Copper centers, cytochromes

Cytochrome c oxidase contains two heme centers (cytochromes a and %) as well as two copper atoms (Figure 21.17). The copper sites, Cu and Cug, are associated with cytochromes a and respectively. The copper sites participate in electron transfer by cycling between the reduced (cuprous) Cu state and the oxidized (cupric) Cu state. (Remember, the cytochromes and copper sites are one-electron transfer agents.) Reduction of one oxygen molecule requires passage of four electrons through these carriers—one at a time (Figure... 

The many redox reactions that take place within a cell make use of metalloproteins with a wide range of electron transfer potentials. To name just a few of their functions, these proteins play key roles in respiration, photosynthesis, and nitrogen fixation. Some of them simply shuttle electrons to or from enzymes that require electron transfer as part of their catalytic activity. In many other cases, a complex enzyme may incorporate its own electron transfer centers. There are three general categories of transition metal redox centers cytochromes, blue copper proteins, and iron-sulfur proteins. 

C.H. Brubaker, Michigan State University In the case of the cytochromes, it has been proposed that electron transfer from the iron porphyrin may involve the pi system of the porphyrin and even nearby aromatic rings. Do you think that a similar thing may happen in the case of the reaction between these copper(I) p lastocyanins and the chromium(III) You seem to favor the idea that the important factor is that the Cr(III) be at a site that is reasonably close to the copper center. 

Cytochrome c and ubiquinol oxidases are part of an enzyme superfamily coupling oxidation of ferrocytochrome c (in eukaryotes) and ubiquinol (in prokaryotes) to the 4 e /4 reduction of molecular oxygen to H2O. After this introduction, we will concentrate on the cytochrome c oxidase enzyme. The two enzymes, cytochrome c oxidase (CcO) and ubiquinol oxidase, are usually defined by two criteria (1) The largest protein subunit (subunit I) possesses a high degree of primary sequence similarity across many species (2) members possess a unique bimetallic center composed of a high-spin Fe(II)/(III) heme in close proximity to a copper ion. Cytochrome c oxidase (CcO) is the terminal... 

Addition of NO to oxidized cytochrome oxidase produces a state in which NO binds to the copper center rather than to the heme (Brudvig et al., 1980. The Cu(Il)-NO complex is diamagnetic EPR signals can be observed at g = 6 which probably result from the ferric heme a, now uncoupled from Cu(ll). It is also possible to assign these signals to some S = f coupled state involving both iron and cooper, but this is much less likely. 

In the presence of NO and azide, cytochrome oxidase forms a complex with integral spin EPR spectra that have been assigned to a triplet state formed by coupling of S = 2 heme and copper centers (Brudvig et al., 1980). This explanation is possible, but other net integral spin possibilities could also explain the... 

Nitric oxide binds to the Cu(II) ion in the binuclear center of fully oxidized cytochrome oxidase (Brudvig et al., 1980). The binding of NO creates an even spin copper center and effectively breaks the spin coupling between the heme and copper metal ions. As a result, the high-spin heme EPR signal is visible at g = 6. 

Cytochrome c (see Fig. 4-18) is a soluble protein of the intermembrane space. After its single heme accepts an electron from Complex III, cytochrome c moves to Complex IV to donate the electron to a binuclear copper center. 

A third type of copper center, first recognized in cytochrome c oxidase (see Fig. 18-10) is called CuA or purple CuA. Each copper ion is bonded to an imidazole and two cysteines serve as bridging ligands. The two copper ions are about 0.24 nm apart, and the two Cu2+ ions together can accept a single electron from an external donor such as cytochrome c or azurin to give a half-reduced form.521a/b... 

The biological significance of these reactions is considered further in Chapters 18 and 24. The 132-kDa dimeric N20 reductase from Pseudomonas stiltzeri contains four copper atoms per subunit.546 One of its copper centers resembles the CuA centers of cytochrome c oxidase. A second copper center consists of four copper ions, held by seven histidine side chains in a roughly tetrahedral array around one sulfide (S2 ) ion. Rasmussen et al. speculate that this copper-sulfide cluster may be an acceptor of the oxygen atoms of N20 in the formation of N2.546a There is also a cytochrome cdj type of nitrite reductase.1433... 

Tire most studied of all copper-containing oxidases is cytochrome c oxidase of mitochondria. This multisubunit membrane-embedded enzyme accepts four electrons from cytochrome c and uses them to reduce 02 to 2 H20. It is also a proton pump. Its structure and functions are considered in Chapter 18. However, it is appropriate to mention here that the essential catalytic centers consist of two molecules of heme a (a and a3) and three Cu+ ions. In the fully oxidized enzyme two metal centers, one Cu2+ (of the two-copper center CuA) and one Fe3+ (heme a), can be detected by EPR spectroscopy. The other Cu2+ (CuB) and heme a3 exist as an EPR-silent exchange-coupled pair just as do the two copper ions of hemocyanin and of other type 3 binuclear copper centers. 

Complex IV. Cytochrome c oxidase (ubiquinol-cytochrome c oxidoreductase). Complex IV from mammalian mitochondria contains 13 subunits. All of them have been sequenced, and the three-dimensional structure of the complete complex is known (Fig. 18-10).125-127 The simpler cytochrome c oxidase from Paracoccus denitrificans is similar but consists of only three subunits. These are homologous in sequence to those of the large subunits I, II, and III of the mitochondrial complex. The three-dimensional structure of the Paracoccus complex is also known. Its basic structure is nearly identical to that of the catalytic core of subunits I, II, and III of the mitochondrial complex (Fig. 18-10,A).128 All three subunits have transmembrane helices. Subunit III seems to be structural in function, while subunits I and II contain the oxidoreductase centers two hemes a (a and a3) and two different copper centers, CuA (which contains two Cu2+) and a third Cu2+ (CuB) which exists in an EPR-silent exchange coupled pair with a3. Bound Mg2+ and Zn2+ are also present in the locations indicated in Fig. 18-10. 

The cytochrome c oxidase protein is thought to consist of two heme iron centers (heme a with two axial histidines and heme 03 with one axial histidine (analogous to myoglobin)) and two copper centers (Cua with two histidine, two cysteine, and one water/tyrosine ligand in its oxidized state and Cub with three histidine, one methionine, and one H2O/HO" ligands). The CuA/heme a pair constitute two coupled, one-electron redox couples (low potential, 0.4V) that facilitate (a) electron transfer from cytochrome c(Fe ) at the matrix side of the inner mitochondrial membrane as well as (b) proton transfer from the mitochondrial matrix across the inner membrane to the cytosol. At the cytosol side of the inner mitochondrial membrane, the CuB/heme a- pair constitute the binding site for O2 as well as the conduit for its high-potential four-electron, four-proton reduction to two H2O molecules. 

The dioxygen reduction site of the key respiratory enzyme, cytochrome c oxidase [E.C. 1.9.3.1], is a bimetallic catalytic center comprised of a heme iron adjacent to a Type 2 mononuclear copper center (see Cytochrome Oxidase). The recent solution of the X-ray crystal structure of this enzyme revealed an entirely unanticipated covalent modification of the protein structure, a cross-link between a histidine and tyrosine side chain (23) within the active site (Figure 2)." This extraordinary posttranslational modification has been confirmed by peptide mapping and mass spectrometry, and has been detected as a conserved element in cytochrome c oxidases isolated from organisms ranging from bacteria to cows. The role of the cross-linked structure in the function of cytochrome c oxidase is still controversial." " ... 

Some of the first protein systems where pulse radiolysis was used to help determine mechanism were those of blue copper proteins. These are proteins that are blue in solution and contain what are known as type (I) and type (2) copper centers. Two of the most well-known and well-characterized examples of these are azurin and cytochrome c. It was the studies of these systems that opened up the field of long-distance electron transfer in proteins and, by using the protein structure as a framework for electron transfer through space and through bonds, allowed for the development of a broad theoretical basis and many fascinating experiments on long-range electron transfer. Here, I will limit the discussion to electron transfer studies in azurin as illuminated by pulse radiolysis studies. ... 

Figure 3 Examples of metal cofactors in proteins (a) the zinc center of carbonic anhydrase, (b) the blue-copper center of plastocyanin, (c) the iron center in 2,3-dihydroxybiphenil dioxygenase, (d) the iron binding site of transferrin, and (e) the dinuclear copper site of Cu/ in cytochrome c oxidase.

Bovine cytochrome c oxidase is reasonably well understood at the structural level (Figure 1818). It consists of 13 subunits, of which 3 (called subunits I, II, and III) are encoded by the mitochondrial genome. Cytochrome c oxidase contains two heme A groups and three copper ions, arranged as two copper centers, designated A and B. One center, Cu /Cu, contains two copper ions linked by two bridging cysteine residues. This center initially accepts electrons from... 

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