Ultrafast Fluorescence Quenching Dynamics of Flavin Chromophores in Protein Nanospace

We have studied excited-state dynamics of “nonfluorescent” flavoproteins by means of the femtosecond fluorescence up-conversion method. We have interpreted the ultrafast fluorescence quenching mechanisms of these flavoproteins as due to the ultrafast electron transfer or electron transfer followed by proton-transfer interactions between excited flavin chromophore and nearby tryptophan and tyrosine residues placed in the protein nanospace, on the basis of their X-ray structures. Comparisons of fluorescence time profiles and spectral characteristics of flavin chromophores in solutions with those in protein environments have suggested the existence of extremely fast Franck−Condon → fluorescent state relaxations specific to the protein environments. These results of the ultrafast fluorescence dynamics studies on the nonfluorescent flavoproteins have many features in common with other photobiologically important proteins.