Cellular electron transport, cytochrome

Oxidation is intimately linked to the activation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) to carcinogens (1-3). Oxidation of PAH in animals and man is enzyme-catalyzed and is a response to the introduction of foreign compounds into the cellular environment. The most intensively studied enzyme of PAH oxidation is cytochrome P-450, which is a mixed-function oxidase that receives its electrons from NADPH via a one or two component electron transport chain (10. Some forms of this enzyme play a major role in systemic metabolism of PAH (4 ). However, there are numerous examples of carcinogens that require metabolic activation, including PAH, that induce cancer in tissues with low mixed-function oxidase activity ( 5). In order to comprehensively evaluate the metabolic activation of PAH, one must consider all cellular pathways for their oxidative activation. 

HCN is a systemic poison toxicity is due to inhibition of cytochrome oxidase, which prevents cellular utilization of oxygen. Inhibition of the terminal step of electron transport in cells of the brain results in loss of consciousness, respiratory arrest, and ultimately, death. Stimulation of the chemoreceptors of the carotid and aortic bodies produces a brief period of hyperpnea cardiac irregularities may also occur. The biochemical mechanisms of cyanide action are the same for all mammalian species. HCN is metabolized by the enzyme rhodanese which catalyzes the transfer of sulfur from thiosulfate to cyanide to yield the relatively nontoxic thiocyanate. 

Surveying our present knowledge about the enzyme activities in PVA biodegradation, a trend toward increasing integration can be seen. There are free enzymes working in the extracellular space of the cells, including also the periplasmatic volume, and there are membrane-associated enzymes that are presumably Unked to the cellular cytochrome-based electron transport chains. 

NO also has cytotoxic effects when synthesized in large quantities, eg, by activated macrophages. For example, NO inhibits metalloproteins involved in cellular respiration, such as the citric acid cycle enzyme aconitase and the electron transport chain protein cytochrome oxidase. Inhibition of the heme-containing cytochrome P450 enzymes by NO is a major pathogenic mechanism in inflammatory liver disease. 

Two examples of toxicity, where the target is known, are carbon monoxide, which interacts specifically with hemoglobin, and cyanide, which interacts specifically with the enzyme cytochrome a3 of the electron transport chain (see chap. 7). The toxic effects of these two compounds are a direct result of these interactions and, it is assumed, depend on the number of molecules of the toxic compound bound to the receptors. However, the final toxic effects involve cellular damage and death and also depend on other factors. Other examples where specific receptors are known to be involved in the mediation of toxic effects are microsomal enzyme inducers, organophosphorus compounds, and peroxisomal proliferators (see chaps. 5-7). 

The number of receptor sites and the position of the equilibrium (Eq. 1) as reflected in KT, will clearly influence the nature of the dose response, although the curve will always be of the familiar sigmoid type (Fig. 2.4). If the equilibrium lies far to the right (Eq. 1), the initial part of the curve may be short and steep. Thus, the shape of the dose-response curve depends on the type of toxic effect measured and the mechanism underlying it. For example, as already mentioned, cyanide binds very strongly to cytochrome a3 and curtails the function of the electron transport chain in the mitochondria and hence stops cellular respiration. As this is a function vital to the life of the cell, the dose-response curve for lethality is very steep for cyanide. The intensity of the response may also depend on the number of receptors available. In some cases, a proportion of receptors may have to be occupied before a response occurs. Thus, there is a threshold for toxicity. With carbon monoxide, for example, there are no toxic effects below a carboxyhemoglobin concentration of about 20%, although there may be... 

The mechanism in hepatic cellular metabolism involves an electron transport system that functions for many drugs and chemical substances. These reactions include O-demethylation, N-demethyla-tion, hydroxylation, nitro reduction and other classical biotransformations. The electron transport system contains the heme protein, cytochrome P-450 that is reduced by NADPH via a flavoprotein, cytochrome P-450 reductase. For oxidative metabolic reactions, cytochrome P-450, in its reduced state (Fe 2), incorporates one atom of oxygen into the drug substrate and another into water. Many metabolic reductive reactions also utilize this system. In addition, there is a lipid component, phosphatidylcholine, which is associated with the electron transport and is an obligatory requirement for... 

The toxin, amygdalin, releases hydrocyanic acid. Thus, toxicity is similar to cyanide, and is dose-related. Cytochrome oxidase inhibition interrupts electron transport and oxygenation at the cellular level. 

The second type of asphyxiants is that which works at the cellular level. Here, they interfere with the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase s function in the electron transport chain. Because this is the fuel cell for the body, energy production ceases within the cell, with cell death following close behind. The key substance implicated here is cyanide, which is usually found only in a chemical laboratory setting, but can also be a side effect of smoke inhalation. As previously mentioned, hydrogen sulfide and carbon monoxide also have some effect at this site. In addition, azides are cellular asphyxiants. The azides, along with the nitro-ate-ites, are also vasodilators and can cause headaches and hypotension. 

As mentioned (see p. 320), ROS are generated during several other cellular activities besides the reduction of Oz to form H20. These include the biotransformation of xenobiotics and the respiratory burst (Figure 10.20) in white blood cells. In addition, electrons often leak from the electron transport pathways in the endoplasmic reticulum (e.g., the cytochrome P450 electron transport system) to form superoxide by combining with Oz. 

The rediscovery of cytochromes by Keilin in 1925 led him to propose that the reduction of O2 is linked to the oxidation of reduced substrates by a series of redox reactions, carried out by cellular components collectively referred to as the respiratory electron-transport chain. Progress toward a molecular understanding of these redox reactions has been painfully slow. Most of the components are multisubunit proteins that reside in the inner mitochondrial membrane (Figure 6.11). These proteins (Complexes 1-IV) are quite difficult to purify with retention of in vivo properties, and they do not crystallize well. 

Other cellular targets of CO include cytochrome oxidase (Complex IV) of the mitochondrial electron transport chain, resulting in the failure of the oxidative phosphorylation pathway to reduce oxygen to water and provide ATP, the chemical energy for fhe cells of the body. 

Multiheme cytochromes c play an important role in bacterial iron respiration. In this process, soluble Fe chelates or insoluble Fe oxides serve as terminal electron acceptors of the anaerobic respiratory chain. In Shewanella and Geobacter spp., the two most studied Fe -reducing organisms, a great increase in cellular multiheme c-type cytochromes is observed upon growth by iron respiration. In the case of the genus Shewanella, electron transport to Fe involves CymA in the cytoplasmic membrane, and several... 

Phospholipids, the major hpid in cellular membranes, are a primary target of peroxidation caused by free radical release. Peroxidation of lipids in the inner mitochondrial membrane may contribute to the inhibition of electron transport and uncoupling of mitochondria, leading to inflammation and cellular necrosis. Induction of CYP2E1 and other P450 cytochromes also increases formation of other radicals and the activation of hepatocarcinogens. 

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