Superoxide dismutase, redox-active enzyme

Nickel is found in thiolate/sulflde environment in the [NiFe]-hydrogenases and in CODH/ACS.33 In addition, either a mononuclear Ni-thiolate site or a dinuclear cysteine-S bridged structure are assumed plausible for the new class of Ni-containing superoxide dismutases, NiSOD (A).34 [NiFe]-hydrogenase catalyzes the two-electron redox chemistry of dihydrogen. Several crystal structures of [NiFe]-hydrogenases have demonstrated that the active site of the enzyme consists of a heterodinuclear Ni—Fe unit bound to thiolate sulfurs of cysteine residues with a Ni—Fe distance below 3 A (4) 35-39 This heterodinuclear active site has been the target of extensive model studies, which are summarized in Section 6.3.4.12.5. 

The importance of manganese for bacteria, such as that of Ni and to a lesser extent Co, as we saw in the last chapter, is considerable. Of course, as we will see shortly, it is also important in the tetranuclear Mn cluster that is involved in oxygen production in photosynthetic plants, algae and cyanobacteria, as well as in a number of mammalian enzymes such as arginase and mitochondrial superoxide dismutase. Most of manganese biochemistry can be explained on the one hand by its redox activity, and on the other by its analogy to Mg2+ (reviewed in Yocum and Pecoraro, 1999). 

Although zinc itself is not redox-active, some class I enzymes containing zinc in their active sites are known. The most prominent are probably alcohol dehydrogenase and copper-zinc superoxide dismutase (Cu,Zn-SOD). AU have in common that the redox-active agent is another transition-metal ion (copper in Cu,Zn-SOD) or a cofactor such as nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+/NADH). The Zn(II) ion affects the redox reaction only in an indirect manner, but is nevCTtheless essential and cannot be regarded simply as a structural factor. 

We have already seen a number of models for the zinc(II) containing enzymes such as carbonic anhydrase in Section 11.3.2. Zinc is an essential component in biochemistry, and forms part of the active site of more then 100 enzymes, of which hydrolases (such as alkaline phosphatase and carboxypeptidase A), transferases (e.g. DNA and RNA polymerase), oxidoreductases (e.g. alcohol dehydrogenase and superoxide dismutase) and lysases (carbonic anhydrase) are the most common. In addition, the non-enzyme zinc finger proteins have an important regulatory function. In many of these systems, the non-redox-active Zn2+ ion is present as a Fewis acidic centre at which substrates are coordinated, polarised and hence activated. Other roles of zinc include acting as a template and playing a structural or regulatory role. 

The structure and enzyme kinetics of bovine erythrocyte superoxide dismutase are reviewed. The protein has a novel imidazolate-bridged copper(II)-zinc(II) catalytic center in each of two identical subunits. Since a C /Cu1 redox couple is responsible for the dismutase activity of the enzyme, the role of zinc is of interest. Both 220-MHz NMR measurements of the exchangeable histidine protons and chemical modifications using diethylpyrocarbonate demonstrate that zinc alone can fold the protein chain in the region of the active site into a conformation resembling that of the native enzyme. Other possible roles for zinc are discussed. Synthetic, magnetic, and structural studies of soluble, imidazolate-bridged copper complexes of relevance to the 4 Cu(II) form of the enzyme have been made. 

Superoxide dismutase (SOD, EC 1.15.1.1) is a scavenger of the superoxide anion, and therefore, provides protection against oxidative stress in biological systems [259]. Most SODs are homodimeric metalloenzymes and contain redox active Fe, Ni, Mn or Cu. The superoxide dismutation by SOD is among the fastest enzyme reactions known. The rate constant for CuZnSOD is = 2x 10 s [260], FeSOD is about one order of... 

Copper occurs in almost all life forms and it plays a role at the active site of a large number of enzymes. Copper is the third most abundant transition metal in the human body after iron and zinc. Enzymes of copper include superoxide dismutase, tyrosinase, nitrite reductase and cytochrome c oxidase. Most copper proteins and enzymes have roles as electron transfer agents and in redox reactions, as Cu(II) and Cu(I) are accessible. 

Manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) is a redox-active manganese enzyme that employs a mononuclear manganese ion at its active site. Discovered in 1970 (52), this enzyme catalyzes the dismuta-tion of superoxide (H02), to dioxygen and hydrogen peroxide, as shown in Scheme 2. Superoxide is the radical, one-electron-reduced... 

In order to monitor SOD activity routinely, assays that require only instrumentation typical of a chemical or biochemical laboratory were set up. The assays consist of a reaction mixture that generates superoxide anion and a coupled redox reaction that scavenges the superoxide ion. The latter reaction is usually followed spectrophoto-metrically. The addition of superoxide dismutase destroys superoxide and inhibits the coupled reaction. The specific activity of the enzyme is determined on the basis of the amount of protein required to slow down to 50% the first-order coupled reaction, i.e., one enzymatic unit is the amount of protein that reduces the rate to 50% and the specific activity corresponds to the number of units per milligram of protein. 

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