Carbon monoxide-reacting haemoproteins in the mitochondrial fraction of Acanthamoeba castellanii.

1. Room-temperature (18 degrees C) CO difference spectra of mitochondrial fractions from the amoeba Acanthamoeba castellanii reveal the presence of at least four CO-reacting haemoproteins. As well as cytochrome a3, other components reacting with CO are: (i) a c-type cytochrome; (ii) a b-type cytochrome; and (iii) another a-type cytochrome. 2. The same components can be identified in low-temperature photodissociation experiments with intact cells or mitochondria. 3. The time of exposure to CO and the nature of the reductant are both important in identifying all the components present, in that the b-type cytochrome is more readily distinguished after longer exposure to CO and more of the c-type cytochrome is detectable when NADH is the reductant 4. Treatment of mitochondria with ultrasound releases two components, identifiable in low-temperature difference spectra as a c-type and a b-type cytochrome; only the latter appears to have any reaction with CO, and the CO-reacting c-type cytochrome is retained in submitochondrial particles. 5. The complexity of the CO-reacting haemoproteins in this organism is compared with the simpler systems found in other eukaryotic organisms.     

The carbon monoxide- and oxygen-reacting haemoproteins of Streptomyces clavuligerus: cytochrome aa 3 is the predominant terminal oxidase of the respiratory chain

The nature of the carbon monoxide- and oxygen-reacting haemoproteins in the respiratory chain of the filamentous antibiotic-producing bacterium Streptomyces clavuligerus has been investigated. CO-difference (i.e. CO+ reduced minus reduced) spectra of intact cells showed the presence of cytochrome aa ₃, a CO binding b-type cytochrome, and a pigment resembling cytochrome d. In addition, cells that were approaching the end of the growth phase showed the presence of cytochrome P450: this pigment was undetectable in cells harvested early in the growth cycle. High speed centrifugation of cell-free extracts prepared from cells broken by sonication showed that cytochrome aa ₃ was tightly membrane-bound and that cytochrome P450 was soluble. Inhibition of oxygen uptake rates of cells by cyanide indicated that one component, which showed 50% inhibition at 2–4 mM CN^–, was acting as major terminal oxidase: this was observed in cells harvested from all stages of growth. Photodissociation (i. e. photolysed, CO reduced minus CO reduced) spectra at-118°C, in the absence of oxygen, showed cytochrome aa ₃ to be the sole photolysable CO-reacting haemoprotein. At higher temperature (-87°C), in the presence of oxygen, cytochrome aa ₃ formed a complex with oxygen that could not be photolysed by similar intensities of light. By raising the temperature to-43°C, the oxidation of c-type cytochromes was observed. It is concluded that cytochrome aa ₃ is the predominant terminal oxidase in S. clavuligerus and that the other CO reacting haemoproteins, of unknown function, are unlikely to be oxidases.     

The reaction of cytochrome oxidase with oxygen in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe 972h-. Studies at subzero temperatures and measurement of apparent oxygen affinity.

1. Cytochrome alpha 3 in whole-cell suspensions of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe reacted in the reduced form with CO to give a photodissociable CO complex with absorption maxima at 429, 543 and 591 nm in CO-liganded reduced-minus-reduced difference spectra. 2. Other CO-bound haemoproteins, cytochromes P-420 and P-450, were not photodissociated under the conditions employed. 3. Measurements of the rates of reassociation of CO with cytochrome alpha 3 after flash photolysis over the temperature range from -101 to -109 degrees C gave a value for Eact. of 28.6 kJ/mol. 4. Between -94 and -106 degrees C, O2 reacted with cytochrome oxidase in intact cells to give an oxygenated intermediate (compound A). 5. At -70 degrees C compound A was converted into a second spectrally distinct intermediate (compound B). 6. Electron transport, indicated by the oxidation of cytochromes alpha + alpha 3 and cytochrome c, did not occur until the temperature was raised to -50 degrees C. 7. At room temperature cytochfome oxidase was oxidized to 50% of its steady-state concentration by 0.35 microM-O2.     

The cytochromes of Acanthamoeba castellanii.

1. Low-temperature difference spectra of gradient-purified mitochondria of Acanthamoeba castellanii reveal the presence of cytochromes b-555, b-562 and c-549, with a-type cytochromes having a broad asymmetrical maximum at 602 nm; these components were also observed in specta of whole cells. 2. The a-type cytochromes are unusual in that they have split Soret absorption maxima (at 442 and 449 nm) and an uncharacteristic CO difference spectrum. 3. CO difference spectra of whole cells and 'microsomal' membranes show large amounts of cytochrome P-420 compared with cytochrome P-450. 4. Difference spectra in the presence of cyanide indicate the presence of an a-type cytochrome and two cyanide-reacting components, one of which may be cytochrome a3. 5. Whole-cell respiration in a N2/O2 (19:1) atmosphere was decreased by 50%, suggesting the presence of a low-affinity oxidase. This lowered respiration is inhibited by 50% by CO, and the inhibition is partially light-reversible; photochemical action spectra suggest that cytochrome a3 contributes to this release of inhibition. Other CO-reacting oxidases are also present. 6. The results are discussed with the view that cytochrome a3 is present in A. castellanii, but its identification in CO difference spectra is obscured by other component(s).     

Carbon monoxide- and oxygen-reacting haemoproteins in the mitochondrial fraction from the soil amoeba Acanthamoeba castellanii. Studies at subzero temperatures.

1. Mitochondria-enriched fractions of the soil amoeba Acanthamoeba castellanii contained four haemoproteins that in their reduced forms reacted with CO to give photodissociable CO complexes; these were cytochromes a 3, a 614, b- and c-type cytochromes. 2. Non-photodissociable oxygen-containing compounds were formed at temperatures between -130 and -150 degrees C after photodissociation of CO in the presence of 200 microM-O2, 3. Electron transport, indicated by the oxidation of cytochromes a + a3 and cytochrome c, did not occur until the temperature was raised to -80 degrees C.     

The cytochrome system of Bacillus megaterium KM. The presence and some properties of two CO-binding cytochromes

1. Difference spectra of Bacillus megaterium KM membrane preparations indicate the presence of two pigments which bind CO and which exhibit the spectral characteristics of cytochromes a₃ and o. Relative amounts of the pigments vary with growth stage of the organism, but both are present at all stages which have been investigated. The pigments are believed to be metabolically active because they are completely reducible by substrate (NADH) and are reoxidizable in the presence of air. CO difference spectra of whole cell suspensions are in agreement with spectra of the isolated membrane fragments. In particulate preparations and in whole cells, CO difference spectra suggest that the a₃ component binds CO much more readily than the o component; this behavior offers a possible explanation for the fact that cytochrome o has been detected in only a few other microorganisms, since CO binding is by definition the property used to identify this cytochrome.

2. A separation of the two CO-binding pigments is obtained by incubation of membrane preparations with pancreatic lipase. This treatment selectively removes the o pigment from the membrane, leaving the a₃ component associated with an enzymatically active particulate fraction.     

Evidence for a band III analogue in the near-infrared absorption spectra of cytochrome c oxidase.

Ground state near-infrared absorption spectra of fully reduced unliganded and fully reduced CO (a2+ CuA+ a3(2+)-CO CuB+) cytochrome c oxidase were investigated. Flash-photolysis time-resolved absorption difference spectra of the mixed-valence (a3+ CuA2+ a3(2+)-CO CuB+) and the fully reduced CO complexes were also studied. A band near 785 nm (epsilon approximately 50 M-1cm-1) was observed in the fully reduced unliganded enzyme and the CO photoproducts. The time-resolved 785 nm band disappeared on the same timescale (t1/2 approximately 7 ms) as CO recombined with cytochrome a3(2+). This band, which is attributed to the unliganded five coordinate ferrous cytochrome a3(2+), has some characteristics of band III in deoxy-hemoglobin and deoxy-myoglobin. A second band was observed at approximately 710 nm (epsilon approximately 80 M-1cm-1) in the fully reduced unliganded and the fully reduced CO complexes. This band, which we assign to the low spin ferrous cytochrome a, appears to be affected by the ligation state at the cytochrome a3(2+) site.     

The cytochromes of mitochondria from Tetrahymena pyriformis strain ST

1. Mitochondria of the obligately aerobic ciliate protozoon, Tetrahymena pyriformis strain ST, are unusual in that they possess a cytochrome oxidase system that does not react with reduced mammalian cytochrome c; the presence of cytochromes a₆₀₃+a₃ is masked in the α-band region of spectra by the broad absorption band of cytochrome a₆₂₀. 2. Other haemoproteins present include cytochromes b₅₆₀, b₅₅₆, c₅₅₃ and c₅₄₉. 3. The reaction of reduced cytochrome a₃ with CO is reversed by flash photolysis, and in the presence of O₂ the subsequent oxidation of this cytochrome is followed by that of cytochrome a₆₀₃. 4. Cytochromes a₆₂₀ and b₅₆₀ also react with CO and with KCN; the latter cytochrome corresponds with that designated cytochrome o by other workers. 5. The contribution of cytochrome a₆₀₃ to difference spectra is revealed by making use of the fact that it does not react with KCN. 6. Cytochrome a₆₂₀ is unstable, and its α-absorption band is lost from spectra of mitochondria which have been aged or treated with ultrasound, detergents or organic solvents. 7. Possible pathways of electron transport via the several different terminal oxidases in Tetrahymena mitochondria are proposed.     

Magnetic circular dichroism study of cytochrome ba3 from Thermus thermophilus: spectral contributions from cytochromes b and a3 and nanosecond spectroscopy of CO photodissociation intermediates.

Near-UV-vis magnetic and natural circular dichroism (MCD and CD) spectra of oxidized, reduced, and carbonmonoxy-complexed cytochrome ba3, a terminal oxidase from the bacterium Thermus thermophilus, and nanosecond time-resolved MCD (TRMCD) and CD (TRCD) spectra of the unligated species formed after photodissociation of the CO complex are presented. The spectral contributions of individual cytochromes b and a3 to the Soret region MCD are identified. TRMCD spectroscopy is used to follow the spin state change (S = 0 to S = 2) in cytochrome a3(2+) following photodissociation of the CO complex. There is prompt appearance of the high-spin state after photolysis, as found previously in mammalian cytochrome oxidase [Goldbeck, R. A., Dawes, T. D., Einarsdóttir, O., Woodruff, W. H., & Kliger, D. S. (1991) Biophys. J. 60, 125-134]. Peak shifts of 1-10 nm appear in the TRMCD, TRCD, and time-resolved UV-vis absorption spectra of the photolyzed enzyme throughout its observable lifetime, indicating that the photolyzed enzyme does not relax to its equilibrium deliganded form before recombination with CO occurs hundreds of milliseconds later. Direct heme-heme interaction is not found in cytochrome ba3, but red-shifts in the MCD and absorption spectra of both cytochromes b and (photolyzed) a3 are correlated with a CO-liganded form of the protein. The long time (tau approximately greater than 1 s) needed for relaxation of the cytochrome b and a3 peaks to their static positions suggests that CO binding to a3 induces a global conformational change in the protein that weakly perturbs the MCD and absorption spectra of b and photolyzed a3. Fea3 binds CO more weakly in cytochrome ba3 than in cytochrome aa3. The MCD spectrum of reduced enzyme solution placed under 1 atm of CO contains a peak at 446 nm that shows approximately 30% of total cytochrome a3 remains pentacoordinate, high-spin.     

Resonance Raman spectral isolation of the a and a3 chromophores in cytochrome oxidase.

Resonance Raman spectra of reduced CO-bound cytochrome oxidase obtained at two different excitation frequencies (441.6 and 413.1 nm) are compared with the spectra of the fully reduced enzyme. In the spectra of the CO-bound complex only the cytochrome a modes are strongly enhanced with 441.6 nm excitation and only the modes of the CO-bound cytochrome a3 heme are strongly enhanced with 413.1-nm excitation. In the fully reduced complex with both excitation frequencies, modes of both cytochrome a and a3 are enhanced. By subtraction we are able to uncover the complete spectrum of the fully reduced ligand-free cytochrome a3 heme. Thus, we report the discrete resonance Raman spectra of cytochromes a2+, a2+3, and a2+3 (CO). The spectra of fully reduced cytochrome a and ligand-free cytochrome a3 are very different especially in the low frequency region. Binding CO to ferrous cytochrome a3 results in electronic structure changes in the heme analogous to those in hemoglobin and myoglobin, from which we conclude that there is nothing electronically unique in the ferrous cytochrome a3 heme to account for its catalytic properties.     

Iso-cytochrome c species from baker''s yeast. Analysis of their circular-dichroism spectra.

The circular-dichroism spectra of baker's-yeast iso-1- (methylated and unmethylated forms) and iso-2-cytochrome c species were examined between 200 and 600nm. In the visible region the yeast haemoproteins have characteristics nearly indistinguishable from those of horse heart cytochrome c. From the spectra in the u.v. region the latter appears, however, to be more helical. It is proposed that the likely element of non-helical structure in iso-1-cytochrome c is residues 62-70.     

The Use of Macroporous Microcarriers for the Large-Scale Growth of V79 Cells Genetically Designed to Express Single Human Cytochrome P450 Isoenzymes and for the Characterization of the Expressed Cytochrome P450

In this study, macroporous microcarriers were used for the large-scale growth of parental V79 cells and V79 cells genetically engineered to express a single human cytochrome P4501A1 isoenzyme (V79h1A1). Starting from 2 × 10⁵cells/ml, approximately 1 × 10⁷cells/ml could easily be harvested after 6 days in the case of the parental V79 cells, or after 11 days in the case of the V79h1A1 cells, resulting in a total of 3.6 × 10¹⁰cells. For the first time, the presence of cytochrome P450 (CYP) in the expressed V79 cells could be demonstrated by CO difference spectra with a Soret maximum around 450 nm. CYP levels in microsomes derived from the V79h1A1 cells of 14 pmol/mg protein were achieved. Importantly, no CYP was detected in microsomal fractions of the parental V79 cells. Cytochrome b5 levels could also be measured by difference spectrophotometry. No significant differences were found between cytochrome b5 levels in microsomes derived from the large-scale growth of V79h1A1 cells and parental V79 cells, i.e., 16.7 ± 7.9 vs 14.5 ± 7.6 pmol/mg protein. The presence of human cytochrome P4501A1 (CYPh1A1) in microsomal fractions derived from the large-scale growth of V79h1A1 cells was further substantiated by measuring 7-ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD), 7-ethoxycoumarin-O-dealkylase (ECOD), and testosterone-6β-hydroxylation activities. EROD, ECOD, and testosterone-6β-hydroxylation activities of the V79h1A1 microsomes were 40 pmol resorufin/min/pmol CYPh1A1, 13 pmol hydroxy-coumarin/min/pmol CYPh1A1, and 0.16 pmol 6β-hydroxytestosterone/min/pmol CYPh1A1, respectively, indicating the presence of a highly active human CYP1A1 enzyme system. Further confirmation that the CYP protein was correctly expressed was obtained by Western blotting. In conclusion, the use of macroporous microcarriers is suitable for large-scale growth of V79 cells expressing human CYP isoenzymes. The present method may provide an easy and rather inexpensive tool in obtaining large quantities of microsomes containing human CYP isoenzymes, which are involved in the bioactivation and bioinactivation of xenobiotics. High yields of microsomes containing human CYP isoenzymes may substantially facilitate the production of sufficient quantities of human metabolites to allow isolation and identification in an early stage of development of pharmacologically interesting drugs.     

Carbon monoxide-binding cytochromes in the respiratory chain of the thermophilic bacterium PS3 grown with sufficient or limited aeration

The effects of aeration on the growth and cytochrome patterns of thermophilic bacterium PS3 were studied; bacteria grown with strong aeration synthesized cytochromes c, b, and aa3, while those grown with low aeration, showing non-exponential growth, synthesized higher amounts of cytochromes c and b including o, and a lower amount of cytochrome a (a3). The CO-difference spectra indicated that the terminal oxidase was cytochrome aa3 for high aeration conditions and the cytochrome o for low aeration conditions. Cytochrome o can be solubilized by Triton X-100 from the membrane fraction of bacteria grown under oxygen-limited conditions. The carbon monoxide complex of cytochrome o, obtained by exposing this extract to CO, was photolyzed and the subsequent rebinding of CO was analyzed; it followed first order kinetics with a rate constant of around 8 s-1 at 25 degrees C. At liquid nitrogen temperature, CO-rebinding did not occur. The CO-difference spectrum of purified cytochrome oxidase sample from the bacteria grown with strong aeration (Sone, N., et al. (1979) FEBS Lett. 106, 39-42) revealed the presence of a small amount of a cytochrome o-like pigment besides cytochrome aa3. Analysis of the CO complexes of these chromophores showed rate constants of 29-30 s-1 for cytochrome aa3 and 35-42 s-1 for the o-like pigment, indicating that the cytochrome o-like pigment contaminating the purified cytochrome oxidase preparation was not typical cytochrome o.     

The cytochrome composition of the meat spoilage bacterium Brochothrix thermosphacta: identification of cytochrome a 3- and d-type terminal oxidases under various conditions

Brochothrix thermosphacta, grown in batch culture in a yeast-dextrose broth, at temperatures from 30 °C to 10 °C, contained diverse membrane-bound respiratory cytochromes. Under conditions of moderate aeration, cytochromes of the a-, b- and d-type were detected at all growth temperatures, but the proportions changed as a function of temperature, with the spectra of cells grown at 10 or 15 °C being dominated by a-type cytochrome(s). Cytochrome a ₃ was detected by its reactions with CO and cyanide in cells from all growth conditions. An additional cytochrome a, which was not cyanide-reactive, was also detected, suggesting the presence of an aa ₃ oxidase complex. Cytochrome d was cyanide- and CO-reactive, but not detectable in photodissociation spectra, presumably because of the very rapid recombination of CO at the sub-zero temperatures used. Decreasing the oxygen transfer rates to batch cultures resulted in enhanced expression of cytochrome d and changed the proportion of the aa ₃-type oxidase that could be attributed to ligand-binding cytochrome a ₃; at the lowest oxygen transfer rates, no cytochrome a was detected, suggesting the presence of a cytochrome ba ₃ terminal oxidase complex. Intact cells showed no evidence of a c-type cytochrome and no haem C was detected in membrane preparations. After growth at 10°C, the cytochrome composition of B. campestris was essentially identical to that of B. thermosphacta. The multiplicity of putative terminal oxidases in B. thermosphacta is discussed.     

Structural changes that occur upon photolysis of the Fe(II)(a3)-CO complex in the cytochrome ba(3)-oxidase of Thermus thermophilus: a combined X-ray crystallographic and infrared spectral study demonstrates CO binding to Cu(B)

The purpose of the work was to provide a crystallographic demonstration of the venerable idea that CO photolyzed from ferrous heme-a(3) moves to the nearby cuprous ion in the cytochrome c oxidases. Crystal structures of CO-bound cytochrome ba(3)-oxidase from Thermus thermophilus, determined at ~2.8-3.2? resolution, reveal a Fe-C distance of ~2.0?, a Cu-O distance of 2.4? and a Fe-C-O angle of ~126°. Upon photodissociation at 100K, X-ray structures indicate loss of Fe(a3)-CO and appearance of Cu(B)-CO having a Cu-C distance of ~1.9? and an O-Fe distance of ~2.3?. Absolute FTIR spectra recorded from single crystals of reduced ba(3)-CO that had not been exposed to X-ray radiation, showed several peaks around 1975cm(-1); after photolysis at 100K, the absolute FTIR spectra also showed a significant peak at 2050cm(-1). Analysis of the 'light' minus 'dark' difference spectra showed four very sharp CO stretching bands at 1970cm(-1), 1977cm(-1), 1981cm(-1), and 1985cm(-1), previously assigned to the Fe(a3)-CO complex, and a significantly broader CO stretching band centered at ~2050cm(-1), previously assigned to the CO stretching frequency of Cu(B) bound CO. As expected for light propagating along the tetragonal axis of the P4(3)2(1)2 space group, the single crystal spectra exhibit negligible dichroism. Absolute FTIR spectrometry of a CO-laden ba(3) crystal, exposed to an amount of X-ray radiation required to obtain structural data sets before FTIR characterization, showed a significant signal due to photogenerated CO(2) at 2337cm(-1) and one from traces of CO at 2133cm(-1); while bands associated with CO bound to either Fe(a3) or to Cu(B) in "light" minus "dark" FTIR difference spectra shifted and broadened in response to X-ray exposure. In spite of considerable radiation damage to the crystals, both X-ray analysis at 2.8 and 3.2? and FTIR spectra support the long-held position that photolysis of Fe(a3)-CO in cytochrome c oxidases leads to significant trapping of the CO on the Cu(B) atom; Fe(a3) and Cu(B) ligation, at the resolutions reported here, are otherwise unaltered.     

Studies on neutrophil b-type cytochrome in situ by low temperature absorption spectroscopy

The b-type cytochrome in porcine neutrophils in situ was studied by the low temperature absorption spectroscopy at 77 K. Absolute spectra of the dithionite-reduced cell suspension revealed the existence of a b-type cytochrome with alpha, beta, and Soret absorption maxima at 558, 528, and 426 nm, respectively. The alpha band was unsymmetrical and showed a main peak at 558 nm with a shoulder at around 556 nm. When the cells were anaerobically stimulated either by phorbol myristate acetate or arachidonate followed by reduction by dithionite, the alpha band split clearly into double peaks at 555.5 and 558 nm, suggesting the presence of at least two states or species of the b-type cytochrome(s) in the cell. By monitoring absolute spectra of neutrophils at 77 K, we examined the possibility of CO binding to the b-type cytochrome. The absorption spectra of reduced b-type cytochrome in the presence and absence of CO, however, were not distinguishable under various conditions including equilibration with CO under high pressure or CO treatments in a dark room or at pH 8.5, 7.0, or 5.5. In contrast, the spectra of the reduced cytochrome disappeared immediately after exposure to O2, whether or not the cells had been treated with CO. The results indicate that the cytochrome does not form a CO complex in situ but reacts with O2, either directly or indirectly.     

The microbial metabolism of C1 compounds. The electron-transport chain of Pseudomonas AM1

Pseudomonas AM1, Hyphomicrobium X and Pseudomonas MS all contain cytochrome a/a(3) and a b-type cytochrome able to react with CO. Pseudomonas AM1 and Hyphomicrobium X also have a CO-binding cytochrome c. The purified cytochrome c (redox potential 0.26V) of Pseudomonas AM1 was not susceptible to oxidation by molecular oxygen. CO reacted slowly with the reduced form giving a CO difference spectrum with a peak at 412nm and troughs at 420nm and 550nm. Similar results were obtained with the cytochrome c of Hyphomicrobium (aerobically grown or anaerobically grown with nitrate) and with that of Pseudomonas extorquens. The results given in the present paper are incompatible with an oxygenase or oxidase function for the soluble cytochrome c of methylotrophs. Studies with whole cells of Pseudomonas AM1 and a cytochrome c-deficient mutant have demonstrated that cytochrome b (redox potential 0.009V) is the first cytochrome in the electron-transport chain for oxidation of all substrates except methanol (and ethanol) whose oxidation does not involve this cytochrome. All substrates are usually oxidized by way of cytochrome c and cytochrome oxidase (cytochrome a/a(3)), but there is an alternative route for the reduction of cytochrome a/a(3) in the mutant lacking cytochrome c. Results of experiments on cyanide inhibition of respiration and cytochrome oxidation support the suggestion that the susceptibility of cytochrome b to oxidation by molecular oxygen (reflected in its ability to react with CO) is probably irrelevant to the normal physiology of Pseudomonas AM1.     

Role of haem in the induction of cytochrome P-450 by phenobarbitone. Studies in chick embryos in ovo and in cultured chick embryo hepatocytes.

The role of haem synthesis during induction of hepatic cytochrome P-450 haemoproteins was studied in chick embryo in ovo and in chick embryos hepatocytes cultured under chemically defined conditions. 1. Phenobarbitone caused a prompt increase in the activity of 5-aminolaevulinate synthase, the rate-limiting enzyme of haem biosynthesis, and in the concentration of cytochrome P-450. This induction response occurred without measurable initial destruction of the haem moiety of cytochrome P-450. 2. When intracellular haem availability was enhanced by exogenous haem or 5-aminolaevulinate, phenobarbitone-medicated induction of cytochrome P-450 was not affected in spite of the well known repression of 5-aminolaevulinate synthase by haem. These data are consistent with the concept that haem does not regulate the synthesis of cytochrome P-450 haemoproteins. 3. Acetate inhibited haem biosynthesis at the level of 5-aminolaevulinate formation. When intracellular haem availability was diminished by treatment with acetate, phenobarbitone-medicated induction was decreased. 4. This inhibitory effect of acetate on cytochrome P-450 induction was reversed by exogenous haem or its precursor 5-aminolaevulinate. These data suggest that inhibition of haem biosynthesis does not decrease synthesis of apo-cytochrome P-450. Moreover, they indicate that exogenous haem can be incorporated into newly formed aop-cytochrome P-450.     

Action of rat liver cathepsin L on collagen and other substrates.

1. Mitochondria-enriched fractions of the ciliate protozoan Tetrahymena pyriformis ST contained CO-reacting cytochromes b560 and a620. 2. A non-photodissociable oxygen-containing compound of cytochrome a620 was formed in whole cell suspensions at -114 degrees C after photolysis of CO in the presence of 200 microM-O2. 3. Electron transport, indicated by the oxidation of cytochrome a620 and cytochrome c, occurred at temperatures higher than -72 degrees C. 4. Photochemical action spectra for the relief of respiratory inhibition of whole cells by CO obtained by using a liquid dye laser indicate that the only CO-reacting terminal oxidase detectable was cytochrome a620. 5. It is concluded that the alternative electron transport chains in this organism utilize non-cytochrome terminal oxidases.     

Carbon monoxide-cytochrome interactions in the brain of the fluorocarbon-perfused rat

Reflectance spectrophotometry through the skull was used to investigate carbon monoxide (CO) binding by tissue hemoproteins in the brains of barbiturate-anesthetized Sprague-Dawley rats. After splenectomy and extensive perfluorotributylamine exchange transfusion, steady-state spectral scans were obtained in Soret and visible wave-length regions during O2 ventilation, during subsequent exposure to O2-enriched gases containing 1, 3, or 5% CO, and finally after N2 anoxia. These CO exposures were well-tolerated and electroencephalograph (EEG) activity continued to be present. Initial difference spectra were influenced by CO binding to residual hemoglobin, but spectral evidence of CO-mediated b-type cytochrome reduction was obtained in the visible region as CO concentration was increased to 3 or 5%. This was associated with Soret spectra compatible with formation of the reduced cytochrome a3-CO complex. Reduction of cytochrome a at 605 nm and cytochrome c + c1 at 550 nm was absent. These findings may indicate respiratory chain branching through b cytochromes, either to a separate a3-like oxidase independent of the classical cytochrome aa3 or to an unidentified alternative CO-sensitive oxidase.