Structural studies of cytochrome reductase. Subunit topography determined by electron microscopy of membrane crystals of a subcomplex

Ubiquinol: cytochrome c reductase was isolated from Neurospora mitochondria as a protein-detergent complex and dissociated by mild salt treatment. Three parts were obtained and characterized. Firstly, a complex containing the subunits III (cytochrome b), IV (cytochrome c1), VI, VII, VIII and IX; secondly, a complex containing the subunits I and II; and thirdly, the single subunit V (iron-sulphur subunit). Membrane crystals were prepared from the cytochrome bc1 subunit complex and by combining tilted electron microscopic views of the crystals, a low-resolution three-dimensional structure was calculated. This structure was compared to that of the whole cytochrome reductase (previously determined by electron microscopy of membrane crystals). Protein density absent from the structure of the subunit complex was then attributed to the missing subunits according to their size and shape and their association with the phospholipid bilayer.     

Insights from the structure of the yeast cytochrome bc1 complex: crystallization of membrane proteins with antibody fragments

The ubiquinol:cytochrome c oxidoreductase (EC 1.20.2.2, QCR or cytochrome bc1 complex) is a component of respiratory and photosynthetic electron transfer chains in mitochondria and bacteria. The complex transfers electrons from quinol to cytochrome c. Electron transfer is coupled to proton translocation across the lipid bilayer, thereby generating an electrochemical proton gradient, which conserves the free energy of the redox reaction. The yeast complex was crystallized with antibody Fv fragments, a promising technique to obtain well-ordered crystals from membrane proteins. The high-resolution structure of the yeast protein reveals details of the catalytic sites of the complex, which are important for electron and proton transfer.     

Study of the interaction between cytochrome c and cytochrome oxidase by tritium planigraphy

Treatment of molecular crystals of the bovine cytochrome oxidase and the cytochrome oxidase-cytochrome c complex with thermally activated tritium leads to highly labelled cytochrome oxidase preparations. HPLC separation of its subunits and measurements of radioactivity of each polypeptide allow to determine the shielding of cytochrome oxidase surface sites by cytochrome c in the complex.     

Crystallization and micro FT-IR spectroscopy investigation of cytochrome bc1 complex

A simple method to obtain large red crystals of cytochrome bc1 complex from beef heart mitochondria has been developed. These crystals are very stable. Their shapes are retained for a long time in tip-sealed Pasteur pipets placed in a refrigerator. The structure of crystalline cytochrome bc1 complex by micro FT-IR spectroscopy has been investigated. Based on the IR spectra of cytochrome c, the empirical assignments of the major infrared frequencies of cytochrome bc1 complex are given. Infrared frequencies and relative intensities of variable orientation and section of crystal are significantly different. These imply that infrared spectral characterization of the membrane protein crystallization is associated with the variable symmetries and orientations of the structure. Experimental results show that phospholipid exists in the crystal of cytochrome bc1 complex. The membrane protein is probably spanned on the mitochondrial membrane and buried in phospholipid bilayer in an asymmetric manner.     

Crystallization and micro FT-IR spectroscopy investigation of cytochrome bc_1 complex

A simple method to obtain large red crystals of cytochrome bc1 complex from beef heart mitochondria has been developed. These crystals are very stable. Their shapes are retained for a long time in tip-sealed Pasteur pipets placed in a refrigerator. The structure of crystalline cytochrome bc1 complex by micro FT-IR spectroscopy has been investigated. Based on the IR spectra of cytochrome c, the empirical assignments of the major infrared frequencies of cytochrome bc1 complex are given. Infrared frequencies and relative intensities of variable orientation and section of crystal are significantly different. These imply that infrared spectral characterization of the membrane protein crystallization is associated with the variable symmetries and orientations of the structure. Experimental results show that phospholipid exists in the crystal of cytochrome bc1 complex. The membrane protein is probably spanned on the mitochondrial membrane and buried in phospholipid bilayer in an asymmetric manner.     

Structural studies of cytochrome reductase. Improved membrane crystals of the enzyme complex and crystallization of a subcomplex

Membrane crystals of mitochondrial ubiquinol: cytochrome c reductase of improved size and long-range order and of the cytochrome bc1 subcomplex have been obtained by a dialysis method. The enzyme--Triton X-100 complex was mixed with Triton phospholipid micelles and the Triton slowly removed by dialysis for 48 hours at pH 5.5 at room temperature or above. The effect of varying the pH and temperature on the shape, size and order of the crystals is described.     

Projection structure of the cytochrome bo ubiquinol oxidase from Escherichia coli at 6 A resolution.

The haem-copper cytochrome oxidases are terminal catalysts of the respiratory chains in aerobic organisms. These integral membrane protein complexes catalyse the reduction of molecular oxygen to water and utilize the free energy of this reaction to generate a transmembrane proton gradient. Quinol oxidase complexes such as the Escherichia coli cytochrome bo belong to this superfamily. To elucidate the similarities as well as differences between ubiquinol and cytochrome c oxidases, we have analysed two-dimensional crystals of cytochrome bo by cryo-electron microscopy. The crystals diffract beyond 5 A. A projection map was calculated to a resolution of 6 A. All four subunits can be identified and single alpha-helices are resolved within the density for the protein complex. The comparison with the three-dimensional structure of cytochrome c oxidase shows the clear structural similarity within the common functional core surrounding the metal-binding sites in subunit I. It also indicates subtle differences which are due to the distinct subunit composition. This study can be extended to a three-dimensional structure analysis of the quinol oxidase complex by electron image processing of tilted crystals.     

Role of PCDH10 and its hypermethylation in human gastric cancer

Cytochrome bc(1) complex catalyzes the reaction of electron transfer from ubiquinol to cytochrome c (or cytochrome c(2)) and couples this reaction to proton translocation across the membrane. Crystallization of the Rhodobacter sphaeroides bc(1) complex resulted in crystals containing only three core subunits. To mitigate the problem of subunit IV being dissociated from the three-subunit core complex during crystallization, we recently engineered an R. sphaeroides mutant in which the N-terminus of subunit IV was fused to the C-terminus of cytochrome c(1) with a 14-glycine linker between the two fusing subunits, and a 6-histidine tag at the C-terminus of subunit IV (c(1)-14Gly-IV-6His). The purified fusion mutant complex shows higher electron transfer activity, more structural stability, and less superoxide generation as compared to the wild-type enzyme. Preliminary crystallization attempts with this mutant complex yielded crystals containing four subunits and diffracting X-rays to 5.5? resolution.     

Electron microscopic characterization of helical filaments formed by subunits I and II (core proteins) of ubiquinol: cytochrome c reductase from Neurospora mitochondria

The isolated and water-soluble complex of subunits I and II (core proteins) of ubiquinone:cytochrome c reductase from Neurospora mitochondria forms filaments below pH 6.0. Three independent helical reconstructions of single filaments were compared with the 3-D reconstruction of the native enzyme. A model for the helix is proposed in which the core complex dimers are arranged radially with the face which is proximal to the membrane in the native enzyme on the outside of the helix. The dimension of the core complex dimer perpendicular to the helix axis (70 A) provides an independent estimate of the height of the core complex to that obtained previously from cytochrome reductase crystals. The results of STEM mass measurement and the helical model give a mass per repeating unit of 90 kDa, which would indicate that the monomeric core complex consists of one 45-kDa and one 50-kDa subunit.     

Preliminary crystal structure studies of a ternary electron transfer complex between a quinoprotein, a blue copper protein, and a c-type cytochrome.

A ternary electron transfer protein complex has been crystallized and a preliminary structure investigation has been carried out. The complex is composed of a quinoprotein, methylamine dehydrogenase (MADH), a blue copper protein, amicyanin, and a c-type cytochrome (c551i). All three proteins were isolated from Paracoccus denitrificans. The crystals of the complex are orthorhombic, space group C222(1) with cell dimensions a = 148.81 A, b = 68.85 A, and c = 187.18 A. Two types of isomorphous crystals were prepared: one using native amicyanin and the other copper-free apo-amicyanin. The diffraction data were collected at 2.75 A resolution from the former and at 2.4 A resolution from the latter. The location of the MADH portion was determined by molecular replacement. The copper site of the amicyanin molecule was located in an isomorphous difference Fourier while the iron site of the cytochrome was found in an anomalous difference Fourier. The MADH from P. denitrificans (PD-MADH) is an H2L2 hetero-tetramer with the H subunit containing 373 residues and the L subunit 131 residues, the latter containing a novel redox cofactor, tryptophan tryptophylquinone (TTQ). The amicyanin of P. denitrificans contains 105 residues and the cytochrome c551i contains 155 residues. The ternary complex consists of one MADH tetramer with two molecules of amicyanin and two of c551i, forming a hetero-octamer; the octamer is located on a crystallographic diad. The relative positions of the three redox centers--i.e., the TTQ of MADH, the copper of amicyanin, and the heme group of c55li--are presented.     

A novel electron transfer mechanism suggested by crystallographic studies of mitochondrial cytochrome bc1 complex.

The crystal structure of bovine mitochondrial cytochrome bc1 complex, an integral membrane protein complex of 11 different subunits with a total molecular mass of 242 kDa, demonstrated a tightly associated dimer consisting of three major regions: a matrix region primarily made of subunits core1, core2, 6, and 9; a transmembrane-helix region of 26 helices in the dimer contributed by cytochrome b, cytochrome c1, the Rieske iron-sulfur protein (ISP), subunits 7, 10, and 11; and an intermembrane-space region composed of extramembrane domains of ISP, cytochrome c1, and subunit 8. The structure also revealed the positions of and distances between irons of prosthetic groups, and two symmetry related cavities in the transmembrane-helix region upon dimerization of the bc1 complex. Extensive crystallographic studies on crystals of bc1 complexed with inhibitors of electron transfer identified binding pockets for both Qo and Qi site inhibitors. Discrete binding sites for subtypes of Qo site inhibitors have been mapped onto the Qo binding pocket, and bindings of different subtypes of Qo site inhibitors are capable of inducing dramatic conformational changes in the extramembrane domain of ISP. A novel electron transfer mechanism for the bc1 complex consistent with crystallographic observations is discussed.     

Protein--protein docking of electron transfer complexes: cytochrome c oxidase and cytochrome c

Electron transferring protein complexes form only transiently and the crystal structures of electron transfer protein--protein complexes involving cytochrome c could so far be determined only for the pairs of yeast cytochrome c peroxidase (CcP) with iso-1-cytochrome c (iso-1-cyt c) and with horse heart cytochrome c (cyt c). This article presents models from computational docking for complexes of cytochrome c oxidase (COX) from Paracoccus denitrificans with horse heart cytochrome c, and with its physiological counterpart cytochrome c552 (c552). Initial docking is performed with the FTDOCK program, which permits an exhaustive search of translational and rotational space. A filtering procedure is then applied to reduce the number of complexes to a manageable number. In a final step of structural and energetic refinement, the complexes are optimized by rigid-body energy minimization with the molecular mechanics package CHARMM. This methodology was first tested on the CcP:iso-1-cyt c complex, in which the complex with the lowest CHARMM energy has an RMSD from the crystal structure of only 1.8 A (C(alpha) carbon atoms). Notably, the crystal conformation has an even lower energy. The same procedure was then applied to COX:cyt c and COX:c552. The lowest-energy COX:cyt c complex is very similar to a docking model previously described for the complex of bovine cytochrome c oxidase with horse heart cytochrome c. For the COX:c552 complex, cytochrome c552 is found in two different orientations, depending on whether it is docked against COX from a two-subunit or from a four-subunit crystal structure, respectively. Both conformations are discussed critically in the light of the available experimental data.     

Preliminary X-ray studies of the tetra-heme cytochrome c3 and the octa-heme cytochrome c3 from Desulfovibrio gigas

A tetra-heme and an octa-heme cytochrome c3 from the sulfate bacterium Desulfovibrio gigas have been crystallized. Diffraction quality crystals of the tetra-heme cytochrome are obtained from solution by the addition of polyethylene glycol at pH 6.5. The crystals are orthorhombic, space group P2(1)2(1)2 with unit cell parameters a = 42.27 A, b = 52.54 A and c = 52.83 A. The octa-heme cytochrome crystals develop from low ionic strength solutions of phosphate or Tris-Cl in the pH range 6.2-7.6. The crystals belong to the trigonal system, space group P3(1) or the enantiomorph P3(2), with unit cell parameters a = b = 57.4 A, c = 97.3 A, gamma = 120 degrees. Single crystal diffraction studies of the structures of these two low-potential cytochromes are in progress.     

Formation of a complex between yeast L-lactate dehydrogenase (cytochrome b2) and cytochrome c. Ultracentrifugal and gel chromatographic analyses.

Yeast L-lactate dehydrogenase formed a stable complex with cytochrome c in weakly alkaline solution of low ionic strength. The binding ratio of cytochrome c to the enzyme depended on whether free cytochrome c was present: In the presence of a micromolar concentration of cytochrome c the enzyme formed a complex with about two molecules of cytochrome c, whereas the enzyme was in a 1:1 molecular complex after removal of free cytochrome c. This suggests that the binding of one molecule of cytochrome c changes the affinity of the other binding site on the enzyme for cytochrome c. The enzyme consists of four presumably identical subunits, each containing a binding site for cytochrome c. Thus, present data confirm the concept of negative cooperativity between the subunits of the enzyme molecule in their interaction with cytochrome c.     

Cytochrome c1 complexes.

Cytochrome c1 forms an active complex with cytochrome c as previously reported (Chiang, Y. L., Kaminsky, L. S., and King, T. E. (1976) J. Biol. Chem. 251, 29-36). It also forms a complex with cytochrome oxidase with heme ratio of 1:1. This cytochrome c1.oxidase complex has been purified by ammonium sulfate fractionation and is stable in media of high ionic strength (greater than 0.1 M) but dissociates as the pH deviates from neutral. The purified cytochrome c1 aggregates to an oligomer, presumably a pentamer. No agent has been found to depolymerize isolated c1 without denaturation. However, in the cytochrome c1.oxidase complex, these two cytochromes apparently were depolymerized to form smaller aggregates, if not monomeric units, as judged by sedimentation behavior. Cytochrome c1 also forms a ternary complex with cytochrome c and oxidase in the heme ratio of 1:1:1. This complex can be prepared by any of the following four methods: (i) c1 + c + oxidase: (ii) c1.c complex + oxidase; (iii) c1 + c.oxidase complex: or (iv) c + c1.oxidase complex. The mode of formation of these complexes is all from pure protein-protein interactions. Cytochrome c1 is also incorporated into phospholipid vesicles and these vesicles show about 200 molecules of phospholipid/cytochrome c1 in terms of heme. The spectrophotometric, circular dichroic, sedimentation behavior and enzymic properties of these complexes have been investigated.     

Kinetic evidence for the re-definition of electron transfer pathways from cytochrome c to O2 within cytochrome oxidase

The reaction with O2 of equimolar mixtures of cytochrome c and cytochrome c oxidase in high and low ionic strength buffers has been examined by flow-flash spectrophotometry at room temperature. In low ionic strength media where cytochrome c and the oxidase are bound in an electrostatic, 1:1 complex some of the cytochrome c is oxidised at a faster rate than a metal centre of the oxidase. In contrast, when cytochrome c and cytochrome c oxidase are predominantly dissociated at high ionic strength cytochrome c oxidation occurs only slowly (t1/2 = 5 s) following the complete oxidation of the oxidase. These results demonstrate that maximal rates of electron transfer from cytochrome c to O2 occur when both substrates are present on the enzyme. The heterogeneous oxidation of cytochrome c observed in the complex implies more than one route for electron transfer within the enzyme. Possibilities for new electron transfer pathways from cytochrome c to O2 are proposed.     

The reaction of the electrostatic cytochrome c-cytochrome oxidase complex with oxygen.

The reaction of the electrostatic cytochrome c-cytochrome oxidase complex with oxygen is measured by transient absorption spectroscopy. The oxygen reaction is initiated by photolytic removal of CO from cytochrome oxidase, using a flash-pumped dye laser. The subsequent reaction of the cytochrome c-cytochrome oxidase complex with oxygen is reported at 550, 605, 744, and 830 nm at different cytochrome c:cytochrome oxidase ratios and different oxygen concentrations. In the absence of cytochrome c the time course of the reaction of the oxidase is well described by a triple exponential process at any of the measured wavelengths. The three processes are well resolved at high O2 levels (i.e. greater than 200 microM), where they reach first-order rate limits of 2.4 x 10(4), 7.5 x 10(3), and 650 s-1. When cytochrome c is added the oxidation of cytochrome a and one of the redox active cooper centers (CuA) are interrupted. The maximal effect of cytochrome c on the oxidation of the oxidase occurs at a c:aa3 ratio of 1. Cytochrome c reacts in a biphasic process with rates of up to 7 x 10(3) and 550 s-1 at high oxygen. The fast phase takes up 60% of the process, and this is independent of the cytochrome c:cytochrome oxidase ratio. The results are discussed in the context of a model in which electron entry into cytochrome oxidase from cytochrome c is via CuA, and cytochrome a functions to mediate electron transfer from CuA to the oxygen binding site. The role of CuA as initial electron acceptor in cytochrome c oxidase is related to its physical proximity to cytochrome c is the cytochrome c-cytochrome oxidase complex.     

A complex of cardiac cytochrome c1 and cytochrome c.

The interactions of cytochrome c1 and cytochrome c from bovine cardiac mitochondria were investigated. Cytochrome c1 and cytochrome c formed a 1:1 molecular complex in aqueous solutions of low ionic strength. The complex was stable to Sephadex G-75 chromatography. The formation and stability of the complex were independent of the oxidation state of the cytochrome components as far as those reactions studied were concerned. The complex was dissociated in solutions of ionic strength higher than 0.07 or pH exceeding 10 and only partially dissociated in 8 M urea. No complexation occurred when cytochrome c was acetylated on 64% of its lysine residues or photooxidized on its 2 methionine residues. Complexes with molecular ratios of less than 1:1 (i.e. more cytochrome c) were obtained when polymerized cytochrome c, or cytochrome c with all lysine residues guanidinated, or a "1-65 heme peptide" from cyanogen bromide cleavage of cytochrome c was used. These results were interpreted to imply that the complex was predominantly maintained by ionic interactions probably involving some of the lysine residues of cytochrome c but with major stabilization dependent on the native conformations of both cytochromes. The reduced complex was autooxidizable with biphasic kinetics with first order rate constants of 6 X 10(-5) and 5 X U0(-5) s-1 but did not react with carbon monoxide. The complex reacted with cyanide and was reduced by ascorbate at about 32% and 40% respectively, of the rates of reaction with cytochrome c alone. The complex was less photoreducible than cytochrome c1 alone. The complex exhibited remarkably different circular dichroic behavior from that of the summation of cytochrome c1 plus cytochrome c. We concluded that when cytochromes c1 and c interacted they underwent dramatic conformational changes resulting in weakening of their heme crevices. All results available would indicate that in the complex cytochrome c1 was bound at the entrance to the heme crevice of cytochrome c on the methionine-80 side of the heme crevice.     

Comparative kinetic studies of cytochromes c in reactions with mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase and reductase.

Kinetic studies of the reactions of selected eukaryotic and prokaryotic cytochromes c with mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase (ferrocytochrome c:oxygen oxidoreductase (EC 1.9.3.1) using a standardized complex IV preparation from beef heart are reported. Data on reactions with NADH-linked cytochrome c reductase (complexes I and III) are included. The concentration ranges employed provide a basis for quantitative demonstration of a general rate law applicable to oxidase reactions of cytochrome c of greatly differing reactivities. Results are interpreted on the basis of a modified Minnaert mechanism (Minnaert, K. (1961) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 50, 23), assuming productive complex formation between cytochrome c and free oxidase in addition to further complex binding of a second cytochrome c molecule to the initially formed oxidase complex. Kinetic constants so obtained are consistent with the assumption that binding is the dominant parameter in reactivity, and can be rationalized most simply on this basis.     

A proton NMR study of the non-covalent complex of horse cytochrome c and yeast cytochrome-c peroxidase and its comparison with other interacting protein complexes

Cytochrome-c peroxidase (ferrocytochrome-c:hydrogen-peroxide oxidoreductase, EC 1.11.1.5) forms a noncovalent 1:1 complex with horse cytochrome c in low ionic strength solution that is detectable by proton NMR spectroscopy. When the entire proton hyperfine-shifted spectrum is considered only five hyperfine resonances exhibit unambiguously detectable shifts: the heme 8-CH3 and 3-CH3 resonances, single proton resonances near 19 ppm and -4 ppm and the methionine-80 methyl group. These shifts are very similar to those observed for the covalently crosslinked complex of cytochrome-c peroxidase and horse cytochrome c, but different from those reported for cytochrome c complexes with flavodoxin and cytochrome b5. By comparison with the shifts reported for lysine-13-modified cytochrome c we conclude that the results reported here support the Poulos-Kraut proposed structure for the molecular redox complex between cytochrome-c peroxidase and cytochrome c. These results indicate that the principal site of interaction with cytochrome-c peroxidase is the exposed heme edge of horse cytochrome c, in proximity to lysine-13 and the heme pyrrole II. The noncovalent cytochrome-c peroxidase-cytochrome c complex exists in the rapid-exchange time limit even at 500 mHz proton frequency. Our data provide an improved estimate of the minimum off-rate for exchanging cytochrome c as 1133 (+/- 120) s-1 at 23 degrees C.