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Nilsen-Moe A, Reinhardt CR, Huang P, Agarwala H, Lopes R, Lasagna M, Glover S, Hammes-Schiffer S, Tommos C, Hammarström L. Switching the proton-coupled electron transfer mechanism for non-canonical tyrosine residues in a de novo protein. Chem Sci 2024; 15:3957-3970. [PMID: 38487244 PMCID: PMC10935721 DOI: 10.1039/d3sc05450k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2023] [Accepted: 01/23/2024] [Indexed: 03/17/2024] Open
Abstract
The proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) reactions of tyrosine (Y) are instrumental to many redox reactions in nature. This study investigates how the local environment and the thermodynamic properties of Y influence its PCET characteristics. Herein, 2- and 4-mercaptophenol (MP) are placed in the well-folded α3C protein (forming 2MP-α3C and 4MP-α3C) and oxidized by external light-generated [Ru(L)3]3+ complexes. The resulting neutral radicals are long-lived (>100 s) with distinct optical and EPR spectra. Calculated spin-density distributions are similar to canonical Y˙ and display very little spin on the S-S bridge that ligates the MPs to C32 inside the protein. With 2MP-α3C and 4MP-α3C we probe how proton transfer (PT) affects the PCET rate constants and mechanisms by varying the degree of solvent exposure or the potential to form an internal hydrogen bond. Solution NMR ensemble structures confirmed our intended design by displaying a major difference in the phenol OH solvent accessible surface area (≤∼2% for 2MP and 30-40% for 4MP). Additionally, 2MP-C32 is within hydrogen bonding distance to a nearby glutamate (average O-O distance is 3.2 ± 0.5 Å), which is suggested also by quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) molecular dynamics simulations. Neither increased exposure of the phenol OH to solvent (buffered water), nor the internal hydrogen bond, was found to significantly affect the PCET rates. However, the lower phenol pKa values associated with the MP-α3C proteins compared to α3Y provided a sufficient change in PT driving force to alter the PCET mechanism. The PCET mechanism for 2MP-α3C and 4MP-α3C with moderately strong oxidants was predominantly step-wise PTET for pH values, but changed to concerted PCET at neutral pH values and below when a stronger oxidant was used, as found previously for α3Y. This shows how the balance of ET and PT driving forces is critical for controlling PCET mechanisms. The presented results improve our general understanding of amino-acid based PCET in enzymes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Astrid Nilsen-Moe
- Department of Chemistry, Ångström Laboratory, Uppsala University Box 523 75120 Uppsala Sweden
| | - Clorice R Reinhardt
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University New Haven CT 06520 USA
| | - Ping Huang
- Department of Chemistry, Ångström Laboratory, Uppsala University Box 523 75120 Uppsala Sweden
| | - Hemlata Agarwala
- Technical University Munich, Campus Straubing for Biotechnology and Sustainability Uferstraße 53 94315 Straubing Germany
| | - Rosana Lopes
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Texas A&M University College Station TX 77843 USA
| | - Mauricio Lasagna
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Texas A&M University College Station TX 77843 USA
| | - Starla Glover
- Department of Chemistry, Ångström Laboratory, Uppsala University Box 523 75120 Uppsala Sweden
| | | | - Cecilia Tommos
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Texas A&M University College Station TX 77843 USA
| | - Leif Hammarström
- Department of Chemistry, Ångström Laboratory, Uppsala University Box 523 75120 Uppsala Sweden
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2
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Gibbs CA, Ghazi N, Tao J, Warren JJ. An Investigation of the Influence of Tyrosine Local Interactions on Electron Hopping in a Model Protein. Molecules 2024; 29:350. [PMID: 38257263 PMCID: PMC10818705 DOI: 10.3390/molecules29020350] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2023] [Revised: 01/04/2024] [Accepted: 01/05/2024] [Indexed: 01/24/2024] Open
Abstract
Multi-step electron transfer reactions are important to the function of many cellular systems. The ways in which such systems have evolved to direct electrons along specific pathways are largely understood, but less so are the ways in which the reduction-oxidation potentials of individual redox sites are controlled. We prepared a series of three new artificial variants of Pseudomonas aeruginosa azurin where a tyrosine (Tyr109) is situated between the native Cu ion and a Ru(II) photosensitizer tethered to a histidine (His107). Arginine, glutamine, or methionine were introduced as position 122, which is near to Tyr109. We investigated the rate of CuI oxidation by a flash-quench generated Ru(III) oxidant over pH values from 5 to 9. While the identity of the residue at position 122 affects some of the physical properties of Tyr109, the rates of CuI oxidation are only weakly dependent on the identity of the residue at 122. The results highlight that more work is still needed to understand how non-covalent interactions of redox active groups are affected in redox proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Jeffrey J. Warren
- Department of Chemistry, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada
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3
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Abstract
Some oxidoreductase enzymes use redox-active tyrosine, tryptophan, cysteine, and/or glycine residues as one-electron, high-potential redox (radical) cofactors. Amino-acid radical cofactors typically perform one of four tasks-they work in concert with a metallocofactor to carry out a multielectron redox process, serve as storage sites for oxidizing equivalents, activate the substrate molecules, or move oxidizing equivalents over long distances. It is challenging to experimentally resolve the thermodynamic and kinetic redox properties of a single-amino-acid residue. The inherently reactive and highly oxidizing properties of amino-acid radicals increase the experimental barriers further still. This review describes a family of stable and well-structured model proteins that was made specifically to study tyrosine and tryptophan oxidation-reduction. The so-called α3X model protein system was combined with very-high-potential protein film voltammetry, transient absorption spectroscopy, and theoretical methods to gain a comprehensive description of the thermodynamic and kinetic properties of protein tyrosine and tryptophan radicals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cecilia Tommos
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA;
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4
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Zeynaloo E, Zahran EM, Yang YP, Dikici E, Head T, Bachas LG, Daunert S. Reagentless electrochemical biosensors through incorporation of unnatural amino acids on the protein structure. Biosens Bioelectron 2022; 200:113861. [PMID: 34986438 PMCID: PMC9404255 DOI: 10.1016/j.bios.2021.113861] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2021] [Revised: 11/19/2021] [Accepted: 12/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Typical protein biosensors employ chemical or genetic labeling of the protein, thus introducing an extraneous molecule to the wild-type parent protein, often changing the overall structure and properties of the protein. While these labeling methods have proven successful in many cases, they also have a series of disadvantages associated with their preparation and function. An alternative route for labeling proteins is the incorporation of unnatural amino acid (UAA) analogues, capable of acting as a label, into the structure of a protein. Such an approach, while changing the local microenvironment, poses less of a burden on the overall structure of the protein. L-DOPA is an analog of phenylalanine and contains a catechol moiety that participates in a quasi-reversible, two-electron redox process, thus making it suitable as an electrochemical label/reporter. The periplasmic glucose/galactose binding protein (GBP) was chosen to demonstrate this detection principle. Upon glucose binding, GBP undergoes a significant conformational change that is manifested as a change in the electrochemistry of L-DOPA. The electroactive GBP was immobilized onto gold nanoparticle-modified, polymerized caffeic acid, screen-printed carbon electrodes (GBP-LDOPA/AuNP/PCA/SPCE) for the purpose of direct measurement of glucose levels and serves as a proof-of-concept of the use of electrochemically-active unnatural amino acids as the label. The resulting reagentless GBP biosensors exhibited a highly selective and sensitive binding affinity for glucose in the micromolar range, laying the foundation for a new biosensing methodology based on global incorporation of an electroactive amino acid into the protein's primary sequence for highly selective electrochemical detection of compounds of interest.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elnaz Zeynaloo
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, 33136, United States; Department of Chemistry, University of Miami, Miami, FL, 33134, United States
| | - Elsayed M Zahran
- Department of Chemistry, Ball State University, Muncie, IN, 47306, United States
| | - Yu-Ping Yang
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, 33136, United States; Dr. JT Macdonald Foundation Biomedical Nanotechnology Institute, University of Miami, Miami, FL, 33136, United States
| | - Emre Dikici
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, 33136, United States; Dr. JT Macdonald Foundation Biomedical Nanotechnology Institute, University of Miami, Miami, FL, 33136, United States; Clinical and Translational Science Institute, University of Miami, Miami, FL, 33136, United States
| | - Trajen Head
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, 33136, United States; Dr. JT Macdonald Foundation Biomedical Nanotechnology Institute, University of Miami, Miami, FL, 33136, United States
| | - Leonidas G Bachas
- Department of Chemistry, University of Miami, Miami, FL, 33134, United States; Dr. JT Macdonald Foundation Biomedical Nanotechnology Institute, University of Miami, Miami, FL, 33136, United States
| | - Sylvia Daunert
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, 33136, United States; Dr. JT Macdonald Foundation Biomedical Nanotechnology Institute, University of Miami, Miami, FL, 33136, United States; Clinical and Translational Science Institute, University of Miami, Miami, FL, 33136, United States.
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5
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Cáceres JC, Bailey CA, Yokoyama K, Greene BL. Selenocysteine substitutions in thiyl radical enzymes. Methods Enzymol 2022; 662:119-141. [DOI: 10.1016/bs.mie.2021.10.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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6
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Affiliation(s)
- Brandon L. Greene
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States
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7
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Hecker F, Stubbe J, Bennati M. Detection of Water Molecules on the Radical Transfer Pathway of Ribonucleotide Reductase by 17O Electron-Nuclear Double Resonance Spectroscopy. J Am Chem Soc 2021; 143:7237-7241. [PMID: 33957040 PMCID: PMC8154519 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.1c01359] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
The role of water in biological proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) is emerging as a key for understanding mechanistic details at atomic resolution. Here we demonstrate 17O high-frequency electron-nuclear double resonance (ENDOR) in conjunction with H217O-labeled protein buffer to establish the presence of ordered water molecules at three radical intermediates in an active enzyme complex, the α2β2 E. coli ribonucleotide reductase. Our data give unambiguous evidence that all three, individually trapped, intermediates are hyperfine coupled to one water molecule with Tyr-O···17O distances in the range 2.8-3.1 Å. The availability of this structural information will allow for quantitative models of PCET in this prototype enzyme. The results also provide a spectroscopic signature for water H-bonded to a tyrosyl radical.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabian Hecker
- Max
Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
| | - JoAnne Stubbe
- Department
of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 20139, United States
| | - Marina Bennati
- Max
Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
- Department
of Chemistry, Georg-August-University, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
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8
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Nilsen-Moe A, Reinhardt CR, Glover SD, Liang L, Hammes-Schiffer S, Hammarström L, Tommos C. Proton-Coupled Electron Transfer from Tyrosine in the Interior of a de novo Protein: Mechanisms and Primary Proton Acceptor. J Am Chem Soc 2020; 142:11550-11559. [PMID: 32479070 PMCID: PMC7315633 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.0c04655] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
![]()
Proton-coupled
electron transfer (PCET) from tyrosine produces
a neutral tyrosyl radical (Y•) that is vital to
many catalytic redox reactions. To better understand how the protein
environment influences the PCET properties of tyrosine, we have studied
the radical formation behavior of Y32 in the α3Y model protein. The previously solved α3Y solution NMR structure shows that Y32 is sequestered
∼7.7 ± 0.3 Å below the protein surface without any
primary proton acceptors nearby. Here we present transient absorption
kinetic data and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to resolve the
PCET mechanism associated with Y32 oxidation. Y32• was generated in a bimolecular reaction with
[Ru(bpy)3]3+ formed by flash photolysis. At
pH > 8, the rate constant of Y32• formation
(kPCET) increases by one order of magnitude
per pH unit, corresponding to a proton-first mechanism via tyrosinate
(PTET). At lower pH < 7.5, the pH dependence is weak and shows
a previously measured KIE ≈ 2.5, which best fits a concerted
mechanism. kPCET is independent of phosphate
buffer concentration at pH 6.5. This provides clear evidence that
phosphate buffer is not the primary proton acceptor. MD simulations
show that one to two water molecules can enter the hydrophobic cavity
of α3Y and hydrogen bond to Y32, as well
as the possibility of hydrogen-bonding interactions between Y32 and E13, through structural fluctuations that
reorient surrounding side chains. Our results illustrate how protein
conformational motions can influence the redox reactivity of a tyrosine
residue and how PCET mechanisms can be tuned by changing the pH even
when the PCET occurs within the interior of a protein.
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Affiliation(s)
- Astrid Nilsen-Moe
- Department of Chemistry, Ångström Laboratory, Uppsala University, Box 523, Uppsala 75120, Sweden
| | - Clorice R Reinhardt
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, United States
| | - Starla D Glover
- Department of Chemistry, Ångström Laboratory, Uppsala University, Box 523, Uppsala 75120, Sweden
| | - Li Liang
- Departments of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-6059, United States
| | | | - Leif Hammarström
- Department of Chemistry, Ångström Laboratory, Uppsala University, Box 523, Uppsala 75120, Sweden
| | - Cecilia Tommos
- Departments of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-6059, United States.,Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-2128, United States
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9
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Zahler CT, Shaw BF. What Are We Missing by Not Measuring the Net Charge of Proteins? Chemistry 2019; 25:7581-7590. [PMID: 30779227 DOI: 10.1002/chem.201900178] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2019] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
The net electrostatic charge (Z) of a folded protein in solution represents a bird's eye view of its surface potentials-including contributions from tightly bound metal, solvent, buffer, and cosolvent ions-and remains one of its most enigmatic properties. Few tools are available to the average biochemist to rapidly and accurately measure Z at pH≠pI. Tools that have been developed more recently seem to go unnoticed. Most scientists are content with this void and estimate the net charge of a protein from its amino acid sequence, using textbook values of pKa . Thus, Z remains unmeasured for nearly all folded proteins at pH≠pI. When marveling at all that has been learned from accurately measuring the other fundamental property of a protein-its mass-one wonders: what are we missing by not measuring the net charge of folded, solvated proteins? A few big questions immediately emerge in bioinorganic chemistry. When a single electron is transferred to a metalloprotein, does the net charge of the protein change by approximately one elementary unit of charge or does charge regulation dominate, that is, do the pKa values of most ionizable residues (or just a few residues) adjust in response to (or in concert with) electron transfer? Would the free energy of charge regulation (ΔΔGz ) account for most of the outer sphere reorganization energy associated with electron transfer? Or would ΔΔGz contribute more to the redox potential? And what about metal binding itself? When an apo-metalloprotein, bearing minimal net negative charge (e.g., Z=-2.0) binds one or more metal cations, is the net charge abolished or inverted to positive? Or do metalloproteins regulate net charge when coordinating metal ions? The author's group has recently dusted off a relatively obscure tool-the "protein charge ladder"-and used it to begin to answer these basic questions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Collin T Zahler
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Baylor University, Waco, TX, 76706, USA
| | - Bryan F Shaw
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Baylor University, Waco, TX, 76706, USA
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10
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Stubbe J, Seyedsayamdost MR. Discovery of a New Class I Ribonucleotide Reductase with an Essential DOPA Radical and NO Metal as an Initiator of Long-Range Radical Transfer. Biochemistry 2018; 58:435-437. [PMID: 30586288 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.8b01238] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- JoAnne Stubbe
- Department of Chemistry , Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge , Massachusetts 02139 , United States
| | - Mohammad R Seyedsayamdost
- Department of Chemistry , Princeton University , Frick Laboratory , Princeton , New Jersey 08544 , United States
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11
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Metal-free class Ie ribonucleotide reductase from pathogens initiates catalysis with a tyrosine-derived dihydroxyphenylalanine radical. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2018; 115:10022-10027. [PMID: 30224458 PMCID: PMC6176560 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1811993115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Conversion of ribonucleotides to the 2′-deoxyribonucleotides required for DNA biosynthesis is catalyzed by ribonucleotide reductases (RNRs) via a free-radical mechanism. Known types of RNRs all depend on redox-active transition metals—manganese, iron, or cobalt—for radical initiation. Pathogenic bacteria are challenged by transition metal sequestration and infliction of oxidative stress by their hosts, and the deployment of multiple RNRs with different metal requirements and radical-initiating oxidants is a known bacterial countermeasure. A class I RNR from two bacterial pathogens completely lacks transition metals in its active state and uses a tyrosine-derived dihydroxyphenylalanine radical as its initiator, embodying a novel tactic to combat transition metal- and oxidant-mediated innate immunity and reinforcing bacterial RNRs as potential antibiotic targets. All cells obtain 2′-deoxyribonucleotides for DNA synthesis through the activity of a ribonucleotide reductase (RNR). The class I RNRs found in humans and pathogenic bacteria differ in (i) use of Fe(II), Mn(II), or both for activation of the dinuclear-metallocofactor subunit, β; (ii) reaction of the reduced dimetal center with dioxygen or superoxide for this activation; (iii) requirement (or lack thereof) for a flavoprotein activase, NrdI, to provide the superoxide from O2; and (iv) use of either a stable tyrosyl radical or a high-valent dimetal cluster to initiate each turnover by oxidizing a cysteine residue in the α subunit to a radical (Cys•). The use of manganese by bacterial class I, subclass b-d RNRs, which contrasts with the exclusive use of iron by the eukaryotic Ia enzymes, appears to be a countermeasure of certain pathogens against iron deprivation imposed by their hosts. Here, we report a metal-free type of class I RNR (subclass e) from two human pathogens. The Cys• in its α subunit is generated by a stable, tyrosine-derived dihydroxyphenylalanine radical (DOPA•) in β. The three-electron oxidation producing DOPA• occurs in Escherichia coli only if the β is coexpressed with the NrdI activase encoded adjacently in the pathogen genome. The independence of this new RNR from transition metals, or the requirement for a single metal ion only transiently for activation, may afford the pathogens an even more potent countermeasure against transition metal-directed innate immunity.
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