Probing protein-cofactor interactions in the terminal oxidases by second derivative spectroscopy: study of bacterial enzymes with cofactor substitutions and heme A model compounds

Individual heme a and heme a3 contributions to the Soret absorption spectrum of the reduced bovine cytochrome c oxidase

Bovine cytochrome c oxidase (CcO) contains two hemes, a and a₃, chemically identical but differing in coordination and spin state. The Soret absorption band of reduced aa₃-type cytochrome c oxidase consists of overlapping bands of the hemes a²⁺ and a₃²⁺. It shows a peak at ∼444 nm and a distinct shoulder at ∼425 nm. However, attribution of individual spectral lineshapes to hemes a²⁺ and a₃²⁺ in the Soret is controversial. In the present work, we characterized spectral contributions of hemes a²⁺ and a₃²⁺ using two approaches. First, we reconstructed bovine CcO heme a²⁺ spectrum using a selective Ca²⁺-induced spectral shift of the heme a²⁺. Second, we investigated photobleaching of the reduced Thermus thermophilus ba₃- and bovine aa₃-oxidases in the Soret induced by femtosecond laser pulses in the Q-band. The resolved spectra show splitting of the electronic B_0x-, B_0y-transitions of both reduced hemes. The heme a²⁺ spectrum is shifted to the red relative to heme a₃²⁺ spectrum. The ∼425 nm shoulder is mostly attributed to heme a₃²⁺.

Response of Heme Symmetry to the Redox State of Bovine Cytochrome c Oxidase

Second-derivative absorption spectroscopy was employed to monitor the response of effective symmetry of cytochromes a and a₃ to the redox and ligation states of bovine cytochrome c oxidase (CcO). The Soret band π → π* electronic transitions were used to display the changes in symmetry of these chromophores induced by the reduction of CcO inhibited by the exogenous ligands and during catalytic turnover. The second derivative of the difference absorption spectra revealed only a single Soret band for the oxidized cytochromes a and a₃ and cyanide-ligated oxidized cytochrome a₃. In contrast, two absorption bands were resolved in ferrous cytochrome a and ferrous cytochrome a₃ ligated with cyanide. A transition from one-band spectrum to two-band spectrum indicates the lowering of symmetry of these hemes due to the alteration of their immediate surroundings. It is suggested that the changes in polarity occurring in the vicinity of these cofactors are main reason for the split of the Soret band of both ferrous cytochrome a and cyanide-bound ferrous cytochrome a₃.

Reconstruction of absolute absorption spectrum of reduced heme a in cytochrome C oxidase from bovine heart

This paper presents a new experimental approach for determining the individual optical characteristics of reduced heme a in bovine heart cytochrome c oxidase starting from a small selective shift of the heme a absorption spectrum induced by calcium ions. The difference spectrum induced by Ca2+ corresponds actually to a first derivative (differential) of the heme a(2+) absolute absorption spectrum. Such an absolute spectrum was obtained for the mixed-valence cyanide complex of cytochrome oxidase (a(2+)a3(3+)-CN) and was subsequently used as a basis spectrum for further procession and modeling. The individual absorption spectrum of the reduced heme a in the Soret region was reconstructed as the integral of the difference spectrum induced by addition of Ca2+. The spectrum of heme a(2+) in the Soret region obtained in this way is characterized by a peak with a maximum at 447 nm and half-width of 17 nm and can be decomposed into two Gaussians with maxima at 442 and 451 nm and half-widths of ~10 nm (589 cm(-1)) corresponding to the perpendicularly oriented electronic π→π* transitions B0x and B0y in the porphyrin ring. The reconstructed spectrum in the Soret band differs significantly from the "classical" absorption spectrum of heme a(2+) originally described by Vanneste (Vanneste, W. H. (1966) Biochemistry, 65, 838-848). The differences indicate that the overall γ-band of heme a(2+) in cytochrome oxidase contains in addition to the B0x and B0y transitions extra components that are not sensitive to calcium ions, or, alternatively, that the Vanneste's spectrum of heme a(2+) contains significant contribution from heme a3(2+). The reconstructed absorption band of heme a(2+) in the α-band with maximum at 605 nm and half-width of 18 nm (850 cm(-1)) corresponds most likely to the individual Q0y transition of heme a, whereas the Q0x transition contributes only weakly to the spectrum.

The second derivative electronic absorption spectrum of cytochrome c oxidase in the Soret region

The electronic absorption spectrum of solubilized beef heart cytochrome c oxidase was analyzed in the 400-500 nm region to identify the origin of doublet features appearing in the second derivative spectrum associated with ferrocytochrome a. This doublet, centered near 22,600 cm(-1), was observed in the direct absorption spectrum of the a(2+)a(3)(3+).HCOO(-) form of the enzyme at cryogenic temperatures. Since evidence for this doublet at room temperature is obtained only on the basis of the second derivative spectrum, a novel mathematical approach was developed to analyze the resolving power of second derivative spectroscopy as a function of parameterization of spectral data. Within the mathematical limits defined for resolving spectral features, it was demonstrated that the integrated intensity of the doublet feature near 450 nm associated with ferrocytochrome a is independent of the ligand and oxidation state of cytochrome a(3). Furthermore, the doublet features, also observed in cytochrome c oxidase from Paracoccus denitrificans, were similarly associated with the heme A component and were correspondingly independent of the ligand and oxidation state of the heme A(3) chromophore. The doublet features are attributed to lifting of the degeneracy of the x and y polarized components of the B state of the heme A chromophore associated with the Soret transition.

The effects of several nucleotides on the molecular state and catalytic activity of Thiobacillus novellus cytochrome c oxidase. ATP affects the oxidase uniquely

The catalytic activity and molecular aspects of Thiobacillus novellus cytpchrome c oxidase were affected by ATP. The steady-state kinetics in the oxidation of ferrocytochrome c by the oxidase varied with the presence or absence of ATP; the [S]-v curve of the reaction was sigmoid in the absence of ATP whereas it was a Michaelis-Menten-type hyperbola in the presence of 700 microM ATP. The oxidase was a dimer of the minimal structural subunit consisting of one molecule each of two subunits in the presence of Tween 20 and in the absence of ATP. The dimer dissociated into monomers in the presence of 700 microM ATP. The trough at 452 nm seen in the second derivative absorption spectrum of the CO compound of the oxidase in the absence of ATP, a characteristic of the cytochrome a component of cytochrome aa3, dissappeared in the presence of 700 microM ATP. However, ADP, AMP, GTP, CTP and UTP had little affect on both the [S]-v curve and the molecular mass of the oxidase when used in place of ATP.