Investigation on the fluorescence spectra of thioredoxin reductase from human brain

The technique of fluorescence spectroscopy is applied to study thioredoxin reductast (TrxR) in the cells of human brain. Experimental results show that, by the ultraviolet light irradiation (λmax=253.7nm), TrxR is able to emit two striking spectral bands of 287nm to 484nm and 560nm to 720nm. The spectral profile also consists of some narrow spike-like bands atop these two broad bands. With the concentration of TrxR decreases, the narrow spike-like bands disappear little by little. Furthermore, physical and biochemical mechanisms of fluorescence production for ultraviolet light-induced TrxR spectra and its characteristics are analyzed. The new spectroscopic information suggested in this paper may represent an effort of better understanding of the structure and conformation changes of TrxR.