Plastocyanin electron-transfer rate constants

More subtle factors that might affect k will be the sites structures, their relative orientation and the nature of the intervening medium. That these are important is obvious if one examines the data for the two copper proteins plastocyanin and azurin. Despite very similar separation of the redox sites and the driving force (Table 5.12), the electron transfer rate constant within plastocyanin is very much the lesser (it may be zero). See Prob. 16. In striking contrast, small oxidants are able to attach to surface patches on plastocyanin which are more favorably disposed with respect to electron transfer to and from the Cu, which is about 14 A distant. It can be assessed that internal electron transfer rate constants are =30s for Co(phen)3+, >5 x 10 s for Ru(NH3)jimid and 3.0 x 10 s for Ru(bpy)3 , Refs. 119 and 129. In the last case the excited state Ru(bpy)3 is believed to bind about 10-12 A from the Cu center. Electron transfer occurs both from this remote site as well as by attack of Ru(bpy)j+ adjacent to the Cu site. At high protein concentration, electron transfer occurs solely through the remote pathway. 

There are many instances for azurin and plastocyanin where limiting kinetic behaviour is observed, and attributed to the formation of an adduct between the protein and the inorganic complex followed by electron transfer. Values of the association constants and of the electron-transfer rate constants may then be calculated. This situation has not been observed in the case of stellacyanin, which differs from azurin and plastocyanin in that it has an overall positive charge at pH 7 (of +7 in the case of the reduced protein). The electron-transfer rate constants are often associated with fairly large negative values for the entropy of activation (in the range -84 to -210 J K1 mol-1), which are not expected for electron transfer within a compact assembly. 

Rate Constants and Reactivity. Electron-transfer reactions of plastocyanin (and other metalloproteins) are so efficient that only a narrow range of redox partners (having small driving force) can be employed. Rates are invariably in the stopped-flow range, Table I. Unless otherwise stated parsley plastocyanin... 

Earlier suggestions that the two uncoordinated and invariant residues His35 (inaccessible to solvent and covered by polypeptide) and His83 (remote and 13 A from Cu) are, from effects of [H ] on rate constants (and related pKg values), sites for electron transfer may require some re-examination. Thus, it has been demonstrated in plastocyanin studies [50] that a surface protonation can influence the reduction potential at the active site, in which case its effect is transmitted to all reaction sites. In other words, an effect of protonation on rate constants need not necessarily imply that the reaction occurs at the site of protonation. His35 is thought to be involved in pH-dependent transitions between active and inactive forms of reduced azurin [53]. The proximity of... 

Blue copper proteins, 36 323, 377-378, see also Azurin Plastocyanin active site protonations, 36 396-398 charge, 36 398-401 classification, 36 378-379 comparison with rubredoxin, 36 404 coordinated amino acid spacing, 36 399 cucumber basic protein, 36 390 electron transfer routes, 36 403-404 electron transport, 36 378 EXAFS studies, 36 390-391 functional role, 36 382-383 occurrence, 36 379-382 properties, 36 380 pseudoazurin, 36 389-390 reduction potentials, 36 393-396 self-exchange rate constants, 36 401-403 UV-VIS spectra, 36 391-393 Blue species... 

In this complex, there are two optically active sites. Spinach plastocyanin is a type I copper protein, in which two reactive sites have been identified on its surface, at least. The electron transfer reaction occurs with significantly large stereoselectivity the ratio of the observed reaction rate constant (k /k ) is 1.6 to 2.0. The difference in the activation enthalpy, AAH a, is 3.0 kJ mol-1, and the difference in the activation entropy, AS (a-a) is 15 J mol-1 K-1. This means that the stereoselectivity arises from the entropy term. 

Rates of Cu+ to Ru + electron transfer also have been measured in modified mutants of spinach plastocyanin, a blue copper protein from the photosynthetic ET chain [79], Ru-bipyridine complexes were introduced at surface sites, with Cu-Ru distances ranging from 13 to 24 A. ET rate constants, measured using laser flash-quench techniques, vary from 10" to 10 s. ET in Ru-modified plastocyanin is not activationless as it is in Ru-modified azurin, suggesting a slightly greater reorganization energy for the photosynthetic protein. The distance dependence of ET in Ru-modified plastocyanin is exponential with a distance decay factor identical with that reported for Ru-modified azurin (1.1 A ). 

Quenching of excited-state [Ru(bipy)3] by reduced blue proteins involves electron transfer from the Cu with rate constants close to the diffusion limit for electron-transfer reactions in aqueous solution. It is suggested that the excited Ru complex binds close to the copper-histidine centre, and that outer-sphere electron transfer occurs from Cu through the imidazole groups to Ru. Estimated electron-transfer distances are about 3.3 A for plastocyanin and 3.8 A for azurin, suggesting that the hydrophobic bipy ligands of Ru " penetrate the residues that isolate the Cu-His unit from the solvent. ... 

The kinetics if the anaerobic reduction of stellacyanin, plastocyanin, azurin, and laccase by [Fe(edta)] have been reported. Simple second-order behaviour was observed and the following rate constants, with their associated and values, were measured (at 25 °C and pH 7) 4.3x10 , 8.2x10 , 1.3x10 , and 2.6X 10 1 mol" s 3, 2, 2, and 13 kcal mol" and -21, -29, -37, and -5 cal K mol", respectively. The authors favour an outer-sphere mechanism for azurin, plastocyanin, and stellacyanin but conclude that laccase employs a pathway which requires specific protein activation (of ca. lOkcalmol" in A/f ) to accept the reductant. The kinetics of the reduction of laccase by [Fe(CN)6] are complicated, as they are for the autoxidation of reduced laccase. The results - for electron transfer between azurin and cytochrome c have already been mentioned. 

The effects of CDNB (4-chloro-3,5-dinitrobenzoic acid) modification at lysines 1, 54, 71, and 77 in spinach plastocyanin on the kinetics of electron transfer with [Fe(CN)e] , cytochrome c(III), and cytochrome /(III) have been examined. The modifications have little effect on the rate constants for oxidation by the ferricyanide, while rate enhancements and inhibitions (except for lysine 71) are observed for the reactions with cytochrome c and cytochrome / respectively. 

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