Proton transporters

Marrink, S.J., Jahnig, F., Berendsen, H.J.C. Proton transport across transient single-file water pores in a lipid membrane studied by molecular dynamics simulations. Biophys. J. 71 (1996) 632-647. 

Traditionally, the electron and proton transport pathways of photosynthetic membranes (33) have been represented as a "Z" rotated 90° to the left with noncycHc electron flow from left to right and PSII on the left-most and PSI on the right-most vertical in that orientation (25,34). Other orientations and more complex graphical representations have been used to depict electron transport (29) or the sequence and redox midpoint potentials of the electron carriers. As elucidation of photosynthetic membrane architecture and electron pathways has progressed, PSI has come to be placed on the left as the "Z" convention is being abandoned. Figure 1 describes the orientation in the thylakoid membrane of the components of PSI and PSII with noncycHc electron flow from right to left. 

FIGURE 10.16 The H+,lO-ATPase of gastric mucosal cells mediates proton transport into the stomach. Potassimn ions are recycled by means of an associated K /Cl cotransport system. The action of these two pnmps results in net transport of and Cl into the stomach. 

This is a crucial point because (as we will see) proton transport is coupled with ATP synthesis. Oxidation of one FADHg in the electron transport chain results in synthesis of approximately two molecules of ATP, compared with the approximately three ATPs produced by the oxidation of one NADH. Other enzymes can also supply electrons to UQ, including mitochondrial 5w-glyc-erophosphate dehydrogenase, an inner membrane-bound shuttle enzyme, and the fatty acyl-CoA dehydrogenases, three soluble matrix enzymes involved in fatty acid oxidation (Figure 21.7 also see Chapter 24). The path of electrons from succinate to UQ is shown in Figure 21.8. 

FIGURE 21.8 A probable scheme for electron flow in Complex II. Oxidation of succinate occurs with rednction of [FAD]. Electrons are then passed to Fe-S centers and then to coenzyme Q (UQ). Proton transport does not occur in this complex. 

As with Complex 1, passage of electrons through the Q cycle of Complex 111 is accompanied by proton transport across the inner mitochondrial membrane. The postulated pathway for electrons in this system is shown in Figure 21.12. A large pool of UQ and UQHg exists in the inner mitochondrial membrane. The Q cycle is initiated when a molecule of UQHg from this pool diffuses to a site (called Q, ) on Complex 111 near the cytosolic face of the membrane. 

The reduction of oxygen in Complex IV is accompanied by transport of protons across the inner mitochondrial membrane. Transfer of four electrons through this complex drives the transport of approximately four protons. The mechanism of proton transport is unknown but is thought to involve the steps from state P to state O (Figure 21.20). Four protons are taken up on the matrix side for every two protons transported to the cytoplasm (see Figure 21.17). 

FIGURE 21.21 A model for the electron transport pathway in the mitochondrial inner membrane. UQ/UQH9 and cytochrome e are mobile electron carriers and function by transferring electrons between the complexes. The proton transport driven by Complexes I, III, and IV is indicated. 

Mitchell s chemiosmotic hypothesis. The ratio of protons transported per pair of electrons passed through the chain—the so-called HV2 e ratio—has been an object of great interest for many years. Nevertheless, the ratio has remained extremely difficult to determine. The consensus estimate for the electron transport pathway from succinate to Og is 6 H /2 e. The ratio for Complex I by itself remains uncertain, but recent best estimates place it as high as 4 H /2 e. On the basis of this value, the stoichiometry of transport for the pathway from NADH to O2 is 10 H /2 e. Although this is the value assumed in Figure 21.21, it is important to realize that this represents a consensus drawn from many experiments. 

Hemoglobin also functions in CO2 and proton transport from tissues to lungs. Release of O2 from oxyHb at the tissues is accompanied by uptake of protons due to lowering of the of histidine residues. 

Shi, F.-Q., Li, X., Xia, Y, Zhang, L. and Yu, Z.-X. (2007) DFT Study of the Mechanisms of In Water Au(I)-Catalyzed Tandem [3,3]-Rearrangement/Nazarov Reaction/[l,2]-Hydrogen Shift of Enynyl Acetates A Proton-Transport Catalysis Strategy in the Water-Catalyzed [l,2]-Hydrogen Shift. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 129, 15503-15512. 

Besides these generalities, little is known about proton transfer towards an electrode surface. Based on classical molecular dynamics, it has been suggested that the ratedetermining step is the orientation of the HsO with one proton towards the surface [Pecina and Schmickler, 1998] this would be in line with proton transport in bulk water, where the proton transfer itself occurs without a barrier, once the participating molecules have a suitable orientation. This is also supported by a recent quantum chemical study of hydrogen evolution on a Pt(lll) surface [Skulason et al., 2007], in which the barrier for proton transfer to the surface was found to be lower than 0.15 eV. This extensive study used a highly idealized model for the solution—a bilayer of water with a few protons added—and it is not clear how this simplification affects the result. However, a fully quantum chemical model must necessarily limit the number of particles, and this study is probably among the best that one can do at present. 

FIG. 30 Schematic (not to scale) of the arrangement for SECM measurements of proton transport at a stearic acid monolayer deposited at the air-water interface. The UME typically had a diameter, 2a, in the range 10-25 pm and the tip-interface distance, d < la. 

The oxidation of reduced jS-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) by quinone derivatives (Q) by has been investigated extensively, since the reaction was considered to be essential in the proton transport and the energy accumulation occurring at the mitochondrial inner membrane [2]. However, most of fundamental work in this field has been done in homogeneous solutions [48-52] though the reaction in living bodies has been believed to proceed at the solution membrane interface. 

The famous model for the oxidation of NADH coupled with the proton transport in a mitochondria is the Q cycle [53], as follows NADH in the aqueous solution (matrix) is oxidized to NAD by Q in the membrane producing hydroquinone (QH2). 

The reduction of O2 in W by hydroquinone derivatives (QH2) in O is a subject of interest, since the reaction might offer the fundamental information on the electron transport coupled with the proton transport at a biomembrane realized by the respiration [2,3,56]. 

Classical force fields [69] have been used to model proton transport, but their accuracy has been questioned [68],... 

Methods similar to those discussed in this chapter have been applied to determine free energies of activation in enzyme kinetics and quantum effects on proton transport. They hold promise to be coupled with QM/MM and ab initio simulations to compute accurate estimates of nulcear quantum effects on rate constants in TST and proton transport rates through membranes. 

Burykin, A. Warshel, A., What really prevents proton transport through aquaporin Charge self-energy versus proton wire proposals, Biophys. J. 2003, 85, 3696-3706... 

Zahn, D. Brickmann, J., Quantum-classical simulation of proton transport via a phospholipid bilayer, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2001, 3, 848-852... 

Conduction along water wires may as well be the dominant mechanism in the permeation of protons in channels an MD study of proton transport through a gramicidin channel can be found in, for example, [156]. 

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