The magnetic susceptibility of cytochrome oxidase in the 4.2-1.5 K range

A new dinuclear heme-copper complex derived from functionalized protoporphyrin IX

A new biomimetic model for the heterodinuclear heme/copper center of respiratory oxidases is described. It is derived from iron(III) protoporphyrin IX by covalent attachment of a Gly-L-His-OMe residue to one propionic acid substituent and an amino-bis(benzimidazole) residue to the other propionic acid substituent of the porphyrin ring, yielding the Fe(III) complex 1, and subsequent addition of a copper(II) or copper(I) ion, according to needs. The fully oxidized Fe(III)/Cu(II) complex, 2, binds azide more strongly than 1, and likely contains azide bound as a bridging ligand between Fe(III) and Cu(II). The two metal centers also cooperate in the reaction with hydrogen peroxide, as the peroxide adducts obtained at low temperature for 1 and 2 display different optical features. Support to this interpretation comes from the investigation of the peroxidase activity of the complexes, where the activation of hydrogen peroxide has been studied through the phenol coupling reaction of p-cresol. Here the presence of Cu(II) improves the catalytic performance of complex 2 with respect to 1 at acidic pH, where the positive charge of the Cu(II) ion is useful to promote O-O bond cleavage of the iron-bound hydroperoxide, but it depresses the activity at basic pH because it can stabilize an intramolecular hydroxo bridge between Fe(III) and Cu(II). The reactivity to dioxygen of the reduced complexes has been studied at low temperature starting from the carbonyl adducts of the Fe(II) complex, 3, and Fe(II)/Cu(I) complex, 4. Also in this case the adducts derived from the Fe(II) and Fe(II)/Cu(I) complexes, that we formulate as Fe(III)-superoxo and Fe(III)/Cu(II)-peroxo exhibit slightly different spectral properties, showing that the copper center participates in a weak interaction with the dioxygen moiety.

Structure of the heme-copper binuclear center of the cytochrome bo complex of Escherichia coli: EPR and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic studies

The cytochrome bo complex is a terminal quinol oxidase in the aerobic respiratory chain of Escherichia coli and functions as a redox-coupled proton pump. To clarify the structural differences of the binuclear reaction center between the cytochrome bo complex and the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase, a combined study using EPR and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopies was carried out. The EPR spectrum of the highly purified cytochrome bo complex in the air-oxidized state showed a broad EPR signal (peak g* = 3.7) from an integer spin system. This confirms the existence of the spin-spin exchange-coupled binuclear site, in which the Feo3+ and CuB2+ centers were bridged by an unknown ligand (X). Binding of azide at the binuclear site as an ionic modulator weakened the strength of the spin-spin exchange coupling and thus caused a narrowing of the broad EPR signal. Binding of another modulator, formate, at the binuclear site caused the formation of EPR signals at g' = 12 and 2.7, which are very similar to those observed for cytochrome c oxidase. Cyanide replaced the bridging ligand (X) to form an Feo(3+)-C-N-CuB2+ structure in which strong spin-spin exchange coupling is expected, leading to a complete EPR-invisible state. Infrared evidence (a 2146 cm-1 C-N stretching band for the cyanide complex and a 2041 cm-1 azide antisymmetric stretching band for the azide complex) supported the theory that these ligands form bridging structures at the binuclear center, as previously observed for cytochrome c oxidase.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Distinct forms of the haem o-Cu binuclear site of oxidised cytochrome bo from Escherichia coli. Evidence from optical and EPR spectroscopy

Oxidised, formate-bound and fluoride-bound forms of E. coli cytochrome bo give rise to an electronic absorption band near 630 nm, diagnostic of high-spin ferric haem o, whose position is sensitive to the nature of the bound anion. In all three forms, haem o remains spin-coupled to Cu(B)(II), resulting in distinct broad X-band EPR signals. Those of formate-bound cytochrome bo are similar to the signals seen in slow cytochrome aa3 but cannot be induced by incubation at acid pH suggesting that the endogenous carboxylate believed to be important in slow cytochrome aa3 is not present in cytochrome bo. The oxidised form gives rise to novel EPR signals at g = 3.74 and g = 3.08 which have not been detected in cytochrome aa3 and may arise from a weak magnetic coupling between high-spin haem o, S = 5/2, and Cu(B)(II), S = 1/2.

Magnetic state of the alpha 3 center of cytochrome c oxidase and some of its derivatives

The temperature dependence of the magnetic susceptibility was used to investigate the nature of the coupling between cytochrome alpha 3 and CuB in resting and oxidized cyanide- and formate-bound cytochrome oxidase. Resting and formate-bound enzymes were found to have strong antiferromagnetic coupling with an S = 5/2 cytochrome alpha 3, results that were independent of the dispersing detergent and the enzyme isolation method. The cyanide-bound enzyme was heterogeneous, with a minor fraction showing intermediate strength antiferromagnetic coupling. The magnitude of this coupling was independent of the enzyme isolation method and depended moderately on the identity of the dispersing detergent. The major fraction of the cyanide-bound enzyme had a lowest energy state of Ms = 0. The coupling constant for this fraction did not depend on the isolation technique or on the identity of the dispersing detergent. The use of glucose-glucose oxidase to deoxygenate samples influenced the susceptibility behavior of some preparations of both the resting and formate-bound enzymes, with results indicating an S = 3/2 cytochrome alpha 3 in the resting enzyme samples. Retention of a 417-nm Soret band for formate-bound enzyme concomitant with peroxide-induced changes in susceptibility behavior indicates different sites of enzyme interactions for the formate ion and hydrogen peroxide.

Cytochrome c oxidases: polypeptide composition, role of subunits, and location of active metal centers

The general structure of the enzyme, its polypeptide composition, and a proposal for a rational nomenclature are discussed. The mitochondrially coded and bacterial cytochrome c oxidase subunits have been analyzed with more attention focused on elucidating the number of metals present in the enzyme and the ligands available for their coordination. The picture of a 2 Cu/2 Fe enzyme has been compared with that of a 3 Cu/2 Fe enzyme and a new model is proposed for the location of the metal centers in the enzyme.

Interactions in cytochrome oxidase: functions and structure

Mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase is an exceedingly complex multistructural and multifunctional membranous enzyme. In this review, we will provide an overview of the many interactions of cytochrome oxidase, stressing developments not covered by the excellent monograph of Wikström, Krab, and Saraste (1981), and continuing into early 1983. First we describe its functions (both in the nominal sense, as a transporter of electrons between cytochrome c and oxygen, and in its role in energy transduction). Then we describe its structure, emphasizing the protein (its structure as a whole, the number and stoichiometry of its subunits, their biosynthetic origin, and their interactions with each other, with other components of the enzyme complex, and with the membrane as a whole). Finally, we present a model in which the protein conformation serves as the focus for the dynamic interaction of its two major functions.

Solvent proton relaxation studies of cytochrome c oxidase solutions

The interaction of solvent water protons with the bound paramagnetic metal ions of beef heart cytochrome c oxidase has been examined. The observed proton relaxation rates of enzyme solutions had a negative temperature dependence, indicating a rapid exchange between solvent protons in the coordination sphere of the metal ions and bulk solvent. An analysis of the dependence of the proton relaxation rate on the observation frequency indicated that the correlation time, which modulates the interaction between solvent protons and the unpaired electrons on the metal ions, is due to the electron spin relaxation time of the heme irons of cytochrome c oxidase. This means that at least one of the hemes is exposed to solvent. The proton relaxation rate of the oxidized enzyme was found to be sensitive to changes in ionic strength and to changes in the spin states of the metal ions. Heme a3 was found to be relatively inaccessible to bulk solvent. Partial reduction of the enzyme caused a slight increase in the relaxation rate, which may be due to a change in the antiferromagnetic coupling between two of the bound paramagnetic centers. Further reduction resulted in a decreased relaxation rate, and the fully reduced enzyme was no longer sensitive to changes in ionic strength. The binding of cytochrome c to cytochrome c oxidase had little effect on the proton relaxation rates of oxidized cytochrome oxidase indicating that cytochrome c binding has little effect on solvent accessibility to the metal ion sites.

CO binding to mitochondrial mixed valence state cytochrome oxidase at low temperatures

The kinetics and thermodynamics of the reaction of mixed valence state membrane-bound cytochrome oxidase with CO over the 178-203 K range has been studied by multichannel optical spectroscopy at three wavelength pairs (444-463 nm in the Soret region, and 590-630 and 608-630 nm in the alpha region) and analysed by non-linear optimization techniques. As in the case of the fully reduced membrane-bound cytochrome oxidase-CO reaction (Clore, G.M. and Chance, E.M. (1978) Biochem J. 175, 709-725), the normalized progress curves at the three wavelength pairs are significantly different indicating, on the basis of Beer's law, the presence of a minimum of three optically distinct species. The only model that satisfies the triple statistical requirement of a standard deviation within the standard error of the data, a random distribution of residuals and good determination of the optimized parameters, is a two species sequential mechanism: flash photolysis of the mixed valence state cytochrome oxidase-CO complex (species IIMC) yields unliganded mixed valence state cytochrome oxidase (species EM) and free CO which then recombine to form species IMC; species IMC is then converted into species IIMC. All the thermodynamic parameters describing the model are calculated and compared to those obtained for the fully reduced membrane-bound cytochrome oxidase-CO reaction (Clore and Chance (1978) Biochem. J. 175, 709-725). Although there are some qualitative similarities in the kinetics and thermodynamics of the reactions of mixed valence state (alpha 23+Cu+B.ALPHA 3+Cu2+A) and fully reduced (a3 2+Cu B + . a2+Cu A+) cytochrome oxidase with CO, there are large and significant quantitative differences in zero-point activation energies and frequency factors; over the temperature range studied, the mixed valence state cytochrome oxidase-CO reaction is found to proceed at a significantly slower rate than the fully reduced cytochrome oxidase-CO reaction. These differences indicate that changing the valence states of cytochrome a and CuA has a significant effect on the CO binding properties of cytochrome a 3 and possibly CuB.