ABSTRACT:Cytochrome c550, a diheme protein from the thermophilic bacterium Thermus thermophilus, is involved in an alternative respiration pathway allowing the detoxification of sulfite ions. It transfers the two electrons released from the oxidation of sulfite in a sulfite:cytochrome c oxidoreductase (SOR) enzyme to heme/copper oxidases via the monoheme cytochrome c552. It consists of two conformationally independent and structurally different domains (the C-and Nterminal) connected by a flexible linker. Both domains harbor one heme moiety. We report here the redox properties of the full-length protein and the individual C-and N-terminal fragments.We show by UV/Vis and EPR potentiometric titrations that the two fragments exhibit very similar potentials, despite their different environments. In the full-length protein, however, the N-terminal heme is easier to reduce than the C-terminal one, due to cooperative interactions.This finding is consistent with the kinetic measurements which showed that the N-terminal domain only accepts electrons from the SOR. Cytochrome c552 is able to interact with its partners both through electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions as could be shown by measuring efficient electron transfer at gold electrodes modified with charged and hydrophobic groups, respectively. The coupling of electrochemistry with infrared spectroscopy allowed us to monitor the conformational changes induced by electron transfer to each heme separately and to both simultaneously.
We provide structural and spectroscopic evidence for a molybdenum–phosphate adduct mimicking a proposed reaction intermediate in the active site of a prokaryotic sulfite oxidizing enzyme.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.