Metal-substituted heme protein

A commonexperimental strategy for studying electron transfers between proteins uses a metal-substituted heme protein as one of the reactants. In particular, the substitution of zinc for iron in one of the porphyrin redox centers allows facile initiation of electron transfer through photoexcitation of the zinc porphyrin (ZnP). The excited zinc porphyrin, ZnP in Equation (6.32),... 

Ligand substitution reactions of NO leading to metal-nitrosyl bond formation were first quantitatively studied for metalloporphyrins, (M(Por)), and heme proteins a few decades ago (20), and have been the subject of a recent review (20d). Despite the large volume of work, systematic mechanistic studies have been limited. As with the Rum(salen) complexes discussed above, photoexcitation of met allop or phyr in nitrosyls results in labilization of NO. In such studies, laser flash photolysis is used to labilize NO from a M(Por)(NO) precursor, and subsequent relaxation of the non-steady state system back to equilibrium (Eq. (9)) is monitored spectroscopically. 

Metal-substituted hemoglobin hybrids, [MP, Fe " (H20)P] are particularly attractive for the study of long-range electron transfer within protein complexes. Both photoinitiated and thermally activated electron transfer can be studied by flash excitation of Zn- or Mg-substituted complexes. Direct spectroscopic observation of the charge-separated intermediate, [(MP), Fe " P], unambiguously demonstrates photoinitiated ET, and the time course of this ET process indicates the presence of thermal ET. Replacement of the coordinated H2O in the protein containing the ferric heme with anionic ligands (CN , F , Nj ) dramatically lowers the photoinitiated rate constant, k(, but has a relatively minor effect on the thermal rate, kg. 

As with any metalloprotein, the chemical and physical properties of the metal ion in cytochromes are determined by the both the primary and secondary coordination spheres (58-60). The primary coordination sphere has two components, the heme macrocycle and the axial ligands, which directly affect the bound metal ion. The pyrrole nitrogen donors of the heme macrocycle that are influenced by the substitutents on the heme periphery establish the base heme properties. These properties are directly modulated by the number and type of axial ligands derived from the protein amino acids. Typical heme proteins utilize histidine, methionine, tyrosinate, and cysteinate ligands to affect five or six coordination at the metal center. 

N-substituted iron porphyrins form upon treatment of heme enzymes with many xenobiotics. The formation of these modified hemes is directly related to the mechanism of their enzymatic reactivity. N-alkyl porphyrins may be formed from organometallic iron porphyrin complexes, PFe-R (a-alkyl, o-aryl) or PFe = CR2 (carbene). They are also formed via a branching in the reaction path used in the epoxidation of alkenes. Biomimetic N-alkyl porphyrins are competent catalysts for the epoxidation of olefins, and it has been shown that iron N-alkylporphyrins can form highly oxidized species such as an iron(IV) ferryl, (N-R P)Fe v=0, and porphyrin ir-radicals at the iron(III) or iron(IV) level of metal oxidation. The N-alkylation reaction has been used as a low resolution probe of heme protein active site structure. Modified porphyrins may be used as synthetic catalysts and as models for nonheme and noniron metalloenzymes. 

Perhaps the most successful of the heme protein active site models is the picket-fence porphyrin of CoUman. Steric encumbrance about the metal site of these substituted TPP molecules depends on two factors ... 

The strategy of modifying the prosthetic group can be divided into at least three approaches, as shown in Fig. 17 (1) modification of peripheral alkyl and/ or alkenyl side chains or two heme-propionates of protoheme IX (2) substitution of other metals such as Co, Mn, Cr, and so on, for the heme-iron and (3) preparation of a new prosthetic group with a non-porphyrin framework. These heme modifications must have a drastic influence on the Mb function, thus, the incorporation of an artificial prosthetic group into apoMb will give us a new protein with unique functions. 

In Ref. [279] the technique of protein modification was used to study the dependence of the rate of photoinduced electron tunneling on the distance between TZnP and Ru(III) sites in modified myoglobins. The modified proteins were prepared by substitution of zinc mesoporphyrin IX diacid for the heme in four various pentaammineruthenium (III) derivatives of sperm whale myoglobin (NH3)5Ru(His-48)Mb, (NH3)5Ru(His-12)Mb, (NH3)5Ru(His-116)Mb and (NH3)5Ru(His-81)Mb. Metal-to-metal distance between ZnP and (NH3)5Ru(His) ranges in this seria from 16.1-18.8 A for His-48 to 27.8-30,5 for His-12. The rate constant of electron tunneling decreases in this series in accordance with Eq. (1) with ve = 7.8 x 10s s 1 and ae = 2.2 A at T = 298 K. 

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