Redox chemistry of low-pH forms of tetrahemic cytochrome c3

Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough cytochrome c₃ contains four hemes in a low-spin state with bis-histidinyl coordination. High-spin forms of cytochrome c₃ can be generated by protonation of the axial ligands in order to probe spin equilibrium (low-spin/high-spin). The spin alterations occurring at acid pH, the associated changes in redox potentials, as well as the reactivity towards external ligands were followed by the conjunction of square wave voltammetry and UV–visible, CD, NMR and EPR spectroscopies. These processes may be used for modelling the action of enzymes that use spin equilibrium to promote enzyme activity and reactivity towards small molecules.     

Rapid scan spectrometry: oxidation of substrates by coupled potato mitrochondria

By rapid scan spectrometry, spectral changes of redox components have been followed during the oxidation of substrates by coupled potato ( Solanum luberosum L. cv . Bintje) mitochondria under different redox conditions. The redox changes of the b cytochromes, the changes in the base line level and in the slope of the spectra during aerobiosis appear to be connected with changes of the membrane potential. As the latter does not collaps at anaerobiosis, cytochrome o₃ remains in an oxidized state. Collapse of the membrane potential by uncouplers induces partial oxidation of the b cytochromes and reduction of cytochrome a ₃, so that toe resulting redox states derive from thermodynamic equilibrium with the redox conditions of the substrates. However, in aerobiosis as well as in anaerobiosis, the amplitude changes of the b cytochromes vary with the substrate oxidized as if these components were not always completely connected with the cytochrome oxidase complex. The b cytochromes become fuliy reduced only after dithionite reduction.     

微生物纳米导线的导电机制及功能

微生物种间直接电子传递是指在厌氧条件下,一种微生物将电子直接传递给另外一种微生物,将两种不同微生物的代谢途径耦合在一起,以达到互养共生的目的。细菌-古菌之间的直接电子传递是其物质转换与能量代谢的新途径和新调控机制,直接参与甲烷的合成以及与硫酸盐还原耦合的厌氧甲烷氧化,在驱动碳和硫的地球化学转化与循环中起着十分重要的作用。目前研究结果认为细菌-古菌之间的直接电子传递主要是由含多个血红素的C型细胞色素介导的,这些细胞色素能形成不间断的胞外电子传递途径,以电子多步跃迁机制在细菌和古菌的细胞质膜之间传递电子。     

Polymorphisms of four hepatic cytochromes P-450 in twenty-eight inbred strains of rat

Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis of hepatic microsomes from phenobarbital-treated animals was used to analyze electrophoretic/regulatory polymorphisms for cytochromes P-450b, P-450e, P-450g, and P-450h in 28 inbred strains of rat. Previous studies with outbred rats revealed the existence of four electrophoretic variants for P-450b, two for P-450e, and three for P-450h as well as two regulatory alleles for P-450g. With the exception of one allozymic form of P-450h, all of these alleles as well as a novel (null) allele for P-450e were found to be homozygous in at least two of the inbred strains tested. Eight phenotypes for combinations of these four cytochromes P-450 were observed. Inbred strains were identified that can be used in studies on the structure/function of unique cytochrome P-450-allozymes and in genetic crosses to map the four distinct cytochrome P-450 genes.This work was supported by National Institutes of Health Biomedical Research Support Grant SO7RR07208.     

Steady-State Proton Translocation in Bovine Heart Mitochondrial bc 1 Complex Reconstituted into Liposomes

The effect of different anions on the steady-state proton translocation in bovine bc ₁ complex reconstituted in liposomes was studied. The H⁺/e ^– ratio for vectorial proton translocation is at the steady state definitely lower than that measured at level flow, (0.3 vs. 1.0). The presence of azide or arachidonate at micro- and submicromolar concentrations, respectively, gave a substantial reactivation of the proton pumping activity at the steady state, without any appreciable effect on respiration-dependent transmembrane pH difference. Addition of azide to turning-over bc ₁ vesicles also caused a transition of b cytochromes toward oxidation. The results are discussed in terms of possible involvement of an acidic residue in the protonation of the semiquinone/quinol couple at the N side of the membrane.     

Structure of the three-haem core of cytochrome c 551.5 determined by 1H NMR

 The trihaem cytochrome c _551.5, formerly known as cytochrome c ₇, from the organism Desulfuromonas acetoxidans, has been studied in the reduced state by 2D proton NMR. The haem proton resonances were assigned, and several nuclear Overhauser enhancements (NOEs) between resonances arising from different haems were detected and assigned. The relative orientations of the three haems were calculated by fitting both the intensities of the interhaem NOEs and the magnitudes of the ring current shifts of the haem resonances, following the strategy previously used by the authors to reassess the X-ray structure of the haem core in tetrahaem cytochrome c ₃ from Desulfumicrobium baculatum. It is concluded that, although the comparison of the protein sequence with those of the tetrahaem cytochromes c ₃ shows that in cytochrome c _551.5 about 40% of the sequence is deleted, including the region involved in the attachment of the second of the four haems, this does not induce any significant rearrangement of the remaining three haems other than a slight decrease in the iron-iron distance between two of the haems, namely those corresponding to haems I and IV of cytochrome c ₃. Received: 2 February 1996 / Accepted: 26 March 1996     

生物地球化学锰循环中的微生物胞外电子传递机制

微生物是生物地球化学元素循环的重要驱动者,在锰等变价金属元素的氧化还原过程中起着至关重要的作用。近年来,Mn(Ⅲ)的发现以及在一些环境中的广泛存在,丰富了人们对Mn(Ⅲ)以及自然界锰循环过程的认识。研究发现,锰的生物地球化学循环,尤其是锰还原过程,与微生物胞外电子传递紧密相关,且目前已知的5种胞外电子传递机制均与锰还原有关联。因此,本文综述了锰的生物地球化学循环及其意义,并从微生物胞外电子传递的机制、微生物介导锰氧化、微生物介导锰还原等3个方面来介绍参与锰循环的微生物多样性;以及微生物地球化学锰循环的环境意义。对微生物参与锰循环过程的研究不仅可以进一步丰富相关理论,同时也能推动生物除锰、污染物原位修复及生物冶金等应用领域的发展。     

7,8-benzoflavone binding to human cytochrome P450 3A4 reveals complex fluorescence quenching,suggesting binding at multiple protein sites

Human cytochrome P450 (P450) 3A4 is involved in the metabolism of one-half of marketed drugs and shows cooperative interactions with some substrates and other ligands. The interaction between P450 3A4 and the known allosteric effector 7,8-benzoflavone (α-naphthoflavone, αNF) was characterized using steady-state fluorescence spectroscopy. The binding interaction of P450 3A4 and αNF effectively quenched the fluorescence of both the enzyme and ligand. The Hill Equation and Stern–Volmer fluorescence quenching models were used to evaluate binding of ligand to enzyme. P450 3A4 fluorescence was quenched by titration with αNF; at the relatively higher [αNF]/[P450 3A4] ratios in this experiment, two weaker quenching interactions were revealed (K_d 1.8–2.5 and 6.5 μM). A range is given for the stronger interaction since αNF quenching of P450 3A4 fluorescence changed the protein spectral profile: quenching of 315 nm emission was slightly more efficient (K_d 1.8 μM) than the quenching of protein fluorescence at 335 and 355 nm (K_d 2.5 and 2.1 μM, respectively). In the reverse titration, αNF fluorescence was quenched by P450 3A4; at the lower [αNF]/[P450 3A4] ratios here, two strong quenching interactions were revealed (K_d 0.048 and 1.0 μM). Thus, four binding interactions of αNF to P450 3A4 are suggested by this study, one of which may be newly recognized and which could affect studies of drug oxidations by this important enzyme.     

Regulation of calbindin-D9k expression by 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3) and parathyroid hormone in mouse primary renal tubular cells

Membranes of the obligate methylotroph Methylobacillus flagellatus KT contained hemes B, O, and C and cytochromes b, o, and c both in batch and in continuous cultures. Neither heme A nor heme D was detected in the membranes. The cytochromes o and bb were the main components reversibly binding carbon monoxide (CO) in the terminal part of the respiratory chain. The alpha-region and especially the alpha-peaks at 568 and 573 nm and the alpha-troughs at 586 and 592 on the CO-difference spectra were diagnostic for the cytochromes o and bb, respectively. The cytochrome o content increased up to 1.8 times upon increasing the dilution rate of the culture from 0.15 to 0.55 h(-1) under methanol limitation. By contrast, the level of the CO-binding cytochrome bb was not affected by methanol concentration but its content increased up to 1.9 times when the level of oxygen decreased from 95 to 21 microM under the constant dilution rate (mu = 0.55 h(-1)). The maximum ratio between the cytochromes o and bb reached 2 during continuous cultivation under methanol-limited conditions (mu = 0.55 h(-1)), whereas the minimum ratio between them was about 0.7 during batch cultivation at stationary phase of growth. The synthesis of the CO-binding cytochrome bb but not of the cytochrome o in M. flagellatus KT was assumed to depend on the ambient redox potential of the medium. The cytochrome o synthesis was supposed to depend on the transmembrane gradient of protons (Delta(mu)H+).