Kinetics and mechanism of the gas-phase OH hydrogen abstraction reaction from methionine: A quantum mechanical approach

Revisiting the HO●-initiated oxidation of L-proline amino acid in the aqueous phase: influence of transition metal ions

The oxidation of L-proline (Pro) by HO● radical in water and the influence of transition metal ions on this process has been revisited by using the density functional theory (DFT) method at the M05-2X/6-311 + + G(3df,3pd)//M05-2X/6-311 + + G(d,p) level of theory at the temperature of 298.15 K. The main reactive sites of the HO●-initiated oxidation of Pro via hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) reactions are at the β- and γ-carbon, with the branching ratios being 44.6% and 39.5%, respectively. The overall rate constant at 298.15 K is 6.04 × 108 M-1 s-1. In addition, Pro tends to form stable complexes with both Fe and Cu ions via the -COO functional group of dipole-salt form. The most stable Cu(II)-Pro complexes have high oxidant risks in enhancing the HO● formation in the presence of reducing agents. Besides this, the high oxidation state metal complexes, i.e. Fe(III)-Pro and Cu(II)-Pro, may be oxidized by HO● radical via HAT reactions but with a lower rate constant than that of free-Pro. By contrast, the low oxidation state metal complexes (i.e. Fe(II)-Pro and Cu(I)-Pro) have higher oxidation risks than the free ligands, and thus, the complexation enhances the oxidation of Pro amino acid.

Oxidation of Acid, Base, and Amide Side-Chain Amino Acid Derivatives via Hydroxyl Radical

Hydroxyl radical (^•OH) is known to be highly reactive. Herein, we analyze the oxidation of acid (Asp and Glu), base (Arg and Lys), and amide (Asn and Gln) containing amino acid derivatives by the consecutive attack of two ^•OH. In this work, we study the reaction pathway by means of density functional theory. The oxidation mechanism is divided into two steps: (1) the first ^•OH can abstract a H atom or an electron, leading to a radical amino acid derivative, which is the intermediate of the reaction and (2) the second ^•OH can abstract another H atom or add itself to the formed radical, rendering the final oxidized products. The studied second attack of ^•OH is applicable to situations where high concentration of ^•OH is found, e.g., in vitro. Carbonyls are the best known oxidation products for these reactions. This work includes solvent dielectric and confirmation's effects of the reaction, showing that both are negligible. Overall, the most favored intermediates of the oxidation process at the side chain correspond to the secondary radicals stabilized by hyperconjugation. Intermediates show to be more stable in those cases where the spin density of the unpaired electron is lowered. Alcohols formed at the side chains are the most favored products, followed by the double-bond-containing ones. Interestingly, Arg and Lys side-chain scission leads to the most favored carbonyl-containing oxidation products, in line with experimental results.

Protein Stability and Unfolding Following Glycine Radical Formation

Glycine (Gly) residues are particularly susceptible to hydrogen abstraction; which results in the formation of the capto-dative stabilized C_α-centered Gly radical (GLR) on the protein backbone. We examined the effect of GLR formation on the structure of the Trp cage; tryptophan zipper; and the villin headpiece; three fast-folding and stable miniproteins; using all-atom (OPLS-AA) molecular dynamics simulations. Radicalization changes the conformation of the GLR residue and affects both neighboring residues but did not affect the stability of the Trp zipper. The stability of helices away from the radical center in villin were also affected by radicalization; and GLR in place of Gly15 caused the Trp cage to unfold within 1 µs. These results provide new evidence on the destabilizing effects of protein oxidation by reactive oxygen species.

A computational study of radical initiated protein backbone homolytic dissociation on all natural amino acids

Hydroxyl radical (˙OH) is known to be one of the most reactive species. The attack of this radical onto the backbone of all natural amino acids is investigated.

Molecular mechanisms for the reaction between (˙)OH radicals and proline: insights on the role as reactive oxygen species scavenger in plant stress

The accumulation of proline (Pro) and overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by plants exposed to stress is well-documented. In vitro assays show that enzyme inactivation by hydroxyl radicals ((•)OH) can be avoided in the presence of Pro, suggesting this amino acid might act as a (•)OH scavenger. Although production of hydroxyproline (Hyp) has been hypothesized in connection with such antioxidant activity, no evidence on the detailed mechanism of scavenging has been reported. To elucidate whether and how Hyp might be produced, we used density functional theory calculations coupled to a polarizable continuum model to explore 27 reaction channels including H-abstraction by (•)OH and (•)OH/H2O addition. The structure and energetics of stable species and transition states for each reaction channel were characterized at the PCM-(U)M06/6-31G(d,p) level in aqueous solution. Evidence is found for a main pathway in which Pro scavenges (•)OH by successive H-abstractions (ΔG(‡,298) = 4.1 and 7.5 kcal mol(-1)) to yield 3,4-Δ-Pro. A companion pathway with low barriers yielding Δ(1)-pyrroline-5-carboxylate (P5C) is also supported, linking with 5-Hyp through hydration. However, this connection remains unlikely in stressed plants because P5C would be efficiently recycled to Pro (contributing to its accumulation) by P5C reductase, hypothesis coined here as the "Pro-Pro cycle".

Site specificity on OH α-H abstraction reaction for a zwitterionic β-hairpin peptide in aqueous solution: a theoretical investigation

Protein backbone oxidation was investigated by studying the α-H abstraction reaction in a ß-hairpin peptide, called Chignolin (PDB ID 1UAO), with density functional theory calculation at B3LYP/6-31G(d,p) without any constraint. In order to stabilize the zwitterionic form of Chignolin with the salt bridges, the effects of aqueous solution were implemented by using microsolvation combined with a conductor-like polarizable continuum model (CPCM). Comparison between three glycine residues located at three different sites in Chignolin was used to examine the possible site specificity of this backbone oxidation. To construct the reaction profile of these α-H abstraction reactions, the pre- and postreactive complexes along with their associated transition states were located and verified with the intrinsic reaction coordinate (IRC) method. The bond dissociation energy and reaction rates of these OH α-H abstraction reactions were calculated with transition state theory. The differences in this abstraction reaction between the neutral and zwitterionic forms of Chignolin were also compared. A molecular dynamics simulation was implemented to study the explicit solvation effect on the abstracted Chignolin structure. The range of the simulation time scale covers from femtoseconds to microseconds, i.e., from onset of the abstraction to the abstracted products reaching thermal equilibrium. Our results show that there are three kinds of site-specificity in this abstraction reaction. The reactivity and stability of the abstraction products and their abstraction modes are all dependent on the location where OH attacks. Furthermore, the free energy landscapes of these abstraction products are distinctively different. This may imply that the pathological disorders or diseases caused by this type of radicals are also dependent on the abstraction location.

Oxygen radical-mediated oxidation reactions of an alanine peptide motif - density functional theory and transition state theory study

Background

Oxygen-base (O-base) oxidation in protein backbone is important in the protein backbone fragmentation due to the attack from reactive oxygen species (ROS). In this study, an alanine peptide was used model system to investigate this O-base oxidation by employing density functional theory (DFT) calculations combining with continuum solvent model. Detailed reaction steps were analyzed along with their reaction rate constants.

Results

Most of the O-base oxidation reactions for this alanine peptide are exothermic except for the bond-breakage of the C_α-N bond to form hydroperoxy alanine radical. Among the reactions investigated in this study, the activated energy of OH α-H abstraction is the lowest one, while the generation of alkylperoxy peptide radical must overcome the highest energy barrier. The aqueous situation facilitates the oxidation reactions to generate hydroxyl alanine peptide derivatives except for the fragmentations of alkoxyl alanine peptide radical. The C_α-C_β bond of the alkoxyl alanine peptide radical is more labile than the peptide bond.

Conclusion

the rate-determining step of oxidation in protein backbone is the generation of hydroperoxy peptide radical via the reaction of alkylperoxy peptide radical with HO₂. The stabilities of alkylperoxy peptide radical and complex of alkylperoxy peptide radical with HO₂ are crucial in this O-base oxidation reaction.

Site specificity of α-H abstraction reaction among secondary structure motif—Anab initio study

The initial step of protein oxidation is studied through alpha-H abstraction by an OH radical with various secondary structure motifs of proteins. It is found that there exist preferential alpha-Hs in this kind of abstractions. The typical abstraction mechanism involves three steps: forming a pre-reactive complex before abstraction, the abstraction reaction, and the H(2)O detachment from a post-reactive complex to form the product, C(alpha)-center radical. Using the stability of the pre-reactive complex and the reaction barrier, we provide some explanation for this site preference. The feasibility of alpha-H abstraction by OH radical depends not only on the types of secondary structure, but also on the reaction condition, such as in aqueous or in gas phase. Moreover, the reactivity of the abstraction also depends on the location of alpha-H in the secondary structure motifs. The preferential alpha-Hs to be abstracted in beta-sheet are those immediate to the amide or carbonyl group, and without involving hydrogen bonding, whereas in reverse turns, the preferential alpha-Hs are near the C-terminal of type I and near the N-terminal of type II. In general, the alpha-Hs in alpha-helix are more difficult to be abstracted than those in beta-sheet and polypeptide in linear form. It is consistent with the trend of their bond dissociation energies. Our theoretical rate constant of N-acetyldiglycin-methylamide (Ac(Gly)(2)NHCH(3)) in aqueous solution (6.75 x 10(8) M(-1) s(-1)) is close to the experimental observation of N-acetyldiglycinamide (Ac(Gly)(2)NH(2)) (8.6 x 10(8) M(-1) s(-1)).

Kinetics and mechanism of the β-alanine + OH gas phase reaction: A quantum mechanical approach

The OH hydrogen abstraction reaction from beta-alanine has been studied using the BHandHLYP hybrid HF-density functional and 6-311G(d,p) basis sets. The energies have been improved by single point calculations at the CCSD(T)/6-311G(d,p) level of theory. The structures of the different stationary points are discussed. Reaction profiles are modeled including the formation of pre-reactive and product complexes. Negative net activation energy is obtained for the overall reaction. A complex mechanism is proposed, and the rate coefficients are calculated using transition state theory over the temperature range of 250-400 K. The rate coefficients are proposed for the first time and it was found that in the gas phase the hydrogen abstraction occurs mainly from the CH(2) group next to the amino end. The following expressions, in cm(3) mol(-1) s(-1), are obtained for the overall rate constants, at 250-400 and 290-310 K, respectively: k(250-400)= 2.36 x 10(-12) exp(340/T), and k(290-310)= 1.296 x 10(-12) exp(743/T). The three parameter expression that best describes the studied reaction is k(250-400)= 1.01 x 10(-21)T(3.09) exp(1374/T). The beta-alanine + OH reaction was found to be 1.5 times faster than the alpha-alanine + OH reaction.