Azurin structure

The azurin structural gene has been cloned and expressed in large amounts in E. coli (Karlson et al., 1989). The copper site in azurin is distorted-planar with two additional weakly interacting groups in axial positions. Site directed mutagenesis has been used to exchange His-46 for Met, Cys-112 for His and Met-121 for all other amino acids, in order to study the relationship between structure and function and to determine the prerequisites for the blue copper site. The Met-121 mutant proteins were characterised by their absorption and ESR spectra (Karlson et al., 1991). At low pH, all mutants exhibit the characteristics of the blue (Type I) copper protein, indicating... 

Auracyanin (140 residues) is much more similar to azurin structurally than the other blue copper proteins except that it has an additional N-terminal /3-strand that hydrogen bonds to strand 6, giving the barrel a total of nine strands. The positions ofthe flaps are also similar in azurin and auracyanin, although the position of the o -hehx differs shghtly. 

The validity of the azurin tunneling timetable rests on the assumption that Ru-azurin structures are not very different in crystals and aqueous solutions. Measurements of ET kinetics on crystalline samples of labeled azurins directly test this assumption " the rate constants for oxidation of Cu(I) by Ru(III) and Os(III) in solutions and crystals are nearly identical for each donor acceptor pair. It follows that the crystal structures of reduced and oxidized azurin are the relevant reactant and product states for solution ET. 

Support of our work by a grant from the German-Israeli Foundation (1-0320-211.05/93) is gratefully acknowledged. Part of the work was supported by the Danish Natural Science Research Foundation (The Bioinorganic Program). The coordinates of the azurin structures were kindly provided by Robert Huber and Herbert Nar. 

In the blue, Type I copper proteins plastocyanin and azurin, the active-site structure comprises the trigonal array [CuN2S] of two histidine ligands and one cysteine ligand about the copper,... 

Studies of ferredoxin [152] and a photosynthetic reaction center [151] have analyzed further the protein s dielectric response to electron transfer, and the protein s role in reducing the reorganization free energy so as to accelerate electron transfer [152], Different force fields were compared, including a polarizable and a non-polarizable force field [151]. One very recent study considered the effect of point mutations on the redox potential of the protein azurin [56]. Structural relaxation along the simulated reaction pathway was analyzed in detail. Similar to the Cyt c study above, several slow relaxation channels were found, which limited the ability to obtain very precise free energy estimates. Only semiquantitative values were... 

Antholine, W.E., Hanna, P.M., and McMillan, D.R. 1993. Low frequency EPR of Pseudomonas aeruginosa azurin analysis of ligand superhyperfine structure from a type 1 copper site. Biophysical Journal 64 267-272. 

D.R. McMillin, Purdue University In addition to the charge effects discussed by Professor Sykes, I would like to add that structural effects may help determine electron transfer reactions between biological partners. A case in point is the reaction between cytochrome C551 and azurin where, in order to explain the observed kinetics, reactive and unreactive forms of azurin have been proposed to exist in solution (JL). The two forms differ with respect to the state of protonation of histidine-35 and, it is supposed, with respect to conformation as well. In fact, the lH nmr spectra shown in the Figure provide direct evidence that the nickel(II) derivative of azurin does exist in two different conformations, which interconvert slowly on the nmr time-scale, depending on the state of protonation of the His35 residue (.2) As pointed out by Silvestrini et al., such effects could play a role in coordinating the flow of electrons and protons to the terminal acceptor in vivo. 

Figure 2.10 Secondary and tertiary structure of the copper enzyme azurin visualized using Wavefunction, Inc. Spartan 02 for Windows from PDB data deposited as 1JOI. See text for visualization details. Printed with permission of Wavefunction, Inc., Irvine, CA. (See color plate.)...

Table 5.2 contains data about selected copper enzymes from the references noted. It should be understood that enzymes from different sources—that is, azurin from Alcaligenes denitrificans versus Pseudomonas aeruginosa, fungal versus tree laccase, or arthropodan versus molluscan hemocyanin—will differ from each other to various degrees. Azurins have similar tertiary structures—in contrast to arthropodan and molluscan hemocyanins, whose tertiary and quaternary structures show large deviations. Most copper enzymes contain one type of copper center, but laccase, ascorbate oxidase, and ceruloplasmin contain Type I, Type II, and Type III centers. For a more complete and specific listing of copper enzyme properties, see, for instance, the review article by Solomon et al.4... 

Curiously, solution structures of azurin studied by NMR are not listed in the protein data bank as of 2001, although many NMR structures of plastocyanin are available as will be discussed below. 

This discussion of copper-containing enzymes has focused on structure and function information for Type I blue copper proteins azurin and plastocyanin, Type III hemocyanin, and Type II superoxide dismutase s structure and mechanism of activity. Information on spectral properties for some metalloproteins and their model compounds has been included in Tables 5.2, 5.3, and 5.7. One model system for Type I copper proteins39 and one for Type II centers40 have been discussed. Many others can be found in the literature. A more complete discussion, including mechanistic detail, about hemocyanin and tyrosinase model systems has been included. Models for the blue copper oxidases laccase and ascorbate oxidases have not been discussed. Students are referred to the references listed in the reference section for discussion of some other model systems. Many more are to be found in literature searches.50... 

Figure 39 X-Ray structure of the copper centre in azurin from Pseudomonas Aeruginosa...

The indole chromophore of tryptophan is the most important tool in studies of intrinsic protein fluorescence. The position of the maximum in the tryptophan fluorescence spectra recorded for proteins varies widely, from 308 nm for azurin to 350-353 nm for peptides lacking an ordered structure and for denatured proteins. (1) This is because of an important property of the fluorescence spectra of tryptophan residues, namely, their high sensitivity to interactions with the environment. Among extrinsic fluorescence probes, aminonaphthalene sulfonates are the most similar to tryptophan in this respect, which accounts for their wide application in protein research.(5)... 

Since the rate constants of bimolecular diffusion-limited reactions in isotropic solution are proportional to T/ these data testify to the fact that the kt values are linearly dependent on the diffusion coefficient D in water, irrespective of whether the fluorophores are present on the surface of the macromolecule (human serum albumin, cobra neurotoxins, proteins A and B of the neurotoxic complex of venom) or are localized within the protein matrix (ribonuclease C2, azurin, L-asparaginase).1 36 1 The linear dependence of the functions l/Q and l/xF on x/t] indicates that the mobility of protein structures is correlated with the motions of solvent molecules, and this correlation results in similar mechanisms of quenching for both surface and interior sites of the macromolecule. 

Differences between the spectra of fluorescence and phosphorescence are immediately obvious. For all tryptophans in proteins the phosphorescence spectrum, even at room temperature, is structured, while the fluorescence emission is not. (Even at low temperatures the fluorescence emission spectrum is usually not structured. The notable exceptions include a-amylase and aldolase, 26 protease, azurin 27,28 and ribonuclease 7, staphylococcal endonuclease, elastase, tobacco mosaic virus coat protein, and Drosophila alcohol dehydrogenase 12. )... 

E. A. Burstein, V. A. Permyakov, S. A. Yashin, S. A. Burkhanov, and A. Finazzi Agro, The fine structure of luminescence spectra of azurin, Biochim. Biophys. Acta 491, 155-159 (1977). 

A variety of physical methods has been used to ascertain whether or not surface ruthenation alters the structure of a protein. UV-vis, CD, EPR, and resonance Raman spectroscopies have demonstrated that myoglobin [14, 18], cytochrome c [5, 16, 19, 21], and azurin [13] are not perturbed structurally by the attachment of a ruthenium complex to a surface histidine. The reduction potential of the metal redox center of a protein and its temperature dependence are indicators of protein structure as well. Cyclic voltammetry [5, 13], differential pulse polarography [14,21], and spectroelectrochemistry [12,14,22] are commonly used for the determination of the ruthenium and protein redox center potentials in modified proteins. 

Intramolecular Ru(II) to Cu(II) ET rates have been measured in two other blue copper proteins, stellacyanin [42, 43] and azurin [9, 13, 28]. Pseudomonas aeruginosa azurin has been ruthenated at His83 [13] (Fig. 5). The intramolecular Ru(II) to Cu(II) ET rate of 1.9 s was found to be independent of temperature [28]. The Cu reorganization enthalpy was estimated to be < 7 kcal/mol [13, 28], a value confirming that blue copper is structured for efficient ET. Again, a blue copper ET rate is low in comparison with heme protein rates over similar distances (at similar driving forces) (Table 1). 

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