Electron involving iron-sulfur

The final step of the reaction involves the transfer of two electrons from iron-sulfur clusters to coenzyme Q. Coenzyme Q is a mobile electron carrier. Its isoprenoid tail makes it highly hydrophobic, and it diffuses freely in the hydrophobic core of the inner mitochondrial membrane. As a result, it shuttles electrons from Complexes I and II to Complex III. The redox cycle of UQ is shown in Figure 21.5, and the overall scheme is shown schematically in Figure 21.6. 

Monooxygenase reactions catalyze the introduction of only one of the two oxygen atoms from molecular oxygen to form a hydroxyl or keto group in the substrate. The other oxygen atom ends up in water. Both the substrate and the NADPH act as proton and electron donors. Monooxygenase reactions occur in the ER membrane and involve iron-sulfur proteins, ferredoxin, and cytochrome P450-... 

A substantial fraction of the named enzymes are oxido-reductases, responsible for shuttling electrons along metabolic pathways that reduce carbon dioxide to sugar (in the case of plants), or reduce oxygen to water (in the case of mammals). The oxido-reductases that drive these processes involve a small set of redox active cofactors , that is, small chemical groups that gain or lose electrons. These cofactors include iron porjDhyrins, iron-sulfur clusters and copper complexes as well as organic species that are ET active. 

All these intermediates except for cytochrome c are membrane-associated (either in the mitochondrial inner membrane of eukaryotes or in the plasma membrane of prokaryotes). All three types of proteins involved in this chain— flavoproteins, cytochromes, and iron-sulfur proteins—possess electron-transferring prosthetic groups. 

When induced in macrophages, iNOS produces large amounts of NO which represents a major cytotoxic principle of those cells. Due to its affinity to protein-bound iron, NO can inhibit a number of key enzymes that contain iron in their catalytic centers. These include ribonucleotide reductase (rate-limiting in DNA replication), iron-sulfur cluster-dependent enzymes (complex I and II) involved in mitochondrial electron transport and cis-aconitase in the citric acid cycle. In addition, higher concentrations of NO,... 

Cluster Fx was also identified via its EPR spectral features in the RCI photosystem from green sulfur bacteria 31, 32) and the cluster binding motif was subsequently found in the gene sequence 34 ) of the (single) subunit of the homodimeric reaction center core (for a review, see 54, 55)). Whereas the same sequence motif is present in the RCI from heliobacteria (50), no EPR evidence for the presence of an iron-sulfur cluster related to Fx has been obtained. There are, however, indications from time-resolved optical spectroscopy for the involvement of an Fx-type center in electron transfer through the heliobacterial RC 56). 

Studies (see, e.g., (101)) indicate that photosynthesis originated after the development of respiratory electron transfer pathways (99, 143). The photosynthetic reaction center, in this scenario, would have been created in order to enhance the efficiency of the already existing electron transport chains, that is, by adding a light-driven cycle around the cytochrome be complex. The Rieske protein as the key subunit in cytochrome be complexes would in this picture have contributed the first iron-sulfur center involved in photosynthetic mechanisms (since on the basis of the present data, it seems likely to us that the first photosynthetic RC resembled RCII, i.e., was devoid of iron—sulfur clusters). 

It has always been assumed that these simple proteins act as electron-transfer proteins. This is also a fair conclusion if we take in account that different proteins were isolated in which the Fe(RS)4 center is in association with other non-heme, non-iron-sulfur centers. In these proteins the Fe(RS)4 center may serve as electron donor/ac-ceptor to the catalytic site, as in other iron-sulfur proteins where [2Fe-2S], [3Fe-4S], and [4Fe-4S] clusters are proposed to be involved in the intramolecular electron transfer pathway (see the following examples). 

A Mossbauer study of the protein reacted with benzaldehyde (in parallel with EPR detection of Mo(V) signals) shows partial reduction of the iron—sulfur centers, indicating the involvement of the clusters in the process of substrate oxidation and rapid intramolecular electron transfer from the molybdenum to the iron—sulfur sites. 

Iron-sulfur (Fe-S) proteins function as electron-transfer proteins in many living cells. They are involved in photosynthesis, cell respiration, as well as in nitrogen fixation. Most Fe-S proteins have single-iron (rubredoxins), or two-, three-, or four-iron (ferredoxins), or even seven/eight-iron (nitrogenases) centers. 

There are two types of electron transport those involving flavoproteins and iron-sulfur proteins, and those requiring only flavoproteins. The X-ray crystal structure of the soluble cytochrome P450 from Pseudomonas putida grown on camphor (P-450-CAM) has been determined (Poulos et ah, 1985), as have several others. The haem group is deeply embedded in the hydrophobic interior of the protein, and the identity of the proximal haem iron ligand, based on earlier spectroscopic studies (Mason et ah, 1965) is confirmed as a specific cysteine residue. 

Chapter 6). Other iron-sulfur proteins, so named because they contain iron sulfur clusters of various sizes, include the rubredoxins and ferredoxins. Rubredoxins are found in anaerobic bacteria and contain iron ligated to four cysteine sulfurs. Ferredoxins are found in plant chloroplasts and mammalian tissue and contain spin-coupled [2Fe-2S] clusters. Cytochromes comprise several large classes of electron transfer metalloproteins widespread in nature. At least four cytochromes are involved in the mitrochondrial electron transfer chain, which reduces oxygen to water according to equation 1.29. Further discussion of these proteins can be found in Chapters 6 and 7 of reference 13. 

Cytochromes, catalases, and peroxidases all contain iron-heme centers. Nitrite and sulfite reductases, involved in N-O and S-O reductive cleavage reactions to NH3 and HS-, contain iron-heme centers coupled to [Fe ] iron-sulfur clusters. Photosynthetic reaction center complexes contain porphyrins that are implicated in the photoinitiated electron transfers carried out by the complexes. 

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