléaires MnII–Ca. L’analyse par spectroscopie XAS sur le calcium de certaines de ces espèces (parmi d’autres modèles) a permis de calibrer cette technique et ainsi montrer que le XAS pourrait être utilisé pour sonder le cluster naturel dans les différents états du cycle de Kok.Par la suite, une nouvelle famille de complexes tétranucléaires MnII3M’ (M’ = Li+, Ca2+, Sr2+, Mn2+) a été isolée, reposant sur une base métallomacrocyclique trinucléaire accueillant un cation M’ dans la cavité formée. Ces complexes ont révélé un comportement électrochimique original présentant trois systèmes redox successifs et réversibles dont le potentiel varie avec M’. Ces espèces ont démontré une excellente stabilité en solution, y compris à l’état d’oxydation du manganèse +III. Des complexes homonucléaires M3M (M = Fe2+, Co2+) similaires ont aussi été étudiés.Enfin, des complexes binucléaires de Mn3+ pontés par des ligands oxo ont été isolés, ainsi que leurs précurseurs de Mn2+. Par ailleurs, un exemple de cluster métallomacrocyclique à valence mixte Mn2+/Mn3+ et incorporant du calcium a été obtenu, qui représente le premier exemple d’un manganèse(II) ponté par un ligand hydroxo à deux ions Ca2+. / This thesis is focused on the development and characterization of new homo- and heteronuclear complexes of manganese and alkaline-earth metals for the modelization of the Mn4CaO5 inorganic cluster of the OEC of photosystem II.New ligands incorporating a varied number of pyridine-carboxylate groups and based on the tris-(2-picolyl)amine and bis-(2-picolyl)ethylamine architectures have been synthesized. These ligands enabled the isolation of Ca2+ and Sr2+ homonuclear complexes as well as heteronuclear MnII–Ca complexes. Part of these species have been characterized (among other models) by Ca XAS spectroscopy, enabling the calibration of this technique for the study of more complex systems such as the OEC.Furthermore, a new family of MnII3M’ (M’ = Li+, Ca2+, Sr2+, Mn2+) tetranuclear complexes has been isolated, based on a trinuclear Mn2+ metallamacrocyclic architecture hosting a M’ cation in the formed cavity. These complexes exhibited an original electrochemical behavior, displaying three successive reversible redox processes in oxidation whose potentials vary depending on the metal M’. These species demonstrated an excellent stability in solution, even at the +III oxidation state of manganese. Similar homonuclear M3M (M = Fe2+, Co2+) complexes have been isolated.Finally, binuclear Mn3+ complexes bridged by oxo ligands have been isolated, as well as their Mn2+ precursors. Moreover, a mixed-valence Mn2+/Mn3+ metallamacrocyclic cluster incorporating calcium has been synthesized, revealing the first example of a manganese(II) bridged by an hydroxo ligand to Ca2+ ions.

Study of biosensors has become an essential part of research in biotechnology. Biosensors as fast, portable, highly sensitive, and low-cost bioanalytical detection devices have been utilized in many fields of human activity. The first part of the presented work focuses on electrochemical biosensors for rapid environmental screening of herbicides as water pollutants. A sol-gel immobilization method for a photosystem II (PSII) complex is studied in order to enhance the sensitivity and the signal strength and stability of a PSII-based biosensor. Computer simulations of a PSII biosensor are employed with the aim to find out how the immobilization membrane properties influence the biosensor parameters. Newly developed immobilization by a thin-layer membrane based on the results of computer simulations and revised measurement protocols are presented. The second part of the work is devoted to synthesis and electrochemical detection of newly developed metal labels for electrochemical immunosensors. The synthesis of dendrimer-encapsulated silver nanoparticles and biorecognition properties of biotin-nanocomposite conjugates are discussed. For detection of synthesized labels, a microfluidic detector was manufactured and tested and different approaches to packing of a microfluidic chip employing polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) were investigated. Newly designed microstructures for a microfluidic separator of magnetic beads (MBs) were studied by computer simulations. The separator was made and trapping of MBs for the further employment in MBs-based immunoassays are presented

All life on earth depends mainly on the presence of oxygen. Largest producers of oxygen are green plants, cyanobacteria and algae. Oxygen is released from the oxygenevolving complex of photosystem II during photosynthesis and it is used in cellular respiration of all life complexes. The oxygen-evolving complex of photosystem II has the same function in each photosynthetic organism, but it has a different composition and organization of extrinsic proteins; only PsbO protein is ubiquitous in all known oxyphototrophs. Until now only low resolution electron microscopy structural models of plant PSII and crystal structures of cyanobacterial PSII are available. Higher plant extrinsic proteins (PsbP, PsbQ and PsbR) are structurally unrelated, non-homologues to the cyanobacterial extrinsic proteins (PsbO, PsbU and PsbV) and this is the reason why it is not possible to predict arrangement of these proteins on the lumenal site of higher plant PSII. Recently, models differ mainly in the structure of the oxygen-evolving complex, which could be resolved by determination of the exact binding sites for extrinsic proteins. An other question evolves: if the difference in the oxygen-evolving complex composition is the result of evolution or adaptation of photosynthetic organisms to their environment. Structural knowledge of extrinsic proteins that could help to resolve the location and subsequently the function of extrinsic proteins is still incomplete. From this case,structural analysis, interactions and probably arrangement of proteins PsbP and PsbQ was studied and is described in detail in this thesis.

"Laser flash spectroscopy of photosystem II" Photosystem II (PS II) of plants and cyanobacteria oxidizes water in a light-powered reaction. Thereby, this protein is the ultimate source of the atmospheric oxygen. The capacity to oxidize water is owed to two properties of PS II: (i) The midpoint potential of the oxidizing chlorophyll moiety is increased by 0.6 V compared to photosystem I or photochemical reaction centers of anoxygenic bacteria, and (ii) the energy requirements of the four steps needed for the tetravalent oxidation of water are adapted to the energy of red light quanta. This thesis deals with two particular aspects, namely: 1. The coupling of the electron transfer from tyrosine Z (YZ) to the primary donor (P680+) to proton transfer, and an inquiry on the role of a positive charge on YZox (plus base cluster) in increasing the oxidizing potential at the catalytic site. 2. The localization of the electron hole, P680+, among the excitonically coupled four inner chlorophyll a molecules, and an estimation of the midpoint potential differences between them. Electron-proton-coupling by YZ This study was carried out with PS II core complexes from spinach or pea with a deactivated (removed) manganese cluster. The reduction of P680+ was investigated as a function of pH by detecting the laser flash induced absorption changes with nanosecond resolution. Two kinetic components were found with different pH-dependence and activation energies. The alteration of kinetic parameters by H/D isotope substitutions or by addition of divalent cations implied two different types of YZ-oxidation: At acidic pH the electron transfer was coupled with proton transfer, whereas in the alkaline region it was more rapid and no longer controlled by proton transfer. The conversion between both mechanisms occured at pH 7.4. This value corresponds either to the apparent pK of YZ itself (i.e. of the hydroxy group of the phenol ring) or to the pK of an acid-base-cluster, which includes YZ. Independent measurements of pH-transients by following the absorption changes of hydrophilic proton indicators corroborated this notion. The data were interpreted as indicating that the phenolic proton of YZ was released into the medium at acidic, but not at alkaline pH. The electron transfer and proton release characteristics of intact, oxygen-evolving PS II resembled those in deactivated samples kept at alkaline pH. We concluded that the electron transfer from YZ to P680+ in the native system was not coupled with proton transfer into the bulk. This has shed doubt on a popular hypothesis on the role of YZ as 'hydrogen abstractor' from bound water. On the other hand, the energetic constraints of water oxidation could be eased by the positive upcharging during oxidation of YZox plus its base cluster. On the localization of the electron hole of P680+ Photooxidation of PS II oxidizes the set of four innermost chlorophyll a molecules giving rise to the only spectroscopically defined species P680+. The deconvolution of difference spectra into bands of pigments is ambiguous. By using photoselective excitation of antennae, i.e. chl a molecules with site specific energies at the long wavelength border of the mean Qy-band, and by polarized detection, it was possible to tag P680+QA-/P680QA and 3P680/P680 difference spectra with a further parameter, the (wavelength-dependent) anisotropy r. Results obtained at liquid nitrogen temperature (77 K) can be clearly interpreted in terms of two chl a monomer bands. The two main components of the P680+QA-/P680QA difference spectrum were marked by two distinct values of the anisotropy and could be interpreted in a straightforward manner: the bleaching of a band at 675 nm belonging to the charged species (chl a+) and an electrochromic blue-shift of a nearby chl a from 684 to 682 nm. The main bleaching band of the 3P680/P680 spectrum (at 77 K) can be apparently attributed to a third (or several) chl a component(s). The analysis of the P680+QA-/P680QA spectrum at cryogenic temperature is compatible with monomeric chl a bands. On the other hand, one could assume a system of excitonically coupled core pigments, as it was recently introduced in the literature on the basis of energy transfer studies ('multimer model'). However, in view of the clear indications for an electrochromic band shift and the location of the bleaching band, which absorbs in a wavelength region of monomeric chl a, one assumption of the 'multimer model' should be questioned. Presumably, the excitonic couplings are rather weak, in particular between each of the two central chl a-molecules (PA/PB) and its respective accessory chl a (BA/BB), because of (i) the distances and (ii) different site energies of the monomeric chromophores. At room temperature, the absorption difference and anisotropy spectra of P680+QA-/P680QA were clearly altered. The anisotropy data indicated that the changes could no longer exclusively be ascribed to thermal broadening of individual bands. The localization of the positive charge on one pigment, analogous to the situation at 77 K, was now unlikely. Hence, the midpoint potential differences between the inner four chlorophyll a molecules were small and were estimated as approximately 15 meV.