The determinants of stability and folding in evolutionarily diverged cytochromes c

Altered coordination in a blue copper protein upon association with redox partner revealed by carbon-deuterium vibrational probes

Proteins tune the reactivity of metal sites; less understood is the impact of association with a redox partner. We demonstrate the utility of carbon-deuterium labels for selective analysis of delicate...

Contributions to cytochrome c inner- and outer-sphere reorganization energy

Cytochromes c are small water-soluble proteins that catalyze electron transfer in metabolism and energy conversion processes. Hydrogenobacter thermophilus cytochrome c₅₅₂ presents a curious case in displaying fluxionality of its heme axial methionine ligand; this behavior is altered by single point mutation of the Q64 residue to N64 or V64, which fixes the ligand in a single configuration. The reorganization energy (λ) of these cytochrome c₅₅₂ variants is experimentally determined using a combination of rotating disc electrochemistry, chronoamperometry and cyclic voltammetry. The differences between the λ determined from these complementary techniques helps to deconvolute the contribution of the active site and its immediate environment to the overall λ (λ_Total). The experimentally determined λ values in conjunction with DFT calculations indicate that the differences in λ among the protein variants are mainly due to the differences in contributions from the protein environment and not just inner-sphere λ. DFT calculations indicate that the position of residue 64, responsible for the orientation of the axial methionine, determines the geometric relaxation of the redox active molecular orbital (RAMO). The orientation of the RAMO with respect to the heme is key to determining electron transfer coupling (H_AB) which results in higher ET rates in the wild-type protein relative to the Q64V mutant despite a 150 mV higher λ_Total in the former.

Efficient delocalization of the redox-active molecular orbital (RAMO) in HtWT results in an increase in H_AB value which in turn accelerates the electron transfer (ET) rate in spite of the higher reorganization energy (λ) than the HtQ64V mutant.

Terahertz-infrared spectroscopy of Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 extracellular matrix

Employing optical spectroscopy we have performed a comparative study of the dielectric response of extracellular matrix and filaments of electrogenic bacteria Shewanella oneidensis MR-1, cytochrome c, and bovine serum albumin. Combining infrared transmission measurements on thin layers with data of the terahertz spectra, we obtain the dielectric permittivity and AC conductivity spectra of the materials in a broad frequency band from a few cm-1 up to 7000 cm-1 in the temperature range from 5 to 300 K. Strong absorption bands are observed in the three materials that cover the range from 10 to 300 cm-1 and mainly determine the terahertz absorption. When cooled down to liquid helium temperatures, the bands in Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 and cytochrome c reveal a distinct fine structure. In all three materials, we identify the presence of liquid bound water in the form of librational and translational absorption bands at ≈ 200 and ≈ 600 cm-1, respectively. The sharp excitations seen above 1000 cm-1 are assigned to intramolecular vibrations.

Methionine Ligand Interaction in a Blue Copper Protein Characterized by Site-Selective Infrared Spectroscopy

The reactivity of metal sites in proteins is tuned by protein-based ligands. For example, in blue copper proteins such as plastocyanin (Pc), the structure imparts a highly elongated bond between the Cu and a methionine (Met) axial ligand to modulate its redox properties. Despite extensive study, a complete understanding of the contribution of the protein to redox activity is challenged by experimentally accessing both redox states of metalloproteins. Using infrared (IR) spectroscopy in combination with site-selective labeling with carbon-deuterium (C-D) vibrational probes, we characterized the localized changes at the Cu ligand Met97 in the oxidized and reduced states, as well as the Zn(II) or Co(II)-substituted, the pH-induced low-coordinate, the apoprotein, and the unfolded states. The IR absorptions of (d3-methyl)Met97 are highly sensitive to interaction of the sulfur-based orbitals with the metal center and are demonstrated to be useful reporters of its modulation in the different states. Unrestricted Kohn-Sham density functional theory calculations performed on a model of the Cu site of Pc confirm the observed dependence. IR spectroscopy was then applied to characterize the impact of binding to the physiological redox partner cytochrome (cyt) f. The spectral changes suggest a slightly stronger Cu-S(Met97) interaction in the complex with cyt f that has potential to modulate the electron transfer properties. Besides providing direct, molecular-level comparison of the oxidized and reduced states of Pc from the perspective of the axial Met ligand and evidence for perturbation of the Cu site properties by redox partner binding, this study demonstrates the localized spatial information afforded by IR spectroscopy of selectively incorporated C-D probes.

The role of key residues in structure, function, and stability of cytochrome-c

Cytochrome-c (cyt-c), a multi-functional protein, plays a significant role in the electron transport chain, and thus is indispensable in the energy-production process. Besides being an important component in apoptosis, it detoxifies reactive oxygen species. Two hundred and eighty-five complete amino acid sequences of cyt-c from different species are known. Sequence analysis suggests that the number of amino acid residues in most mitochondrial cyts-c is in the range 104 ± 10, and amino acid residues at only few positions are highly conserved throughout evolution. These highly conserved residues are Cys14, Cys17, His18, Gly29, Pro30, Gly41, Asn52, Trp59, Tyr67, Leu68, Pro71, Pro76, Thr78, Met80, and Phe82. These are also known as "key residues", which contribute significantly to the structure, function, folding, and stability of cyt-c. The three-dimensional structure of cyt-c from ten eukaryotic species have been determined using X-ray diffraction studies. Structure analysis suggests that the tertiary structure of cyt-c is almost preserved along the evolutionary scale. Furthermore, residues of N/C-terminal helices Gly6, Phe10, Leu94, and Tyr97 interact with each other in a specific manner, forming an evolutionary conserved interface. To understand the role of evolutionary conserved residues on structure, stability, and function, numerous studies have been performed in which these residues were substituted with different amino acids. In these studies, structure deals with the effect of mutation on secondary and tertiary structure measured by spectroscopic techniques; stability deals with the effect of mutation on T m (midpoint of heat denaturation), ∆G D (Gibbs free energy change on denaturation) and folding; and function deals with the effect of mutation on electron transport, apoptosis, cell growth, and protein expression. In this review, we have compiled all these studies at one place. This compilation will be useful to biochemists and biophysicists interested in understanding the importance of conservation of certain residues throughout the evolution in preserving the structure, function, and stability in proteins.