Azurins

Proteins of this class which have received the most attention were isolated from four bacterial species Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Ps. fluorescens, Ps. denitri-ficans, and Bordetella pertussis, although Sutherland (5) has isolated azurin from several other strains of Pseudomonas, Bordetella, and Alcaligenes. The near identity of azurins isolated from these different sources, has been generally assumed, and with one possible exception, that from Ps. denitrificans which does not bind to carboxy-methyl cellulose resin at the same pH as the other proteins (5), this seems to be the case. Ambler and Brown [6), who have elucidated the amino acid sequence of Ps. fluorescens azurin state that B. bronchiseptica, A. denitrificans and faecalis, Ps. denitrificans and fluorescens yield azurins having homologous amino acid sequences. 

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Azoresorcinol, pyridyl-metal complexes dyes, 6, 74 Azurins, 6, 651, 652 copper(II) complexes, 2, 772 5, 721 electron transfer reactions, 6, 653 NMR, 6, 652 Raman spectra, 6, 652 spectra, 6, 652 thioether complexes, 2, 557 Azurite... 

Benzidine-based dyes Benzo Azurine G Benzo(a)fluoranthene Benzo(b)fluoranthene Benzo(j)fluoranthene Benzo(k)fluoranthene Benzo(g,h,i)perylene Benzopurpurine 4B Benzo(a)pyrene Benzo(c) pyrene Benzo(e) pyrene Benzosulphonazole Benzothiazole Benzoyl peroxide Benzyl chloride Beryllium... 

In some cases, small biological redox partner proteins such as heme-containing cytochromes, ferredoxins comprising an iron-sulfur cluster, or azurin with a mononuclear Cu site have been used as natural mediators to facilitate fast electron exchange with enzymes. A specific surface site on the redox protein often complements a region on the enzyme surface, and enables selective docking with a short electron tunneling... 

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. 

A number of examples of limiting kinetics have been reported for reactions of [2Fe-2S] and 2[4Fe-4S] ferredoxins with inorganic complexes (11). Recent stopped-flow work has not however confirmed limiting kinetics for the reaction of azurin, ACu(I) +... 

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. 

A.G. Sykes Professor McMillin does right to draw attention to the effect of H+ on reactions of azurin, which are somewhat different to those observed for plastocyanin. 

It is interesting to speculate why nitrite reductase has its type I coppers in domains 1, whereas in hCP the mononuclear copper binding sites are retained in the domains 2,4, and 6 where they are comparatively buried in the protein. One possible reason can be related to the difference in functions of the two proteins. NR has to interact with a relatively large pseudo-azurin macromolecule in order for electron transfer to take place,... 

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. 

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