Reaction center crystal structure

Bacterial reaction centers crystallize readily, providing high-resolution X-ray data and stmctural information. Photoactivation of these crystals leads to structural changes that can be monitored in time-resolved X-ray experiments. In order to be able interpret these changes, it is important to know the actual extent and kinetics of photoactivation of the crystallized reaction center. It has been possible to measure polarized single crystal data in the near-IR region on crystals of the same size ( 200 J,m) and contained within the same 1 mm capillary tubes as were used in the X-ray experiments. 

As seen earlier in Chapter 2 on bacterial reaction centers, crystallization of the reaction-center protein of the photosynthetic h iCttn xm Rhodopseudomonas viridis by Michel in 1982 and subsequent determination ofthe three-dimensional structure ofthe reaction center by Deisenhofer, Epp, Miki, Huber and Michel in 1984 led to tremendous advances in the understanding ofthe structure-function relationship in bacterial photosynthesis. Furthermore, because of certain similarities between the photochemical behavior of the components of some photosynthetic bacteria and that of photosystem II, research in photosystem-II was greatly stimulated to its benefit by these advances. In this way, it became obvious that the ability to prepare crystals from the reaction-center complexes of photosystems I and II would be of great importance. However, it was also recognized that, compared with the bacterial reaction center, the PS-I reaction center is more complex, consisting of many more protein subunits and electron carriers, not to mention the greater number of core-antenna chlorophyll molecules. 

The acceptor side of the PS II reaction center is structurally and functionally homologous to the reducing side of reaction centers from a number of photosynthetic bacteria, including Rhodopseudomonas viridis. Rhodobacter sphaeroides and capsulatus. and Chloroflexus aurantiacus. The reaction center complexes of viridis and sphaeroides have been crystallized, and the three-dimensional structure of these has been determined at high resolution [3-7]. With the exception of (a) the His residues in the bacterial reaction center that serve as ligands to the Mg of the accessory bacteriochlorophylls, and (b) the Glu residue that serves as a ligand to the non-heme iron between and Q0, all of the amino acid residues that function as important... 

Despite considerable efforts very few membrane proteins have yielded crystals that diffract x-rays to high resolution. In fact, only about a dozen such proteins are currently known, among which are porins (which are outer membrane proteins from bacteria), the enzymes cytochrome c oxidase and prostaglandin synthase, and the light-harvesting complexes and photosynthetic reaction centers involved in photosynthesis. In contrast, many other membrane proteins have yielded small crystals that diffract poorly, or not at all, using conventional x-ray sources. However, using the most advanced synchrotron sources (see Chapter 18) it is now possible to determine x-ray structures from protein crystals as small as 20 pm wide which will permit more membrane protein structures to be elucidated. 

Reaction center hydropathy plots agree with crystal structural data... 

Although the crystal structure of CODH or CODH/ACS has not yet been solved, a great deal of work has been done on these enzymes and plausible catalytic mechanisms have been proposed. Concerted action between the Ni ion and one of the Fe centers of a 4Fe-4S cluster are thought to elicit the formation of CO2 from CO. But perhaps the most extraordinary reaction is the one catalyzed by Cluster A the insertion of CO to a Ni-CHs complex. Through the two reactions catalyzed by CODH/ACS, the highly toxic, CO is not only removed, but is used as a source of carbon and electrons. 

In this figure, the activation energies of N2 dissociation are compared for the different reaction centers the (111) surface structure ofan fee crystal and a stepped surface. Activation energies with respect to the energy of the gas-phase molecule are related to the adsorption energies of the N atoms. As often found for bond activating surface reactions, a value of a close to 1 is obtained. It implies that the electronic interactions between the surface and the reactant in the transition state and product state are similar. The bond strength of the chemical bond... 

Xanthine dehydrogenase that mediates the conversion of hypoxanthine into xanthine and uric acid has been studied extensively since it is readily available from cow s milk. It has also been studied (Leimkiihler et al. 2004) in the anaerobic phototroph Rhodobacter capsulatus, and the crystal structures of both enzymes have been solved. Xanthine dehydrogenase is a complex flavoprotein containing Mo, FAD, and [2Fe-2S] redox centers, and the reactions may be rationalized (Hille and Sprecher 1987) ... 

A rare example of thiourea coordination to low-valent Co is of a disubstituted thiourea as bridging ligand, observed in the cluster Co3(CO)7(/i3-S)(/i- 72-PhNC(S)NHCH2Ph) which is formed by reaction of Co2(CO)8 with the thiourea.172 The crystal structure of the product defines a tetrahedral Co3S core with all carbonyls in terminal positions and the deprotonated thiourea bridging two Co centers via the S and an amido N. 

The thermal and photochemical reactions of Ir111 complexes (438) and (439), respectively, yield the same product species (440), R2 = Ph2, Me2, HPh.692 Kinetic studies indicate that the reaction involves the direct reductive transfer of the methyl to the phosphide via a three-centered transition state. The crystal structures of (438) and (439) (R2 = Ph2) are reported. 

Reduction of both nickel porphyrins and thiaporphyrins to Ni1 species has been studied by EPR and 2H NMR spectroscopy.179, 2 58 The Ni1 complex of 5,10,15,20-tetraphenyl-21-thiaporphyrin has been isolated and characterized. Reaction of this complex with sulfur dioxide produced a paramagnetic five-coordinated Ni1 S02 adduct, while reaction with nitrogenous base ligands (amines, pyridines, imidazoles) yielded five- and six-coordinate complexes. In addition, the crystal structure of Ni1 diphenyldi-p-tolyl-21-thiaporphyrin has been determined. The coordination geometry about the nickel center is essentially square planar with extremely short Ni—N and Ni—S bonds (Ni—N = 2.015(2) A, 2.014(12) A, and 1.910(14) A and Ni—S = 2.143(6) A).2359... 

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