Use of flavin photochemistry to probe intraprotein and interprotein electron transfer mechanisms

Photoexcitation of flavin analogs generates the lowest triplet state (via intersystem crossing from the first excited singlet state) in the nanosecond time domain and with high quantum efficiency. The triplet, being a strong oxidant, can abstract a hydrogen atom (or an electron) from a reduced donor in a diffusion-controlled reaction. If the donor is a redox protein, the oxidation process can be used to initiate an electron transfer sequence involving either intramolecular or intermolecular reactions. If the donor is an organic compound such as EDTA, the neutral flavin semiquinone will be produced by H atom abstraction; this is a strong reductant and can subsequently transfer a hydrogen atom (or an electron) to an oxidized redox protein, thereby again initiating a sequence of intramolecular or intermolecular processes. If flavin photoexcitation is accomplished using a pulsed laser light source, the initiation of these protein electron transfer reactions can be made to occur in the nanosecond to microsecond time domain, and the sequence of events can be followed by time-resolved spectrophotometry to obtain rate constants and thus mechanistic information. The present paper describes this technology, and selected examples of its use in the investigation of redox protein mechanisms are given.     

On the mechanism of photosynthetic electron transfer in Rhodopseudomonas capsulata and Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides

(1) Current models for the mechanism of cyclic electron transport in Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides and Rhodopseudomonas capsulata have been investigated by observing the kinetics of electron transport in the presence of inhibitors, or in photosynthetically incompetent mutant strains. (2) In addition to its well-characterized effect on the Rieske-type iron sulfur center, 5-(n-undecyl)-6-hydroxy-4,7-dioxobenzothiazole (UHDBT) inhibits both cytochrome b₅₀ and cytochrome b_?90 reduction induced by flash excitation in Rps. sphaeroides and Rps. capsulata. The concentration dependency of the inhibition in the presence of antimycin (approx. 2.7 mol UHDBT/mol reaction center for 50% inhibition of extent) is very similar to that of its inhibition of the antimycin-insensitive phase of ferricytochrome c re-reduction. UHDBT did not inhibit electron transfer between the reduced primary acceptor ubiquinone (Q^?_I) and the secondary acceptor ubiquinone (Q_II) of the reaction center acceptor complex. A mutant of Rps. capsulata, strain R126, lacked both the UHDBT and antimycin-sensitive phases of cytochrome c re-reduction, and ferricytochrome b₅₀ reduction on flash excitation. (3) In the presence of antimycin, the initial rate of cytochrome b₅₀ reduction increased about 10-fold as the E_h(7.0) was lowered below 180 mV. A plot of the rate at the fastest point in each trace against redox potential resembles the Nernst plot for a two-electron carrier with E_m(7.0) ≈ 125 ± 15 mV. Following flash excitation there was a lag of 100–500 μs before cytochrome b₅₀ reduction began. However, there was a considerably longer lag before significant reduction of cytochrome c by the antimycin-sensitive pathway occurred. (4) The herbicide ametryne inhibited electron transfer between Q^?_I and Q_II. It was an effective inhibitor of cytochrome b₅₀ photoreduction at E_h(7.0) 390 mV, but not at E_h(7.0) 100 mV. At the latter E_h, low concentrations of ametryne inhibited turnover after one flash in only half of the photochemical reaction centers. By analogy with the response to o-phenanthroline, it is suggested that ametryne is ineffective at inhibiting electron transfer from Q^?_I to the secondary acceptor ubiquinone when the latter is reduced to the semiquinone form before excitation. (5) At E_h(7.0) > 200 mV, antimycin had a marked effect on the cytochrome b₅₀ reduction-oxidation kinetics but not on the cytochrome c and reaction center changes or the slow phase III of the electrochromic carotenoid change on a 10-ms time scale. This observation appears to rule out a mechanism in which cytochrome b₅₀ oxidation is obligatorily and kinetically linked to the antimycin-sensitive phase of cytochrome c reduction in a reaction involving transmembrane charge transfer at high E_h values. However, at lower redox potentials, cytochrome b₅₀ oxidation is more rapid, and may be linked to the antimycin-sensitive reduction of cytochrome c. (6) It is concluded that neither a simple linear scheme nor a simple Q-cycle model can account adequately for all the observations. Future models will have to take account of a possible heterogeneity of redox chains resulting from the two-electron gate at the level of the secondary quinone, and of the involvement of cytochrome b_?90 in the rapid reactions of the cyclic electron transfer chain     

Bioreductive Activation of Quinones: Redox Properties and Thiol Reactivity

Redox properties and thiol reactivity are central to the therapeutic and toxicological properties of qui-nones. The use of other physicochemical parameters to establish predictive relationships for redox properties of quinones is discussed. and attention drawn to situations where such relationships may be unreliable. The rates of reaction of semiquinone radicals with oxygen, including those of chemotherapeutic agents such as mitomycin and the anthracyclines. can be predicted with reasonable confidence from the redox properties. The reactions of quinones with thiols such as glutathione produces reduced quinones and radicals. but the reactions are complex and all the features are not well understood     

Formation of electronically excited states during the interaction of p-benzoquinone with hydrogen peroxide

The reaction between p-benzoquinone and H₂O₂ in slightly alkaline solutions yields three major quinoid products that accumulate in the reaction mixture: (a) 2,3-epoxy-p-benzoquinone, (b) 2-hydroxy-p-benzoquinone and (c) p-benzohydroquinone. The reaction is accompanied by photoemission, probably originating from excited triplet 2-hydroxy-p-benzoquinone. These products originate from hydrogen peroxide and hydroxide nucleophilic addition to the C₂?C₃ double bond, as well as secondary redox interactions. The hydroxy substituent and the epoxide ring exert a substantial influence on the electronic distribution in the p-benzoquinone molecule leading to a decrease in the half-wave potential, as compared to the parent p-benzoquinone. The generation of electronically excited states is the result of reactions secondary to the nucleophilic additions involving 2-hydroxy-p-benzosemiquinone, H₂O₂ and hydroxyl radical. The process involves the primary oxidation of 2-hydroxy-p-benzosemiquinone by hydrogen peroxide, followed by oxidation of the semiquinone by hydroxyl radical leading to the formation of the electronically excited quinone. The decay of the excited triplet to the ground state is accompanied by photoemission with maximal intensity at 485–530 nm. Thermodynamic calculations along with an observed increase of photoemission intensity in anaerobiosis point to the triplet (n, π*) multiplicity of the excited state. The efficiency of chemiluminescence could be calculated as 10^?8 photons/2-hydroxy-p-benzoquinone molecule formed. Photoemission arising from the p-benzoquinone/H₂O₂ reaction was inhibited efficiently by addition of GSH to the reaction mixture. This may be due to deactivation of the triplet quinone by a 2-glutathionyl-p-benzohydroquinone adduct, involving thioether α-hydrogen atom-transfer to the triplet ketone.     

Reactions of Adriamycin with Microsomal Iron and Lipids

Iron plays a central role in oxidative injury, reportedly because it catalyzes superoxide- and hydrogen peroxide-dependent reactions yielding a powerful oxidant such as the hydroxyl radical. Iron is also thought to mediate the cardiotoxic and antitumour effects of adriamycin and related compounds. NADPH-supplemented microsomes reduce adriamycin to a semiquinone radical, which in turn re-oxidizes in the presence of oxygen to form superoxide and hence hydrogen peroxide. During this redox cycling membrane-bound nonheme iron undergoes superoxide dismutase- and catalase-insensitive reductive release. Membrane iron mobilization triggers lipid peroxidation, which is markedly enhanced by simultaneous addition of superoxide dismutase and catalase. The results indicate that : i) lipid peroxidation is mediated by the release of iron, yet the two reactions are governed by different mechanisms; and ii) oxygen radicals are not involved in or may actually inhibit adriamycin-induced lipid peroxidation. Microsomal iron delocalization and lipid peroxidation might represent oxyradical-independent mechanisms of adriamycin toxicity.     

Reactions of (+)-catechin with salivary nitrite and thiocyanate under conditions simulating the gastric lumen: Production of dinitrosocatechin and its thiocyanate conjugate

Abstract

Catechins are ingested as food components and supplements. It is known that catechins are transformed to dinitrosocatechins by nitrite under acidic conditions, suggesting the possibility of their formation in the stomach because saliva contains nitrite. This paper deals with nitrite-induced transformation of (+)-catechin in methanol extracts of adzuki bean into 6,8-dinitrosocatechin in acidified saliva (pH ≈ 1.9). As the mechanism of its formation, addition of nitric oxide (NO) to (+)-catechin semiquinone radical, both of which were produced in nitrous acid/(+)-catechin systems, was proposed. The dinitrosocatechin was oxidized to the quinone by nitrous acid, and the quinone reacted with a salivary component thiocyanate producing 6′-thiocyanato-6,8-dinitrosocatechin. Since quinones are toxic, we propose a function of thiocyanate as a scavenger of the o-quinone formed from dinitrosocatechins in the stomach.     

Mechanistic studies on the intramolecular one-electron transfer between the two flavins in the human endothelial NOS reductase domain

The object of this study was to clarify the mechanism of electron transfer in the human endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) reductase domain using recombinant eNOS reductase domains; the FAD/NADPH domain containing FAD- and NADPH-binding sites and the FAD/FMN domain containing FAD/NADPH-, FMN-, and a calmodulin-binding sites. In the presence of molecular oxygen or menadione, the reduced FAD/NADPH domain is oxidized via the neutral (blue) semiquinone (FADH(*)), which has a characteristic absorption peak at 520 nm. The FAD/NADPH and FAD/FMN domains have high activity for ferricyanide, but the FAD/FMN domain has low activity for cytochrome c. In the presence or absence of calcium/calmodulin (Ca(2+)/CaM), reduction of the oxidized flavins (FAD-FMN) and air-stable semiquinone (FAD-FMNH(*)) with NADPH occurred in at least two phases in the absorbance change at 457nm. In the presence of Ca(2+)/CaM, the reduction rate of both phases was significantly increased. In contrast, an absorbance change at 596nm gradually increased in two phases, but the rate of the fast phase was decreased by approximately 50% of that in the presence of Ca(2+)/CaM. The air-stable semiquinone form was rapidly reduced by NADPH, but a significant absorbance change at 520 nm was not observed. These findings indicate that the conversion of FADH(2)-FMNH(*) to FADH(*)-FMNH(2) is unfavorable. Reduction of the FAD moiety is activated by CaM, but the formation rate of the active intermediate, FADH(*)-FMNH(2) is extremely low. These events could cause a lowering of enzyme activity in the catalytic cycle.     

Human neuronal nitric oxide synthase can catalyze one-electron reduction of adriamycin: role of flavin domain

We have analyzed the mechanism of one-electron reduction of adriamycin (Adr) using recombinant full-length human neuronal nitric-oxide synthase and its flavin domains. Both enzymes catalyzed aerobic NADPH oxidation in the presence of Adr. Calcium/calmodulin (Ca(2+)/CaM) stimulated the NADPH oxidation of Adr. In the presence or absence of Ca(2+)/CaM, the flavin semiquinone radical species were major intermediates observed during the oxidation of the reduced enzyme by Adr. The FAD-NADPH binding domain did not significantly catalyze the reduction of Adr. Neither the FAD semiquinone (FADH*) nor the air-stable semiquinone (FAD-FMNH*) reacted rapidly with Adr. These data indicate that the fully reduced species of FMN (FMNH(2)) donates one electron to Adr, and that the rate of Adr reduction is stimulated by a rapid electron exchange between the two flavins in the presence of Ca(2+)/CaM. Based on these findings, we propose a role for the FAD-FMN pair in the one-electron reduction of Adr.     

H-Bonding and Positive Charge at the N(5)/O(4) Locus Are Critical for Covalent Flavin Attachment in Trametes Pyranose 2-Oxidase

Flavoenzymes perform a wide range of redox reactions in nature, and a subclass of flavoenzymes carry covalently bound cofactor. The enzyme-flavin bond helps to increase the flavin's redox potential to facilitate substrate oxidation in several oxidases. The formation of the enzyme-flavin covalent bond—the flavinylation reaction—has been studied for the past 40 years. For the most advocated mechanism of autocatalytic flavinylation, the quinone methide mechanism, appropriate stabilization of developing negative charges at the flavin N(1) and N(5) loci is crucial. Whereas the structural basis for stabilization at N(1) is relatively well studied, the structural requisites for charge stabilization at N(5) remain less clear. Here, we show that flavinylation of histidine 167 of pyranose 2-oxidase from Trametes multicolor requires hydrogen bonding at the flavin N(5)/O(4) locus, which is offered by the side chain of Thr169 when the enzyme is in its closed, but not open, state. Moreover, our data show that additional stabilization at N(5) by histidine 548 is required to ensure high occupancy of the histidyl-flavin bond. The combination of structural and spectral data on pyranose 2-oxidase mutants supports the quinone methide mechanism. Our results demonstrate an elaborate structural fine-tuning of the active site to complete its own formation that couples efficient holoenzyme synthesis to conformational substates of the substrate-recognition loop and concerted movements of side chains near the flavinylation ligand.     

A new hypothesis on the simultaneous direct and indirect proton pump mechanisms in NADH-quinone oxidoreductase (complex I)

Recently, Sazanov’s group reported the X-ray structure of whole complex I [Nature, 465, 441 (2010)], which presented a strong clue for a “piston-like” structure as a key element in an “indirect” proton pump. We have studied the NuoL subunit which has a high sequence similarity to Na⁺/H⁺ antiporters, as do the NuoM and N subunits. We constructed 27 site-directed NuoL mutants. Our data suggest that the H⁺/e⁻ stoichiometry seems to have decreased from (4H⁺/2e⁻) in the wild-type to approximately (3H⁺/2e⁻) in NuoL mutants. We propose a revised hypothesis that each of the “direct” and the “indirect” proton pumps transports 2H⁺ per 2e⁻.