Electron-transfer reactions between flavodoxin semiquinone and c-type cytochromes: comparisons between various flavodoxins

Characterisation of the electron transfer and complex formation between flavodoxin from D. vulgaris and the haem domain of cytochrome P450 BM3 from B. megaterium

Investigation of the complex formation and electron transfer kinetics between P450 BMP and flavodoxin was carried out following the suggested involvement of flavodoxin in modulating the electron transfer to BMP in artificial redox chains bound to an electrode surface. While electron transfer measurements show the formation of a tightly bound complex, the NMR data indicate the formation of shortly lived complexes. The measured k(obs) ranged from 24.2 s(-1) to 44.1 s(-1) with k(on) ranging from 0.07 x 10(6) to 1.1 x 10(6) s(-1) M(-1) and K(d) ranging from 300 microM to 24 microM in buffers of different ionic strength. This apparent contradiction is due to the existence of two events in the complex formation prior to electron transfer. A stable complex is initially formed. Within such tightly bound complex, flavodoxin rocks rapidly between different positions. The rocking of the bound flavodoxin between several different orientations gives rise to the transient complexes in fast exchange as observed in the NMR experiments. Docking simulations with two different approaches support the theory that there is no highly specific orientation in the complex, but instead one side of the flavodoxin binds the P450 with high overall affinity but with a number of different orientations. The level of functionality of each orientation is dependent on the distance between cofactors, which can vary between 8 and 25 A, with some of the transient complexes showing distances compatible with the measured electron transfer rate constants.

The effect of ionic strength on the electron-transfer rate of surface immobilized cytochrome C

Horse heart cytochrome c was immobilized on four different self-assembled monolayer (SAM) films. The electron tunneling kinetics were studied in the different assemblies as a function of the ionic strength of the buffer solution using cyclic voltammetry. When cytochrome c is electrostatically immobilized, the standard electron exchange rate constant k0 decreases with the increase of the solution's ionic strength. In contrast, the protein covalently attached or ligated has a rate constant independent of the ionic strength. The inhomogeneity of electrostatically immobilized cytochrome c increases with the increase of the solution's ionic strength whereas that of the covalently attached protein is independent of the ionic strength. A comparison of these different electron-transfer behaviors suggests that the thermodynamically stable geometry of cytochrome c in the electrostatic assemblies is also an electron transfer favorable one. It suggests that the surface charges of cytochrome c are capable of guiding it into geometries in which its front surface faces the electron-transfer partner. The inhomogeneity observed in this study indicates that a distribution of cytochrome c orientations and thus a distribution of electron transfer rate constants exists.

A crystallographic study of Cys69Ala flavodoxin II from Azotobacter vinelandii: structural determinants of redox potential

Flavodoxin II from Azotobacter vinelandii is a "long-chain" flavodoxin and has one of the lowest E1 midpoint potentials found within the flavodoxin family. To better understand the relationship between structural features and redox potentials, the oxidized form of the C69A mutant of this flavodoxin was crystallized and its three-dimensional structure determined to a resolution of 2.25 A by molecular replacement. Its overall fold is similar to that of other flavodoxins, with a central five-stranded parallel beta-sheet flanked on either side by alpha-helices. An eight-residue insertion, compared with other long-chain flavodoxins, forms a short 3(10) helix preceding the start of the alpha3 helix. The flavin mononucleotide (FMN) cofactor is flanked by a leucine on its re face instead of the more conserved tryptophan, resulting in a more solvent-accessible FMN binding site and stabilization of the hydroquinone (hq) state. In particular the absence of a hydrogen bond to the N5 atom of the oxidized FMN was identified, which destabilizes the ox form, as well as an exceptionally large patch of acidic residues in the vicinity of the FMN N1 atom, which destabilizes the hq form. It is also argued that the presence of a Gly at position 58 in the sequence stabilizes the semiquinone (sq) form, as a result, raising the E2 value in particular.

Stopped-flow kinetic studies of low potential electron carriers of the photosynthetic bacterium, Rhodobacter capsulatus: ferredoxin I and NifF

The kinetics of electron-transfer reactions involving nif-specific proteins from Rhodobacter capsulatus; ferredoxin I, NifF, Fe-protein of nitrogenase and dithionite were studied using stopped-flow spectrophotometry. Kinetic evidence was obtained for the formation of a tight (0.44 microM) complex between NifF and Fe-protein. Under the same conditions, FdI interacted only weakly (Kd > 325 microM) with Fe-protein. There was no evidence for complex formation between NifF and FdI since the reaction NifFSQ + FdIred had a bimolecular rate constant of 12.5 +/- 1.2 x 10(3) M-1 s-1. These results suggest that NifF, which is present in only small quantities in the cell, can make a significant contribution to the overall rate of nitrogen fixation due its high reactivity with Fe-protein. Moreover, the apparent lack of specific interaction between NifF and FdI suggest that they act in vivo in parallel to reduce Fe-protein and not in series.

NO news is good news

The recent determination of the crystal structure of microsomal cytochrome P450 reductase, a diflavin protein that shuttles electrons from NADPH to the P450 heme, represents a significant advance towards the understanding of cytochromes P450. A similar advance was made in a related enzyme system, nitric oxide synthase (NOS). The crystal structure of the NOS heme domain reveals a very different architecture to that observed in P450s and offers significant insight into the production of nitric oxide, one of nature's most important regulatory molecules.

Escherichia coli flavodoxin sepharose as an affinity resin for cytochromes P450 and use to identify a putative cytochrome P450c17/3beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase interaction

Flavodoxin Sepharose (Fld Sepharose), a reagent originally developed to demonstrate an interaction between native Escherichia coli Fld and cytochrome P450c17, has been synthesized, using highly expressed (7 micromol Fld/liter E. coli culture) recombinant E. coli Fld, for use as an affinity resin for microsomal cytochromes P450. As a test of the specificity of Fld Sepharose, we have examined the utility of this resin for purification of P450c17 and P450c21 from a relatively crude mixture of solubilized adrenocortical microsomal proteins. Chromatography of this mixture on Fld Sepharose resulted in a threefold enrichment of cytochrome P450 specific content without spectrally detectable P450 denaturation. Electrophoretic and immunoblot analyses of fractions eluted from the Fld Sepharose column revealed the presence of P450c17 and P450c21, both of which were sufficiently pure, after SDS-PAGE, for identification by N-terminal sequence analysis. Intriguingly, a major protein copurifying with P450c17 and P450c21 was identified as 3beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3beta-HSD) which was subsequently found not to directly bind Fld Sepharose. Purified bovine 3beta-HSD covalently linked to Sepharose can bind recombinant bovine P450c17, an interaction which is partially disrupted upon mild heat denaturation of P450c17 or by the nonionic detergent Emulgen. This interaction, however, does not appear to affect P450c17 hydroxylase and lyase activities as measured in vitro. From these results, we propose that 3beta-HSD and P450c17 may associate, perhaps as part of a steroidogenic complex, in the endoplasmic reticulum.

A "parallel plate" electrostatic model for bimolecular rate constants applied to electron transfer proteins

A "parallel plate" model describing the electrostatic potential energy of protein-protein interactions is presented that provides an analytical representation of the effect of ionic strength on a biomolecular rate constant. The model takes into account the asymmetric distribution of charge on the surface of the protein and localized charges at the site of electron transfer that are modeled as elements of a parallel plate condenser. Both monopolar and dipolar interactions are included. Examples of simple (monophasic) and complex (biphasic) ionic strength dependencies obtained from experiments with several electron transfer protein systems are presented, all of which can be accommodated by the model. The simple cases do not require the use of both monopolar and dipolar terms (i.e., they can be fit well by either alone). The biphasic dependencies can be fit only by using dipolar and monopolar terms of opposite sign, which is physically unreasonable for the molecules considered. Alternatively, the high ionic strength portion of the complex dependencies can be fit using either the monopolar term alone or the complete equation; this assumes a model in which such behavior is a consequence of electron transfer mechanisms involving changes in orientation or site of reaction as the ionic strength is varied. Based on these analyses, we conclude that the principal applications of the model presented here are to provide information about the structural properties of intermediate electron transfer complexes and to quantify comparisons between related proteins or site-specific mutants. We also conclude that the relative contributions of monopolar and dipolar effects to protein electron transfer kinetics cannot be evaluated from experimental data by present approximations.

Kinetic studies on the electron-transfer reaction between cytochrome c3 and flavodoxin from Desulfovibrio vulgaris strain Hildenborough

The kinetic properties of the electron-transfer process between reduced Desulfovibrio vulgaris cytochrome c3 and D. vulgaris flavodoxin have been studied by anaerobic stopped-flow techniques. Anaerobic titrations of reduced cytochrome c3 with oxidized flavodoxin show a stoichiometry of 4 mol of flavodoxin required to oxidize the tetraheme cytochrome. Flavodoxin neutral semiquinone and oxidized cytochrome c3 are the only observable products of the reaction. At pH 7.5, the four-electron-transfer reaction is biphasic. Both the rapid and the slow phases exhibit limiting rates as the flavodoxin concentration is increased with respective rates of 73.4 and 18.5 s-1 and respective Kd values of 65.9 +/- 9.4 microM and 54.5 +/- 13 microM. A biphasic electron-transfer rate is observed when the ionic strength is increased to 100 mM KCl; however, the observed rate is no longer saturable, and relative second-order rate constants of 5.3 x 10(5) and 8.5 x 10(4) M-1 s-1 are calculated. The magnitude of the rapid phase of electron transfer diminishes with the level of heme reduction when varying reduced levels of the cytochrome are mixed with oxidized flavodoxin. No rapid phase is observed when 0.66e(-)-reduced cytochrome c3 reacts with an approximately 25-fold molar excess of flavodoxin. At pH 6.0, the electron-transfer reaction is monophasic with a limiting rate of 42 +/- 1.4 s-1 and a Kd value of approximately 8 microM. Increasing the ionic strength of the pH 6.0 solution to 100 microM KCl results in a biphasic reaction with relative second-order rate constants of 5.3 x 10(5) and 1.1 x 10(4) M-1 s-1. Azotobacter vinelandii flavodoxin reacts with reduced D. vulgaris cytochrome c3 in a slow, monophasic manner with limiting rate of electron transfer of 1.2 +/- 0.06 s-1 and a Kd value of 80.9 +/- 10.7 microM. These results are discussed in terms of two equilibrium conformational states for the cytochrome which are dependent on the pH of the medium and the level of heme reduction [Catarino et al. (1991) Eur. J. Biochem. 207, 1107-1113].

Effect of KCl on the interactions between NADPH:cytochrome P-450 reductase and either cytochrome c, cytochrome b5 or cytochrome P-450 in octyl glucoside micelles

Significant dissociation of FMN from NADPH:cytochrome P-450 reductase resulted in loss of the activity for reduction of cytochrome b5 as well as cytochrome c and cytochrome P-450. However, the ability to reduce these electron acceptors was greatly restored upon incubation of FMN-depleted enzyme with added FMN. The reductions of cytochrome c and detergent-solubilized cytochrome b5 by NADPH:cytochrome P-450 reductase were greatly increased in the presence of high concentrations of KCl, although the stimulatory effect of the salt on cytochrome P-450 reduction was less significant. No apparent effect of superoxide dismutase could be seen on the rate or extent of cytochrome reduction in solutions containing high-salt concentrations. Complex formation of the flavoprotein with cytochrome c, which is known to be involved in the mechanism of non-physiological electron transfer, caused a perturbation in the absorption spectrum in the Soret-band region of cytochrome c, and its magnitude was enhanced by addition of KCl. Similarly, an appreciable increase in ellipticity in the Soret band of cytochrome c was observed upon binding with the flavoprotein. However, only small changes were found in absorption and circular dichroism spectra for the complex of NADPH:cytochrome P-450 reductase with either cytochrome b5 or cytochrome P-450. It is suggested that the high-salt concentration allows closer contact between the heme and flavin prosthetic groups through hydrophobic-hydrophobic interactions rather than electrostatic-charge pairing between the flavoprotein and the cytochrome which causes a faster rate of electron transfer. Neither alterations in the chemical shift nor in the line width of the bound FMN and FAD phosphate resonances were observed upon complex formation of NADPH:cytochrome P-450 reductase with the cytochrome.

Electrostatic effects on the kinetics of electron transfer reactions of cytochrome c caused by binding to negatively charged lipid bilayer vesicles

The effect of binding reduced tuna mitochondrial cytochrome c to negatively charged lipid bilayer vesicles at low ionic strength on the kinetics of electron transfer to various oxidants was studied by stopped-flow spectrophotometry. Binding strongly stimulated (up to 100-fold) the rate of reaction with the positively charged cobalt phenanthroline ion, whereas the rate of reaction with the negatively charged ferricyanide ion was greatly inhibited (up to 60-fold), as compared with the same systems either at high ionic strength or at low ionic strength either in the presence of electrically neutral vesicles or in the absence of vesicles. Reactions of tuna cytochrome c with uncharged or electrically neutral oxidants such as benzoquinone and Rhodospirillum rubrum cytochrome c2 were unaffected by binding to vesicles, suggesting little or no effect of membrane association on cytochrome structure or accessibility of the heme center. The kinetic effects were largest at lower cytochrome c to vesicle ratios, where there was a greater degree of exposure of negatively charged regions on the membrane. The reduction of cobalt phenanthroline and ferricyanide by bound cytochrome c proceeded by nonexponential kinetics, as compared with the monophasic kinetics observed in the absence of vesicles. This was probably due to the heterogeneous distribution of vesicle sizes which exists at a given lipid to protein ratio. Nonlinear oxidant concentration dependencies were observed for cobalt phenanthroline oxidation of membrane-bound cytochrome c, consistent with a (minimal) two-step kinetic mechanism involving association of the oxidant with the membrane followed by electron transfer. Based on a comparison of second-order rate constants as a function of lipid to protein mole ratio, binding of cytochrome c to the bilayer increased the efficiency of the cobalt phenanthroline reaction by a factor of approximately 500 at the highest lipid:protein ratio used. The results suggest a mechanism involving attractive and repulsive electrostatic interactions between the negatively charged bilayer and the electrically charged oxidants, which increase or decrease their effective concentrations at the membrane surface.

Visualization of molecular flexibility and its effects on electrostatic recognition

To study the effect of protein flexibility on electrostatic recognition, we have devised two novel computer graphic representations of the changes in the electrostatic field of a protein resulting from its internal motions. The atomic structure of Cu, Zn superoxide dismutase was minimized, and the 200 lowest frequency normal modes of the enzyme were determined. Individual and combined normal-mode vibrations were visualized interactively with the program Flex. Normal-mode motions are fast enough (approximately 10(-11) s cycle-1) to evade solvent damping, thus allowing long-range electrostatic interactions to dominate. The changing electrostatic environment of the protein was examined by animating precalculated frames of electrostatic field vectors with GRAMPS. With Vu, changes in electrostatic potential were displayed as variations in the color-coding of dots lying on a consensus surface that maintains the protein's shape. The consensus surface was calculated with the program Sphinx, and was derived from spherical harmonic approximations of expanded molecular surfaces. The ability to view the effects of molecular motions interactively should be useful in understanding the relationships of protein structure to function.

Electrostatic effects on the spectral and redox properties of Clostridium pasteurianum flavodoxin: effects of salt concentration and polylysine

When polylysine is complexed to flavodoxin at low ionic strength, the electrostatic potential of the region which is involved in electron transfer is modified such that positively charged oxidants react more slowly with flavodoxin semiquinone, and negatively charged oxidants react more rapidly. The reaction rate of the uncharged benzoquinone molecule is unaffected. An especially strong effect (approximately 200-fold) occurs with ferricyanide. This is interpreted in terms of electrostatic control of the reaction site. Complexation also changes the conformation of the region around the FMN prosthetic group, which is reflected in the fluorescence and circular dichroism spectra of the protein.

Studies on electron transfer from methanol dehydrogenase to cytochrome cL, both purified from Hyphomicrobium X

Ferricytochrome cL isolated from Hyphomicrobium X is an electron acceptor in assays for homologous methanol dehydrogenase (MDH), albeit a poor one compared with artificial dyes. The intermediates of MDH seen during the reaction are identical with those observed with Wurster's Blue as electron acceptor, indicating that the reaction cycles are similar. The assay showed a pH optimum of approx. 7.0 and scarcely any stimulation by NH4Cl, this being in contrast with assays with artificial dyes, where strong activation by NH4Cl and much higher pH optima have been reported. From the results obtained with stopped-flow as well as steady-state kinetics, combined with the isotope effects found for C2H3OH, it appeared that the dissimilarities between the electron acceptors can be explained from different rate-limiting steps in the reaction cycles. Ferricytochrome cL is an excellent oxidant of the reduced MDH forms at pH 7.0, but the substrate oxidation step is very slow and the activation by NH4Cl is very poor at this pH. At pH 9.0 the reverse situation exists: ferricytochrome cL is a poor oxidant of the reduced forms of MDH at this pH. No C2H3OH isotope effect was observed under these conditions, indicating that substrate oxidation is not rate-limiting, so that activation by NH4Cl cannot be found. Since just the opposite holds for assays with artificial dyes, the poor electron-acceptor capability and the different pH optimum of ferricytochrome cL as well as the insignificant activating effect of NH4Cl (all compared with artificial assays) can be explained. Although different views have been reported on the rate-limiting steps in the systems from Methylophilus methylotrophus and Methylobacterium sp. strain AM1, these are most probably incorrect, as rate-limiting electron transfer between ferrocytochrome cL and horse heart ferricytochrome c can occur. Therefore the conclusions derived for the Hyphomicrobium X system might also apply to the systems from other methylotrophic bacteria. Comparison of the assays performed in vitro (at pH 7.0) having ferricytochrome cL and Wurster's Blue as electron acceptor with methanol oxidation by whole cells shows that the former has similarity whereas the latter has not, this being although ferricytochrome cL is a poor electron acceptor in the assay performed in vitro. The reason for this is the absence of a (natural) activator able to activate the (rate-limiting) substrate oxidation step at physiological pH values.

Role of electrostatic interactions in the reaction of NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase with cytochromes P-450

Chemical modification of cytochrome P-450 reductase was used to determine the involvement of charged amino acids in the interaction between the reductase and two forms of cytochrome P-450. Acetylation of 11 lysine residues of the reductase with acetic anhydride yielded a 20-40% decrease in the apparent Km of the reductase for cytochrome P-450b or cytochrome P-450c using either 7-ethoxycoumarin or benzphetamine as substrates. A 20-45% decrease in the Vmax was observed except for cytochrome P-450b with 7-ethoxycoumarin as substrate, where there was a 27% increase. Modification of carboxyl groups on the reductase with 1-ethyl-3-[3-dimethylaminopropyl]carbodiimide (EDC) and methylamine, glycine methyl ester, or taurine as nucleophiles inhibited the interaction with the cytochromes P-450. We were able to modify 4.0, 7.9, and 5.9 carboxyl groups using methylamine, glycine methyl ester, or taurine, respectively. The apparent Km for cytochrome P-450c or cytochrome P-450b was increased 1.3- to 5.2-fold in a reconstituted monooxygenase assay with 7-ethoxycoumarin or benzphetamine as substrate. There were varied effects on the Vmax. There was no significant change in the conformation of the reductase upon chemical modification with either acetic anhydride or EDC. These results strongly suggest that electrostatic interactions as well as steric constraints play a role in the binding and electron transfer step(s) between the reductase and cytochrome P-450.

Influence of 8 alpha-imidazole substitution of the FMN cofactor on the rate of electron transfer from the neutral semiquinones of two flavodoxins to cytochrome c

The effects of substituting an imidazole ring onto the 8 alpha-position of the FMN cofactor on the kinetics of electron transfer from the neutral semiquinone forms of Azotobacter and Clostridium flavodoxins to oxidized horse heart cytochrome c have been investigated by stopped-flow methods. Although 8 alpha-substitution does not alter the mechanistic pathway of the reaction, the rate constants are decreased by factors of 10-30, without significant changes in the equilibrium association constants of the intermediate electron-transfer complexes. Protonation of the imidazole ring further decreases the observed second-order rate constants for the electron-transfer reaction by factors of 20-50. The pKa values for the 8 alpha-imidazole ring in both flavodoxin semiquinones were determined to be approximately 7. In contrast, the reactions of the native flavodoxins with cytochrome c are pH independent. The results are consistent with a structural model of the intermediate complex [Simondsen, R. P., Weber, P. C., Salemme, F. R., & Tollin, G. (1982) Biochemistry 21, 6366-6375], which postulates a close fit between the exposed dimethylbenzene ring of the FMN and the heme edge within a nonpolar interface region. The results further indicate that electron transfer is uncoupled from proton transfer, that it is the rate-limiting step, and that it occurs prior to proton transfer at all pH values. Finally, the results do not provide support for a direct role of the imidazole ring in the facilitation of one-electron transfer in those enzymes containing 8 alpha-N-histidylflavin coenzymes.

Flavodoxin-cytochrome c interactions: circular dichroism and nuclear magnetic resonance studies

Circular dichroism and 1H and 31P nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy have been used to investigate complex formation between cytochrome c and the flavodoxins from Azotobacter vinelandii and Clostridium pasteurianum. Such complexes are known to be involved in the mechanism of electron transfer between these two redox proteins. A large increase in ellipticity in the Soret band of the cytochrome heme was observed upon formation of the Clostridium flavodoxin complex, whereas much smaller changes were found for the complexes with either Azotobacter flavodoxin or an 8 alpha-imidazolyl-FMN-substituted Clostridium flavodoxin analogue. Similarly, the magnitudes of the perturbations of the contact-shifted heme proton resonances obtained upon complexation of cytochrome c by Azotobacter flavodoxin were much smaller than those previously shown for Clostridium flavodoxin [Hazzard, J. T., & Tollin, G. (1985) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 130, 1281-1286]. 31P nuclear magnetic resonance measurements were also consistent with differences in the interactions between the components in the complexes of the two flavodoxins with cytochrome c. It is suggested that these spectral changes are due to a loosening or opening of the heme crevice upon Clostridium flavodoxin binding, which allows closer contact between the heme and flavin prosthetic groups and results in a faster rate of electron transfer. The implications of these observations for biological oxidation-reduction processes are considered.