The characteristics of tryptophan phosphorescence from the NAD(H)-binding component (dI) component ofRhodospirillum rubrum transhydrogenase are described. This enzyme couples hydride transfer between NAD(H) and NADP(H) to proton translocation across a membrane and is only active as a dimer. Tryptophan phosphorescence spectroscopy is a sensitive technique for the detection of protein conformational changes and was used here to characterize dI under mechanistically relevant conditions. Our results indicate that the single tryptophan in dI, Trp-72, is embedded in a rigid, compact, and homogeneous protein matrix that efficiently suppresses collisional quenching processes and results in the longest triplet lifetime for Trp ever reported in a protein at ambient temperature (2.9 s). The protein matrix surrounding Trp-72 is extraordinarily rigid up to 50°C. In all previous studies on Trp-containing proteins, changes in structure were reflected in a different triplet lifetime. In dI, the lifetime of Trp-72 phosphorescence was barely affected by protein dimerization, cofactor binding, complexation with the NADP(H)-binding component (dIII), or by the introduction of two amino acid substitutions at the hydride-transfer site. It is suggested that the rigidity and structural invariance of the protein domain (dI.1) housing this Trp residue are important to the mechanism of transhydrogenase: movement of dI.1 affects the width of a cleft which, in turn, regulates the positioning of bound nucleotides ready for hydride transfer. The unique protein core in dI may be a paradigm for the design of compact and stable de novo proteins.Transhydrogenase couples hydride transfer between NAD(H) and NADP(H) to proton translocation across a biological membrane according to Equation 1.The enzyme is found in the inner membrane of higher animal mitochondria and in the cytoplasmic membrane of many bacteria (1). Under physiological conditions, it is thought to utilize the proton electrochemical gradient to generate NADPH. Transhydrogenase comprises three components: dI 1 (ϳ380 residues), which binds NAD ϩ /NADH; dII (ϳ400 residues), the membrane-embedded component harboring the proton translocation channel; and dIII (ϳ200 residues), which binds NADP ϩ / NADPH (Fig. 1). Transhydrogenase is a "dimer" of two dI-dIIdIII "monomers", though the polypeptide composition varies in different species. One of the best characterized transhydrogenases is that from Rhodospirillum rubrum. Recombinant dI and dIII from this organism are stable proteins that bind their cognate nucleotides. Upon mixing, they readily form a dI 2 ⅐dIII 1 complex (K d Ϸ 25 nM), which catalyzes rapid hydride transfer between bound nucleotides. Crystal structures are available for isolated dI (2, 3), dIII (4, 5), and for the complex (6).In transhydrogenase, proton translocation is linked to the redox reaction by way of inter-domain conformational changes. Our current working model is that proton translocation through dII drives transhydrogenase between an "open" state, in which the nucleo...