Organic materials such as polymer films surround us in many everyday applications ranging from food packaging and smartphone displays to medical purposes. One of their main usage scenarios is the thin, lightweight, and easy processable encapsulation to protect a particular target from molecular oxygen. Hence, the oxygen diffusion properties in these polymer films represent a key parameter. This work demonstrates a new method to determine and model the oxygen distribution in thin polymer films using light. It provides a significant advantage over many common methods since no vacuum machinery is needed. The working principle is based on the phosphorescent emission of an organic dopant which is quenched in the vicinity of molecular oxygen at room temperature. The model system used in this study consists of a polystyrene layer, which is doped with PtOEP (Platin(II)-2,3,7,8,12,13,17,18-octaethyl-21H,23H-porphyrin) and covered with a barrier layer of Ex-cevalTM. The oxygen concentration in the doped polystyrene film can be locally depleted under excitation with 365 nm UV light. To determine the oxygen diffusion coefficient, a concentration gradient is created and the time evolution of the luminescent pattern is recorded with a CCD-camera. The recorded data is reconverted to oxygen concentration equivalents and the impact of photoconsumption during the recording process is eliminated, before fitting it with a diffusion simulation. The result reveals a significant dependency on the processing conditions of the film, i.e. D = (1.49 ± 0.08) × 10−7 cm^2/s for unannealed and D = (0.71 ± 0.09) × 10−7 cm^2/s for an-nealed samples. The values lie well in the range reported in the literature.:Problem Goal Conception The physics behind the phenomenon Results More

Zellen enthalten zahlreiche Enzyme, deren Reaktionen von molekularem Sauerstoff abhängen. Oft sind deren aktive Zentren tief im inneren des Proteins verborgen, was die Frage nach spezifischen Zugangskanälen, die den Sauerstoff gezielt zum Ort der Katalyse leiten, aufwirft. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird dies am Beispiel der 12/15-Lipoxygenase, als ein typisches Beipiel Sauerstoff verbrauchender Enzyme, untersucht. Die Sauerstoffverteilung innerhalb des Proteins wurde bestimmt und mögliche Routen für den Sauerstoffzugang definiert. Zu diesem Zweck wurden theoretische Untersuchungen eng mit Experimenten verzahnt. Zuerst wurden Molekulardynamik Simulationen des Proteins in Lösung durchgeführt. Aus den Trajektorien konnte die dreidimensionale Verteilung der Freien Enthalpie für Sauerstoff berechnet werden. Die Analyse der günstigsten Pfade in dieser Energielandschaft führte zur Identifikation von vier Sauerstoffkanälen im Protein. Alle Kanäle verbinden die Proteinoberfläche mit einem Gebiet hoher Sauerstoffaffinität am aktiven Zentrum. Diese Region liegt bezüglich des Substrats gegenüber dem Eisenzentrum, wodurch eine strukturelle Erklärung für die Reaktionsspezifität des Enzyms gegeben ist. Der katalytisch bedeutsamste Weg des Sauerstoffs kann durch L367F Austauschmutation blockiert werden, was zu einer stark erhöhten Michaelis-Konstante für Sauerstoff führt. Diese experimentell nachgewiesene Blockade konnte, mit Hilfe entsprechender Molekulardynamik Simulationen, durch eine Umordnung eines Wasserstoffbrücken-Netzwerks von Wassermolekülen innerhalb des Protein im Detail erklärt werden. Die Ergebnisse ermöglichen den Schluss, dass die Hauptroute für Sauerstoff zum aktiven Zentrum des Enzyms einem Kanal folgt, der aus vorübergehend verbundenen Hohlräumen besteht. Hierbei unterliegt das Öffnen und Schließen des Kanals der Dynamik der Proteinseitenketten. / Cells contain numerous enzymes utilizing molecular oxygen for their reactions. Often, their active sites are buried deeply inside the protein which raises the question whether there are specific access channels guiding oxygen to the site of catalysis. In the present thesis this question is investigated choosing 12/15-lipoxygenase as a typical example for such oxygen dependent enzymes. The oxygen distribution within the protein was determined and potential routes for oxygen access were defined. For this purpose an integrated strategy of structural modeling, molecular dynamics simulations, site directed mutagenesis, and kinetic measurements has been applied. First, molecular dynamics simulations of the protein in solution were performed. From the trajectories, the 3-dimensional free-energy distribution for oxygen could be computed. Analyzing energetically favorable paths in the free-energy map led to identification of four oxygen channels in the protein. All channels connect the protein surface with a zone of high oxygen affinity at the active site. This region is localized opposite to the non-heme iron providing a structural explanation for the reaction specificity of this lipoxygenase isoform. The catalytically most relevant path can be obstructed by L367F exchange which leads to a strongly increased Michaelis constant for oxygen. This experimetally proven blocking mechanism can, by virtue of molecular dynamics studies, be explained in detail through a reordering of the hydrogen bonding network of water molecules. As a conclusion, the results provide strong evidence that the main route for oxygen access to the active site of the enzyme follows a channel formed by transiently interconnected cavities whereby the opening and closure is governed by sidechain dynamics.

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