Electrochemistry of ferredoxin and c-type cytochromes at surfactant film-modified pyrolytic graphite electrodes

Photoelectrochemistry of photosystem I bound in nafion

Developing a solid state Photosystem I (PSI) modified electrode is attractive for photoelectrochemical applications because of the quantum yield of PSI, which approaches unity in the visible spectrum. Electrodes are constructed using a Nafion film to encapsulate PSI as well as the hole-scavenging redox mediator Os(bpy)2Cl2. The photoactive electrodes generate photocurrents of 4 μA/cm(2) when illuminated with 1.4 mW/cm(2) of 676 nm band-pass filtered light. Methyl viologen (MV(2+)) is present in the electrolyte to scavenge photoelectrons from PSI in the Nafion film and transport charges to the counter electrode. Because MV(2+) is positively charged in both reduced and oxidized states, it is able to diffuse through the cation permeable channels of Nafion. Photocurrent is produced when the working electrode is set to voltages negative of the Os(3+)/Os(2+) redox potential. Charge transfer through the Nafion film and photohole scavenging at the PSI luminal surface by Os(bpy)2Cl2 depends on the reduction of Os redox centers to Os(2+) via hole scavenging from PSI. The optimal film densities of Nafion (10 μg/cm(2) Nafion) and PSI (100 μg/cm(2) PSI) are determined to provide the highest photocurrents. These optimal film densities force films to be thin to allow the majority of PSI to have productive electrical contact with the backing electrode.

Comparative electrochemical study of superoxide reductases

Superoxide reductases are involved in relevant biological electron transfer reactions related to protection against oxidative stress caused by reactive oxygen species. The electrochemical features of metalloproteins belonging to the three different classes of enzymes were studied by potentio-dynamic techniques (cyclic and square wave voltammetry): desulfoferrodoxin from Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough, class I superoxide reductases and neelaredoxin from Desulfovibrio gigas and Treponema pallidum, namely class II and III superoxide reductases, respectively. In addition, a small protein, designated desulforedoxin from D. gigas, which has high homology with the N-terminal domain of class I superoxide reductases, was also investigated. A comparison of the redox potentials and redox behavior of all the proteins is presented, and the results show that SOR center II is thermodynamically more stable than similar centers in different proteins, which may be related to an intramolecular electron transfer function.

Electrochemical Studies of Derivatized Thiol Self-Assembled Monolayers on Gold Electrode in the Presence of Surfactants

Electrochemical impendence spectroscopy (EIS), cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) were performed to investigate the barrier properties and electron transfer of derivatized thiol self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on gold in the presence of surfactants. The thiol derivatives used included 2-mercaptoethanesulfonic acid (MES), 2-mercaptoacetic acid (MAA), and N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC). A simple equivalent circuit was derived to fit the impedance spectra very well. The negative redox probe [Fe(CN)6](3-/4-) was selected to indicate the electron-transfer efficiency on the interface of the studied electrodes. It was found that by changing the surface structure of SAMs, different surfactants could regulate the barrier properties and electron-transfer efficiency in different ways. A positively charged surfactant lowered the electrostatic repulsion between the negative redox probe and negatively charged surface groups of a monolayer, while enhancing the reversibility of electron transfer by virtue of increasing the redox probe concentration within the electric double-layer region. A neutral surfactant showed no significant effect, while a negative surfactant hindered the access and reaction of redox probe by electrostatic repulsion of same-sign charges.

Enhanced Peroxidase Activity of Hemoglobin in a DNA Membrane and Its Application to an Unmediated Hydrogen Peroxide Biosensor

Hemoglobin can exhibit not only a direct electron transfer reacting after being entrapped in a DNA membrane, but also a greatly enhanced peroxidase activity toward the reduction of hydrogen peroxide. Based on the direct electrochemical property and nice enzymatic activity of the protein in a DNA membrane, a reagentless hydrogen peroxide biosensor was prepared. The peak current related to hydrogen peroxide was linearly proportional to its concentration in the range of 1.9 x 10(-6)-6.8 x 10(-4) mol L(-1). The detection limit was 1 x 10(-6) mol/L.

Electron-transfer reactivity and enzymatic activity of hemoglobin in a SP Sephadex membrane

Hemoglobin can exhibit a direct electron-transfer reaction after being entrapped in a SP Sephadex membrane. A pair of stable and well-defined redox waves are obtained at a hemoglobin-SP sephadex modified pyrolytic graphite electrode. The anodic and cathodic peak potentials are located at -0.244 and -0.336 V (vs SCE), respectively. On the other hand, the peroxidase activity of the protein in the membrane is also greatly enhanced. The apparent Michaelis-Menten constant is calculated to be 1.9 mM, which shows a large catalytic activity of hemoglobin in the SP Sephadex membrane toward hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). According to the direct electron-transfer property and enhanced peroxidase activity of Hb in the membrane, a Hb/SP Sephadex membrane-based H2O2 biosensor is prepared, with a linear range approximately 5.0 x 10(-6) to 1.6 x 10(-4) mol/L.

Fast-scan cyclic voltammetry of protein films on pyrolytic graphite edge electrodes: characteristics of electron exchange

The rapid electron-exchange characteristics of metalloproteins adsorbed at a pyrolytic graphite "edge" electrode have been studied by analog dc cyclic voltammetry at scan rates up to 3000 V s-1. The voltammetry of four proteins, azurin (a "blue" copper protein) and three 7Fe ferredoxins, reveals oxidation and reduction peaks that display only modest increases in width and peak separation as the scan rate is raised. This is indicative of a substantially homogeneous population of noninteracting centers which undergo rapid electron exchange with the electrode. Both the Butler--Volmer and Marcus models have been tested. The electrochemical kinetics, as reflected by k0 (the rate at zero overpotential), are too fast to allow the determination of reorganization energies by this method. Nonetheless, the rapid and energetically coherent nature of the electron transfer enables the cyclic oxidation and reduction of protein redox centers to be examined on a time scale sufficiently short to recognize coupled processes occurring in the millisecond time domain, which are characteristic of the protein under investigation. Two of the ferredoxins display increasingly asymmetric voltammetry as the scan rate is increased, which is attributed to the coupling of electron transfer to conformational (or orientational) changes. For azurin, the use of higher electrolyte concentrations enables studies to be made at scan rates up to 3000 V s-1, from which a standard electron-transfer rate constant in the region of 5000 s-1 is obtained. At these high scan rates, azurin still shows very symmetrical voltammograms but with peak shapes displaying a more gradual decrease in current, at increasing overpotential, than is predicted using realistic values of the reorganization energy. The ability to measure even faster rate constants and access coupled reactions occurring in shorter time domains is likely to be limited by complex processes occurring on the graphite surface.

The reduction potential of cytochrome b5 is modulated by its exposed heme edge

When the reduction potential of cytochrome b5 is measured with the aid of several different surface-modified electrodes that function on the basis of electrostatic interactions with the protein, the resultant values have been consistently more positive (40-100 mV) than the reduction potentials measured with potentiometric methods. In this paper, we report that the heme edge containing the exposed heme propionate, a heme methyl, and a heme vinyl, and which constitutes part of the surface of cytochrome b5, modulates its reduction potential. The positive shifts observed in the voltammetric measurements appear to originate from the formation of a complex between cytochrome b5 and the modified electrode surface which (a) neutralizes the charge on the heme propionate located on the exposed heme edge and (b) lowers the dielectric of the exposed heme microenvironment by excluding water from the complex interface, factors which result in the destabilization of the positive charge on the ferric heme with respect to the neutral ferrous heme. The observed positive shift, which is induced by complexation at the electrode surface, may indicate that similar shifts in the reduction potential of cytochrome b5 occur when it forms a complex with physiological partners, prior to electron transfer. The effect of the value of the dielectric constant on the reduction potential of cytochrome b5 was corroborated by preparing the V45L/V61L double mutant whose reduction potential was measured to be 50 mV more negative than the value measured for the wild type protein. The negative shift in the reduction potential of the mutant protein was explained by the increased accessibility of water to the heme binding site, as observed in its X-ray crystal structure.