Proteins redox-active

Protein Redox active group Redox potential Eo (mV vs SCE) Half wave potential Ey2 (mV vs SCE) Electrode material... 

Controllcd-Currcnt Coulomctry The use of a mediator makes controlled-current coulometry a more versatile analytical method than controlled-potential coulome-try. For example, the direct oxidation or reduction of a protein at the working electrode in controlled-potential coulometry is difficult if the protein s active redox site lies deep within its structure. The controlled-current coulometric analysis of the protein is made possible, however, by coupling its oxidation or reduction to a mediator that is reduced or oxidized at the working electrode. Controlled-current coulometric methods have been developed for many of the same analytes that may be determined by conventional redox titrimetry. These methods, several of which are summarized in Table 11.9, also are called coulometric redox titrations. 

The thioredoxin domain (see Figure 2.7) has a central (3 sheet surrounded by a helices. The active part of the molecule is a Pa(3 unit comprising p strands 2 and 3 joined by a helix 2. The redox-active disulfide bridge is at the amino end of this a helix and is formed by a Cys-X-X-Cys motif where X is any residue in DsbA, in thioredoxin, and in other members of this family of redox-active proteins. The a-helical domain of DsbA is positioned so that this disulfide bridge is at the center of a relatively extensive hydrophobic protein surface. Since disulfide bonds in proteins are usually buried in a hydrophobic environment, this hydrophobic surface in DsbA could provide an interaction area for exposed hydrophobic patches on partially folded protein substrates. 

These studies of protein-bound heterometallic cubanes have amply demonstrated that the heterometal site is redox active and able to bind small molecules. Although they have yet to be identified as intrinsic components of any protein or enzyme (except as part of the nitrogenase FeMo cofactor cluster (254)), they are clearly attractive candidates for the active sites of redox enzymes. 

The protein from D. desulfuricans has been characterized by Mbss-bauer and EPR spectroscopy 224). The enzyme has a molecular mass of approximately 150 kDa (three different subunits 88, 29, and 16 kDa) and contains three different types of redox-active centers four c-type hemes, nonheme iron arranged as two [4Fe-4S] centers, and a molybdopterin site (Mo-bound to two MGD). Selenium was also chemically detected. The enzyme specific activity is 78 units per mg of protein. 

Figure 18.4 Structures of heme/Cu oxidases at different levels of detail, (a) Position of the redox-active cofactors relative to the membrane of CcO (left, only two obligatory subunits are shown) and quinol oxidase (right), (b) Electron transfer paths in mammalian CcO. Note that the imidazoles that ligate six-coordinate heme a and the five-coordinate heme are linked by a single amino acid, which can serve as a wire for electron transfer from ferroheme a to ferriheme as. (c) The O2 reduction site of mammalian CcO the numbering of the residues corresponds to that in the crystal structure of bovine heart CcO. The subscript 3 in heme as and heme 03 signifies the heme that binds O2. The structures were generated using coordinates deposited in the Protein Data Bank, lari [Ostermeier et al., 1997] Ifft [Abramson et al., 2000] (a) and locc [Tsukihara et al., 1996] (b, c).

The first reports on direct electrochemistry of a redox active protein were published in 1977 by Hill [49] and Kuwana [50], They independently reported that cytochrome c (cyt c) exhibited virtually reversible electrochemistry on gold and tin doped indium oxide (ITO) electrodes as revealed by cyclic voltammetry, respectively. Unlike using specific promoters to realize direct electrochemistry of protein in the earlier studies, recently a novel approach that only employed specific modifications of the electrode surface without promoters was developed. From then on, achieving reversible, direct electron transfer between redox proteins and electrodes without using any mediators and promoters had made great accomplishments. 

Cyt c is one of most important and extensively studied electron-transfer proteins, partly because of its high solubility in water compared with other redox-active proteins. In vivo, cyt c transfers an electron from complex III to complex IV, membrane-bound components of the mitochondrial electron-transfer chain. The electrochemical interrogation of cyt c has, however, been hindered because the redox-active heme center is... 

It has been said above that cyt c was one of the most important and extensively studied electron-transfer proteins with active heme centers. Thus, cyt c was widely used in enzyme-based biosensors and to study the mechanism of the catalytic process between redox enzyme and substrate. 

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