The cytochrome c peroxidase of Paracoccus denitrificans.

The size, visible absorption spectra, nature of haem and haem content suggest that the cytochrome c peroxidase of Paracoccus denitrificans is related to that of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. However, the Paracoccus enzyme shows a preference for cytochrome c donors with a positively charged 'front surface' and in this respect resembles the cytochrome c peroxidase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Paracoccus cytochrome c-550 is the best electron donor tested and, in spite of an acidic isoelectric point, has a markedly asymmetric charge distribution with a strongly positive 'front face'. Mitochondrial cytochromes c have a much less pronounced charge asymmetry but are basic overall. This difference between cytochrome c-550 and mitochondrial cytochrome c may reflect subtle differences in their electron transport roles. A dendrogram of cytochrome c1 sequences shows that Rhodopseudomonas viridis is a closer relative of mitochondria than is Pa. denitrificans. Perhaps a mitochondrial-type cytochrome c peroxidase may be found in such an organism.     

Isolation and properties of cytochrome c peroxidase from Pseudomonas denitrificans.

The isolation of cytochrome c peroxidase, cytochrome c4, cytochrome c-551 and azurin from Pseudomonas dentrificans is described. The peroxidase has a molecular weight of 63,000 and an isoelectric point of 5.6. Its absorption spectrum suggests that it contains two haem c groups/molecule. Preliminary steady-state kinetic data are reported with cytochromes c-551 and c4 and azurin as the second substrate.     

The complete amino acid sequence of Nitrobacter agilis cytochrome c-550

The amino acid sequence of cytochrome c-550 from the chemoautotroph, Nitrobacter agilis, was completed by using solid-phase sequencing and conventional procedures. The cytochrome was composed of 109 amino acid residues and its molecular weight was calculated to be 12375 including haem c. The cytochrome was homologous to eukaryotic cytochromes c and some photosynthetic bacterial cytochromes c2. In particular, its primary structure was very similar to that of Rhodopseudomonas viridis cytochrome c2. Some of its properties were compared with those of other cytochromes c on the basis of the primary structure.     

Suicide-peroxide inactivation of microperoxidase-11: a kinetic study

The kinetics of microperoxidase-11 (MP-11) in the oxidation reaction of guaiacol (AH) by hydrogen peroxide was studied, taking into account the inactivation of enzyme during reaction by its suicide substrate, H2O2. Concentrations of substrates were so selected that: 1) the reaction was first-order in relation to benign substrate, AH and 2) high ratio of suicide substrate to the benign substrate, [H2O2] > [AH]. Validation and reliability of the obtained kinetic equations were evaluated in various nonlinear and linear forms. Fitting of experimental data into the obtained integrated equation showed a close match between the kinetic model and the experimental results. Indeed, a similar mechanism to horseradish peroxidase was found for the suicide-peroxide inactivation of MP-11. Kinetic parameters of inactivation including the intact activity of MP-11, alphai, and the apparent inactivation rate constant, ki, were obtained as 0.282 +/- 0.006 min(-1) and 0.497 +/- 0.013(-1) min at [H2O2] = 1.0 mM, 27 degrees C, phosphate buffer 5.0 mM, pH = 7.0. Results showed that inactivation of microperoxidase as a peroxidase model enzyme can occur even at low concentrations of hydrogen peroxide (0.4 mM).     

Electron transfer complexes of cytochrome c peroxidase from Paracoccus denitrificans containing more than one cytochrome

According to the model proposed in previous papers [Pettigrew, G. W., Prazeres, S., Costa, C., Palma, N., Krippahl, L., and Moura, J. J. (1999) The structure of an electron-transfer complex containing a cytochrome c and a peroxidase, J. Biol. Chem. 274, 11383-11389; Pettigrew, G. W., Goodhew, C. F., Cooper, A., Nutley, M., Jumel, K., and Harding, S. E. (2003) Electron transfer complexes of cytochrome c peroxidase from Paracoccus denitrificans, Biochemistry 42, 2046-2055], cytochrome c peroxidase of Paracoccus denitrificans can accommodate horse cytochrome c and Paracoccus cytochrome c(550) at different sites on its molecular surface. Here we use (1)H NMR spectroscopy, analytical ultracentrifugation, molecular docking simulation, and microcalorimetry to investigate whether these small cytochromes can be accommodated simultaneously in the formation of a ternary complex. The pattern of perturbation of heme methyl and methionine methyl resonances in binary and ternary solutions shows that a ternary complex can be formed, and this is confirmed by the increase in the sedimentation coefficient upon addition of horse cytochrome c to a solution in which cytochrome c(550) fully occupies its binding site on cytochrome c peroxidase. Docking experiments in which favored binary solutions of cytochrome c(550) bound to cytochrome c peroxidase act as targets for horse cytochrome c and the reciprocal experiments in which favored binary solutions of horse cytochrome c bound to cytochrome c peroxidase act as targets for cytochrome c(550) show that the enzyme can accommodate both cytochromes at the same time on adjacent sites. Microcalorimetric titrations are difficult to interpret but are consistent with a weakened binding of horse cytochrome c to a binary complex of cytochrome c peroxidase and cytochrome c(550) and binding of cytochrome c(550) to the cytochrome c peroxidase that is affected little by the presence of horse cytochrome c in the other site. The presence of a substantial capture surface for small cytochromes on the cytochrome c peroxidase has implications for rate enhancement mechanisms which ensure that the two electrons required for re-reduction of the enzyme after reaction with hydrogen peroxide are delivered efficiently.     

Hydroxyl-radical production in physiological reactions. A novel function of peroxidase.

Peroxidases catalyze the dehydrogenation by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) of various phenolic and endiolic substrates in a peroxidatic reaction cycle. In addition, these enzymes exhibit an oxidase activity mediating the reduction of O2 to superoxide (O2.-) and H2O2 by substrates such as NADH or dihydroxyfumarate. Here we show that horseradish peroxidase can also catalyze a third type of reaction that results in the production of hydroxyl radicals (.OH) from H2O2 in the presence of O2.-. We provide evidence that to mediate this reaction, the ferric form of horseradish peroxidase must be converted by O2.- into the perferryl form (Compound III), in which the haem iron can assume the ferrous state. It is concluded that the ferric/perferryl peroxidase couple constitutes an effective biochemical catalyst for the production of .OH from O2.- and H2O2 (iron-catalyzed Haber-Weiss reaction). This reaction can be measured either by the hydroxylation of benzoate or the degradation of deoxyribose. O2.- and H2O2 can be produced by the oxidase reaction of horseradish peroxidase in the presence of NADH. The .OH-producing activity of horseradish peroxidase can be inhibited by inactivators of haem iron or by various O2.- and .OH scavengers. On an equimolar Fe basis, horseradish peroxidase is 1-2 orders of magnitude more active than Fe-EDTA, an inorganic catalyst of the Haber-Weiss reaction. Particularly high .OH-producing activity was found in the alkaline horseradish peroxidase isoforms and in a ligninase-type fungal peroxidase, whereas lactoperoxidase and soybean peroxidase were less active, and myeloperoxidase was inactive. Operating in the .OH-producing mode, peroxidases may be responsible for numerous destructive and toxic effects of activated oxygen reported previously.     

The periodontal pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis harnesses the chemistry of the mu-oxo bishaem of iron protoporphyrin IX to protect against hydrogen peroxide

The major haem component in the black pigment of Porphyromonas gingivalis is the mu-oxo bishaem of iron protoporphyrin IX and formation and cell-surface binding of this haem species is proposed as an extracellular buffer against reactive oxidants [Smalley, J.W. et al. (1998) Biochem. J. 331, 681-685]. P. gingivalis cells grown in the presence of the mu-oxo bishaem were protected against H(2)O(2) compared to control cells grown without it. When added to the growth medium, soluble mu-oxo bishaem inactivated H(2)O(2) and supported cell growth. Cells carrying a surface layer of mu-oxo bishaem were less susceptible to peroxidation by H(2)O(2). Cell-surface haems were slowly destroyed during reaction with H(2)O(2). Binding of mu-oxo bishaem by P. gingivalis may aid survival during neutrophil attack through inactivation of hydrogen peroxide.     

Kinetic study of the effects of calcium ions on cationic artichoke (Cynara scolymus L.) peroxidase: calcium binding, steady-state kinetics and reactions with hydrogen peroxide

The apparent catalytic constant (k(cat)) of artichoke (Cynara scolymus L.) peroxidase (AKPC) with 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS) increased 130-fold in the presence of calcium ions (Ca2+) but the affinity (K(m)) of the enzyme for ABTS was 500 times lower than for Ca2+-free AKPC. AKPC is known to exhibit an equilibrium between 6-aquo hexa-coordinate and penta-coordinate forms of the haem iron that is modulated by Ca2+ and affects compound I formation. Measurements of the Ca2+ dissociation constant (K(D)) were complicated by the water-association/dissociation equilibrium yielding a global value more than 1000 times too high. The value for the Ca2+ binding step alone has now been determined to be K(D) approximately 10 nM. AKPC-Ca2+ was more resistant to inactivation by hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) and exhibited increased catalase activity. An analysis of the complex H(2)O(2) concentration dependent kinetics of Ca2+-free AKPC is presented.     

Mechanisms of hydroxyl radical formation and ethanol oxidation by ethanol-inducible and other forms of rabbit liver microsomal cytochromes P-450

The hydroxyl radical-mediated oxidation of 5,5-dimethyl-1-pyrroline N-oxide, benzene, ketomethiolbutyric acid, deoxyribose, and ethanol, as well as superoxide anion and hydrogen peroxide formation was quantitated in reconstituted membrane vesicle systems containing purified rabbit liver microsomal NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase and cytochromes P-450 LM2, P-450 LMeb , or P-450 LM4, and in vesicle systems devoid of cytochrome P-450. The presence of cytochrome P-450 in the membranes resulted in 4-8-fold higher rates of O-2, H2O2, and hydroxyl radical production, indicating that the oxycytochrome P-450 complex constitutes the major source for superoxide anions liberated in the system, giving as a consequence hydrogen peroxide and also, subsequently, hydroxyl radicals formed in an iron-catalyzed Haber-Weiss reaction. Depletion of contaminating iron in the incubation systems resulted in small or negligible rates of cytochrome P-450-dependent ethanol oxidation. However, small amounts (1 microM) of chelated iron (e.g. Fe3+-EDTA) enhanced ethanol oxidation specifically when membranes containing the ethanol and benzene-inducible form of cytochrome P-450 (cytochrome P-450 LMeb ) were used. Introduction of the Fe-EDTA complex into P-450 LMeb -containing incubation systems caused a decrease in hydrogen peroxide formation and a concomitant 6-fold increase in acetaldehyde production; consequently, the rate of NADPH consumption was not affected. In iron-depleted systems containing cytochrome P-450 LM2 or cytochrome P-450 LMeb , an appropriate stoichiometry was attained between the NADPH consumed and the sum of hydrogen peroxide and acetaldehyde produced. Horseradish peroxidase and scavengers of hydroxyl radicals inhibited the cytochrome P-450 LMeb -dependent ethanol oxidation both in the presence and in the absence of Fe-EDTA. The results are not consistent with a specific mechanism for cytochrome P-450-dependent ethanol oxidation and indicate that hydroxyl radicals, formed in an iron-catalyzed Haber-Weiss reaction and in a Fenton reaction, constitute the active oxygen species. Cytochrome P-450-dependent ethanol oxidation under in vivo conditions would, according to this concept, require the presence of non-heme iron and endogenous iron chelators.     

Inhibition and inactivation of horseradish peroxidase by thiourea

The kinetics of horseradish peroxidase (EC 1.11.1.7)-catalyzed oxidation of o-dianisidine by hydrogen peroxide in the presence of thiourea were studied. At the first, fast step of this process thiourea acts as a competitive reversible inhibitor with respect to o-dianisidine (Ki = 0.22 mM). The formation of a thiourea-peroxidase complex was determined by the increase in the absorbance at A495 and A638 of the enzyme. The dissociation constant for the peroxidase-thiourea complex is equal to 2.0-2.7 mM. Thiourea is not a specific substrate of peroxidase during the oxidation reaction by H2O2, but is an oxidase substrate (although not a very active one) of peroxidase. The irreversible inactivation of the enzyme during its incubation with thiourea was studied. The first-order inactivation rate constant (kin) was shown to increase with a fall in the enzyme concentration. The curve of the dependence of kin on the initial concentration of thiourea shows a maximum at 5-7 mM. The enzyme inactivation is due to its modification by intermediate free radical products of thiourea oxidation. The inhibitors of the free radical reactions (o-dianisidine) protect the enzyme against inactivation. The degree of inactivation depends on concentrations and ratio of thiourea and peroxidase. A possible mechanism of peroxidase interaction with thiourea is discussed.     

Cyclooxygenase inactivation kinetics during reaction of prostaglandin H synthase-1 with peroxide

The peroxidase and cyclooxygenase activities of prostaglandin H synthase-1 (PGHS-1) both become irreversibly inactivated during reaction with peroxide. Sequential stopped-flow absorbance measurements with a chromogenic peroxidase cosubstrate previously were used to evaluate the kinetics of peroxidase inactivation during reaction of PGHS-1 with peroxide [Wu, G., et al. (1999) J. Biol. Chem. 274, 9231-7]. This approach has now been adapted to use a chromogenic cyclooxygenase substrate to analyze the detailed kinetics of cyclooxygenase inactivation during reaction of PGHS-1 with several hydroperoxides. In the absence of added reducing cosubstrates, which maximizes the levels of oxidized enzyme intermediates expected to lead to inactivation, cyclooxygenase activity was lost as fast as, or somewhat faster than, peroxidase activity. Cyclooxygenase inactivation kinetics appeared to be sensitive to the structure of the peroxide used. The addition of reducing cosubstrate during reaction of PGHS-1 with peroxide protected the peroxidase activity to a much greater degree than the cyclooxygenase activity. The results suggest a new concept of PGHS inactivation: that distinct damage can occur at the two active sites during side reactions of Intermediate II, which forms during reaction of PGHS with peroxide and which contains two oxidants, a ferryl heme in the peroxidase site, and a tyrosyl free radical in the cyclooxygenase site.     

Cytochrome c-550 mediates electron transfer from inducible periplasmic c-type cytochromes to the cytoplasmic membrane of Paracoccus denitrificans

Electron transfer from periplasmic cytochromes c to the membrane-bound respiratory chain has been studied with the isolated cytochromes and membrane preparations from Paracoccus denitrificans. When reduced cytochromes were incubated with spheroplasts only the constitutive cytochrome c-550 was rapidly oxidized. The inducible cytochromes c-551i and c-553i were not oxidized at appreciable rates. Cytochrome c-550 was able to mediate the transfer of electrons from either cytochrome c-551i or cytochrome c-553i to the membrane preparation.     

The electron transfer complexes of cytochrome c peroxidase from Paracoccus denitrificans

We have used microcalorimetry and analytical ultracentrifugation to test the model proposed in Pettigrew et al. [(1999) J. Biol. Chem. 274, 11383-11389] for the binding of small cytochromes to the cytochrome c peroxidase of Paracoccus denitrificans. Both methods reveal complexity in behavior due to the presence of a monomer/dimer equilibrium in the peroxidase. In the presence of either Ca(2+), or higher ionic strength, this equilibrium is shifted to the dimer. Experiments to study complex formation with redox partners were performed in the presence of Ca(2+) in order to simplify the equilibria that had to be considered. The results of isothermal titration calorimetry reveal that the enzyme can bind two molecules of horse cytochrome c with K(d) values of 0.8 microM and 2.5 microM (at 25 degrees C, pH 6.0, I = 0.026) but only one molecule of Paracoccus cytochrome c-550 with a K(d) of 2.8 microM, molar binding ratios confirmed by ultracentrifugation. For both horse cytochrome c and Paracoccus cytochrome c-550, the binding is endothermic and driven by a large entropy change, a pattern consistent with the expulsion of water molecules from the interface. For horse cytochrome c, the binding is weakened 3-fold at I = 0.046 M due to a smaller entropy change, and this is associated with an increase in enzyme turnover. In contrast, neither the binding of cytochrome c-550 nor its oxidation rate is affected by raising the ionic strength in this range. We propose that, at low ionic strength, horse cytochrome c is trapped in a nonproductive orientation on a broad capture surface of the peroxidase.     

Activation of cytochrome c to a peroxidase compound I-type intermediate by H2O2: relevance to redox signalling in apoptosis

The release of cytochrome c from mitochondria during apoptosis results in the enhanced production of superoxide radicals, which are converted to H2O2 by Mn-superoxide dismutase. We have been concerned with the role of cytochrome c/H2O2 in the induction of oxidative stress during apoptosis. Our initial studies showed that cytochrome c is a potent catalyst of 2',7'-dichlorofluorescin oxidation, thereby explaining the increased rate of production of the fluorophore 2',7'-dichlorofluorescein in apoptotic cells. Although it has been speculated that the oxidizing species may be a ferryl-haem intermediate, no definitive evidence for the formation of such a species has been reported. Alternatively, it is possible that the hydroxyl radical may be generated, as seen in the reaction of certain iron chelates with H2O2. By examining the effects of radical scavengers on 2',7'-dichlorofluorescin oxidation by cytochrome c/H2O2, together with complementary EPR studies, we have demonstrated that the hydroxyl radical is not generated. Our findings point, instead, to the formation of a peroxidase compound I species, with one oxidizing equivalent present as an oxo-ferryl haem intermediate and the other as the tyrosyl radical identified by Barr and colleagues [Barr, Gunther, Deterding, Tomer and Mason (1996) J. Biol. Chem. 271, 15498-15503]. Studies with spin traps indicated that the oxo-ferryl haem is the active oxidant. These findings provide a physico-chemical basis for the redox changes that occur during apoptosis. Excessive changes (possibly catalysed by cytochrome c) may have implications for the redox regulation of cell death, including the sensitivity of tumour cells to chemotherapeutic agents.     

Structural organization of the Chromatium vinosum reaction center associated c-cytochromes.

Magnetic interactions operating between the Chromatium vinosum reaction center associated c-cytochromes and the electron carriers of the reaction center have been assayed by comparing the magnetic properties of these components alone, and in various combinations with paramagnetic forms of the reaction center electron carriers. These studies have yielded the following results. 1. The oxidized paramagnetic forms of the high potential cytochromes c-555 produce no discernable alteration of the light-induced (BChl)2.+signal. 2. Similarly, analysis of the lineshape of the light-induced (BChl)2.+signal shows that a magnetic interaction with the oxidized low potential cytochromes c-553 is likely to produce less than a 1 gauss splitting of the (BChl)2.+signal, which corresponds to a minimum separation of 25 +/- 3 A between the unpaired spins if the heme and (BChl)2 are orientated in a coplanar arrangement, suggesting a minimum separation of 15+/- 3A between the heme edge and the (BChl)2 edge. 3. a prominent magnetic interaction is observed to operate between the cytochrome c-553 and c-555, which results in a 30-35 gauss splitting of these spectra, and suggests an iron to iron separation of about 8 A.4. Magnetic interactions are not observed between the c-cytochromes and the reaction center "primary acceptor" (the iron . quinone complex) nor with the reaction center intermediate electron carrier (which involves bacteriopheophytin) suggesting separations greater than 10 A. 5. Magnetic interactions are not discerned between the two cytochrome c-553 hemes, nor between the two cytochrome c-555 hemes, implying that the distance between the cytochromes of the same pair is greater than 10 A. 6. EPR studies of oriented chromatophores have demonstrated that the cytochrome c-553 and c-555 hemes are perpendicular to each other, and suggest that the cytochrome c-553 heme plane lies parallel to the plane of the membrane, while the cytochrome c-555 heme plane lies perpendicular to the plane of the membrane surface.     

The nitrite oxidizing system of Nitrobacter winogradskyi

Cytochrome components which participate in the oxidation of nitrite in Nitrobacter winogradskyi have been highly purified and their properties studied in detail. Cytochrome a1c1 is an iron-sulphur molybdoenzyme which has haems a and c and acts as a nitrite-cytochrome c oxidoreductase. Cytochrome c-550 is homologous to eukaryotic cytochrome c and acts as the electron mediator between cytochrome a1c1 and aa3-type cytochrome c oxidase. The oxidase is composed of two kinds of subunits, has two molecules of haem a and two atoms of copper in the molecule, and oxidizes actively eukaryotic ferrocytochrome c as well as its own ferrocytochrome c-550. Further, a flavoenzyme has been obtained which has transhydrogenase activity and catalyses reduction of NADP+ with benzylviologen radical. This enzyme may be responsible for production of NADPH in N. winogradskyi. The electron transfer against redox potential from NO2- to cytochrome c could be pushed through prompt removal by cytochrome aa3 of H+ formed by the dehydrogenation of NO2- + H2O. As cytochrome c in anaerobically kept cell-free extracts is rapidly reduced on addition of NO2-, a membrane potential does not seem necessary for the reduction of cytochrome c by cytochrome a1c1 with NO2- in vivo.     

Kinetics of reduction by free flavin semiquinones of the components of the cytochrome c-cytochrome c peroxidase complex and intracomplex electron transfer

The kinetics of reduction by free flavin semiquinones of the individual components of 1:1 complexes of yeast ferric and ferryl cytochrome c peroxidase and the cytochromes c of horse, tuna, and yeast (iso-2) have been studied. Complex formation decreases the rate constant for reduction of ferric peroxidase by 44%. On the basis of a computer model of the complex structure [Poulos, T.L., & Finzel, B.C. (1984) Pept. Protein Rev. 4, 115-171], this decrease cannot be accounted for by steric effects and suggests a decrease in the dynamic motions of the peroxidase at the peroxide access channel caused by complexation. The orientations of the three cytochromes within the complex are not equivalent. This is shown by differential decreases in the rate constants for reduction by neutral flavin semiquinones upon complexation, which are in the order tuna much greater than horse greater than yeast iso-2. Further support for differences in orientation is provided by the observation that, with the negatively charged reductant FMNH., the electrostatic environments near the horse and tuna cytochrome c electron-transfer sites within their respective complexes with peroxidase are of opposite sign. For the horse and tuna cytochrome c complexes, we have also observed nonlinear concentration dependencies of the reduction rate constants with FMNH.. This is interpreted in terms of dynamic motion at the protein-protein interface. We have directly measured the physiologically significant intra-complex one electron transfer rate constants from the three ferrous cytochromes c to the peroxide-oxidized species of the peroxidase. At low ionic strength these rate constants are 920, 730, and 150 s-1 for tuna, horse, and yeast cytochromes c, respectively. These results are also consistent with the contention that the orientations of the three cytochromes within the complex with CcP are not the same. The effect on the intracomplex electron-transfer rate constant of the peroxidase amino acid side chain(s) that is (are) oxidized by the reduction of peroxide was determined to be relatively small. Thus, the rate constant for reduction by horse cytochrome c of the peroxidase species in which only the heme iron atom is oxidized was decreased by only 38%, indicating that this oxidized side-chain group is not tightly coupled to the ferryl peroxidase heme iron. Finally, it was found that, in the absence of cytochrome c, neither of the ferryl peroxidase species could be rapidly reduced by flavin semiquinones.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

Evaluation of relative contributions of two enzymes supposed to metabolise hydrogen peroxide in Paracoccus denitrificans

A biosensor exploiting an electrochemically mediated enzyme-catalysed reaction was used to quantify relative contributions of cytoplasmic catalase and periplasmic cytochrome c peroxidase to the overall rate of hydrogen peroxide breakdown in cells of Paracoccus denitrificans. The effects of antimycin (an inhibitor of electron flow to cytochrome c peroxidase), the reaction rate versus substrate concentration profiles for the whole cells and subcellular fractions, and the time courses of oxygen concentration demonstrated a profound decrease in the capacity of cytochrome c peroxidase to reduce H2O2 under in vivo conditions. The reason is suggested to be a competition for available electrons between the enzyme and terminal oxidases metabolising oxygen produced by catalase.     

Bacillus subtilis chytochrome oxidase mutants: biochemical analysis and genetic evidence for two aa3-type oxidases

The ctaBCDEF genes coding for cytochrome c oxidase were found to reside adjacent to a regulatory gene ctaA at 127 degrees on the Bacillus subtilis chromosome. The structural genes for subunits I and II, ctaD and ctaC, were deleted by gene-replacement using a phleomycin-resistance marker. The mutant was unable to oxidize N,N,N',N'-tetramethyl-p-phenylene-diamine and oxidized cytochrome c at a significantly lower rate. Absorption spectra of the mutant and wild-type membranes confirmed the presence of two haem A-containing enzymes in B. subtilis. Another mutant, with a spontaneous deletion upstream from ctaC, was found to express neither of these enzymes. Radioactive haem-labelling was used to identify subunit II, which contains a haem C, and cytochrome c-550 among the membrane-bound c-type cytochromes of B. subtilis.     

Extramitochondrial release of hydrogen peroxide from insect and mouse liver mitochondria using the respiratory inhibitors phosphine, myxothiazol, and antimycin and spectral analysis of inhibited cytochromes

The fumigant insecticide phosphine (PH3) is known to inhibit cytochrome c oxidase in vitro. Inhibition of the respiratory chain at this site has been shown to stimulate the generation of superoxide radicals (O2-), which dismutate to form hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). This study was performed in order to investigate the production of H2O2 by mitochondria isolated from granary weevil (Sitophilus granarius) and mouse liver on exposure to PH3. Other respiratory inhibitors, antimycin, myxothiazol, and rotenone were used with insect mitochondria. Hydrogen peroxide was measured spectrophotometrically using yeast cytochrome c peroxidase as an indicator. Insect and mouse liver mitochondria, utilizing endogenous substrate, both produced H2O2 after inhibition by PH3. Insect organelles released threefold more H2O2 than did mouse organelles, when exposed to PH3. Production of H2O2 by PH3-treated insect mitochondria was increased significantly on addition of the substrate alpha-glycerophosphate. Succinate did not enhance H2O2 production, however, indicating that the H2O2 did not result from the autoxidation of ubiquinone. NAD(+)-linked substrates, malate and pyruvate also had no effect on H2O2 production, suggesting that NADH-dehydrogenase was not the source of H2O2. Data obtained using antimycin and myxothiazol, both of which stimulated the release of H2O2 from insect mitochondria, lead to the conclusion that glycerophosphate dehydrogenase is a source of H2O2. The effect of combining PH3, antimycin, and myxothiazol on cytochrome spectra in insect mitochondria was also recorded. It was observed that PH3 reduces cytochrome c oxidase but none of the other cytochromes in the electron transport chain. There was no movement of electrons to cytochrome b when insect mitochondria are inhibited with PH3. The spectral data show that the inhibitors interact with the respiratory chain in a way that would allow the production of H2O2 from the sites proposed previously.