Indirect evidence for superoxide anion and singlet oxygen generated by NADPH--NADPH-dependent cytochrome c reductase and by L-alpha-hydroxyacid--L-amino acid oxidase at high pH

Acute toxicity of cyanide in aerobic respiration: Theoretical and experimental support for murburn explanation

The inefficiency of cyanide/HCN (CN) binding with heme proteins (under physiological regimes) is demonstrated with an assessment of thermodynamics, kinetics, and inhibition constants. The acute onset of toxicity and CN's mg/Kg LD50 (μM lethal concentration) suggests that the classical hemeFe binding-based inhibition rationale is untenable to account for the toxicity of CN. In vitro mechanistic probing of CN-mediated inhibition of hemeFe reductionist systems was explored as a murburn model for mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (mOxPhos). The effect of CN in haloperoxidase catalyzed chlorine moiety transfer to small organics was considered as an analogous probe for phosphate group transfer in mOxPhos. Similarly, inclusion of CN in peroxidase-catalase mediated one-electron oxidation of small organics was used to explore electron transfer outcomes in mOxPhos, leading to water formation. The free energy correlations from a Hammett study and IC50/Hill slopes analyses and comparison with ligands ( CO/ H 2 S/ N 3 - ) $\left( {\text{CO}}/{{{{\text{H}}_{2}}\text{S}}/{\text{N}_{3}^{\text{-}}}\;}\; \right)$ provide insights into the involvement of diffusible radicals and proton-equilibriums, explaining analogous outcomes in mOxPhos chemistry. Further, we demonstrate that superoxide (diffusible reactive oxygen species, DROS) enables in vitro ATP synthesis from ADP+phosphate, and show that this reaction is inhibited by CN. Therefore, practically instantaneous CN ion-radical interactions with DROS in matrix catalytically disrupt mOxPhos, explaining the acute lethal effect of CN.

Selectivity and sensitivity in the measurement of reactive oxygen species (ROS) using chemiluminescent microspheres prepared by the binding of acridinium ester or ABEI to polymer microspheres

Two kinds of chemiluminescent microspheres were prepared as tools for measuring reactive oxygen species (ROS) released into phagosomes in phagocytizing cells, by chemically binding acridinium ester or ABEI (isoluminol derivative) to polymer microspheres, and were examined from the viewpoint of specificity and sensitivity to ROS. Acridinium ester-bound microspheres (AE-ms) were found to be a sensitive probe to superoxide anion and hydrogen peroxide under a neutral condition (pH 7.2). AE-ms emitted strong chemiluminescence (CL) by hypoxanthine (HPX)/xanthine oxidase (XOD) or hydrogen peroxide. The CL by HPX/XOD was initially inhibited by superoxide dismutase. At pH 5.6, the CL intensity from AE-ms in the presence of HPX/XOD was reduced to about one-eighth of that at pH 7.2. ABEI-bound microspheres (ABEI-ms) were found to be a selective probe for singlet oxygen although not highly sensitive. ABEI-ms emitted CL of moderate intensity with hydrogen peroxide/myeloperoxidase (MPO), but not with hydrogen peroxide alone or with hypochlorite/MPO at pH 5.6. The CL from ABEI-ms with hydrogen peroxide/MPO was completely inhibited by azide. ABEI-ms did not emit CL in the presence of HPX/XOD or by potassium superoxide at pH 5.6. The result of supplemental experiments using dissolved chemiluminescent probes and non-enzymatically generated ROS supported the above-described selectivity and sensitivity of chemiluminescent microspheres.