Ville R. I. Kaila was born in 1983 in Helsinki, Finland. He received his M.Sc. in 2006 and his Ph.D. in 2009 in biochemistry from the University of Helsinki, studying the mechanism of proton-coupled electron transfer in cytochrome c oxidase in Prof. Mårten Wikstro ¨m's group. After his Ph.D., Kaila worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the groups of Prof. Dage Sundholm and Prof. Wikstro ¨m at the University of Helsinki. Currently, he is working as an EMBO long-term research fellow at the

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To understand how signaling proteins function, it is crucial to know the time-ordered sequence of events that lead to the signaling state. We recently developed on the BioCARS 14-IDB beamline at the Advanced Photon Source the infrastructure required to characterize structural changes in protein crystals with near-atomic spatial resolution and 150-ps time resolution, and have used this capability to track the reversible photocycle of photoactive yellow protein (PYP) following trans-to-cis photoisomerization of its p-coumaric acid (pCA) chromophore over 10 decades of time. The first of four major intermediates characterized in this study is highly contorted, with the pCA carbonyl rotated nearly 90°out of the plane of the phenolate. A hydrogen bond between the pCA carbonyl and the Cys69 backbone constrains the chromophore in this unusual twisted conformation. Density functional theory calculations confirm that this structure is chemically plausible and corresponds to a strained cis intermediate. This unique structure is short-lived (∼600 ps), has not been observed in prior cryocrystallography experiments, and is the progenitor of intermediates characterized in previous nanosecond time-resolved Laue crystallography studies. The structural transitions unveiled during the PYP photocycle include trans/cis isomerization, the breaking and making of hydrogen bonds, formation/ relaxation of strain, and gated water penetration into the interior of the protein. This mechanistically detailed, near-atomic resolution description of the complete PYP photocycle provides a framework for understanding signal transduction in proteins, and for assessing and validating theoretical/computational approaches in protein biophysics.time-resolved X-ray diffraction | photoreceptor | light sensor

Biological energy conversion is driven by efficient enzymes that capture, store and transfer protons and electrons across large distances. Recent advances in structural biology have provided atomic-scale blueprints of these types of remarkable molecular machinery, which together with biochemical, biophysical and computational experiments allow us to derive detailed energy transduction mechanisms for the first time. Here, I present one of the most intricate and least understood types of biological energy conversion machinery, the respiratory complex I, and how its redox-driven proton-pump catalyses charge transfer across approximately 300 Å distances. After discussing the functional elements of complex I, a putative mechanistic model for its action-at-a-distance effect is presented, and functional parallels are drawn to other redox- and light-driven ion pumps.

Aerobic life is based on a molecular machinery that utilizes oxygen as a terminal electron sink. The membrane-bound cytochrome c oxidase (CcO) catalyzes the reduction of oxygen to water in mitochondria and many bacteria. The energy released in this reaction is conserved by pumping protons across the mitochondrial or bacterial membrane, creating an electrochemical proton gradient that drives production of ATP. A crucial question is how the protons pumped by CcO are prevented from flowing backwards during the process. Here, we show by molecular dynamics simulations that the conserved glutamic acid 242 near the active site of CcO undergoes a protonation state-dependent conformational change, which provides a valve in the pumping mechanism. The valve ensures that at any point in time, the proton pathway across the membrane is effectively discontinuous, thereby preventing thermodynamically favorable proton back-leakage while maintaining an overall high efficiency of proton translocation. Suppression of proton leakage is particularly important in mitochondria under physiological conditions, where production of ATP takes place in the presence of a high electrochemical proton gradient.cell respiration ͉ gating mechanism ͉ proton leak ͉ proton translocation

Complex I functions as the initial electron acceptor in aerobic respiratory chains of most organisms. This gigantic redox-driven enzyme employs the energy from quinone reduction to pump protons across its complete approximately 200-Å membrane domain, thermodynamically driving synthesis of ATP. Despite recently resolved structures from several species, the molecular mechanism by which complex I catalyzes this long-range protoncoupled electron transfer process, however, still remains unclear. We perform here large-scale classical and quantum molecular simulations to study the function of the proton pump in complex I from Thermus thermophilus. The simulations suggest that proton channels are established at symmetry-related locations in four subunits of the membrane domain. The channels open up by formation of quasi one-dimensional water chains that are sensitive to the protonation states of buried residues at structurally conserved broken helix elements. Our combined data provide mechanistic insight into long-range coupling effects and predictions for sitedirected mutagenesis experiments.NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase | proton pumping | Grotthuss mechanism | multiscale simulation | bioenergetics C omplex I (NADH:ubiquinone reductase) is the largest enzyme of the respiratory chain, generating a proton motive force (pmf) that is used for synthesis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and active transport (1, 2). Complex I catalyzes electron transfer (eT) between nicotine adenine dinucleotide (NADH) and quinone (Q), and couples the energy released to pumping of four protons across the membrane (3-9). The distance between the electron and proton transferring modules extends up to approximately 200 Å. It currently remains unclear, however, how complex I catalyzes this remarkable long-range proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) process. In addition to its central role in biological energy conversion, elucidating the molecular mechanism of complex

Complex I functions as a redox-linked proton pump in the respiratory chains of mitochondria and bacteria, driven by the reduction of quinone (Q) by NADH. Remarkably, the distance between the Q reduction site and the most distant proton channels extends nearly 200 Å. To elucidate the molecular origin of this long-range coupling, we apply a combination of large-scale molecular simulations and a site-directed mutagenesis experiment of a key residue. In hybrid quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics simulations, we observe that reduction of Q is coupled to its local protonation by the His-38/Asp-139 ion pair and Tyr-87 of subunit Nqo4. Atomistic classical molecular dynamics simulations further suggest that formation of quinol (QH 2 ) triggers rapid dissociation of the anionic Asp-139 toward the membrane domain that couples to conformational changes in a network of conserved charged residues. Site-directed mutagenesis data confirm the importance of Asp-139; upon mutation to asparagine the Q reductase activity is inhibited by 75%. The current results, together with earlier biochemical data, suggest that the proton pumping in complex I is activated by a unique combination of electrostatic and conformational transitions.NADH-quinone oxidoreductase | electron transfer | molecular dynamics simulations | QM/MM simulations | cell respiration C omplex I (NADH-quinone oxidoreductase) is the largest (550-980 kDa) and one of the most enigmatic enzymes of the electron transport chains of mitochondria and bacteria. It catalyzes electron transfer (eT) from reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) to quinone (Q) and couples the reaction to translocation of three to four protons across the membrane (1, 2). The established electrochemical proton gradient is further used to synthesize adenosine triphosphate (ATP) for active transport (3). Due to its central role in cellular respiration, elucidating the catalytic mechanism of complex I is crucial for understanding the molecular principles of biological energy transduction and for unveiling the origins of many mitochondrial disorders (4).The electrons donated by NADH to complex I are transferred via flavin mononucleotide (FMN) to Q, bound at the lower edge of the hydrophilic domain at a distance of ∼80 Å from the FMN (Fig. 1). The eT process is mediated by seven to eight iron-sulfur (FeS) clusters, depending on the organism, and takes place in ∼100 μs (5). It is believed that the eT process does not couple to proton translocation, which is likely to occur on millisecond timescales (5, 6), but it is rather the oxidoreduction chemistry of the bound Q molecule that drives the proton pump (2, 5-9; cf. ref. 10).The proton-pumping machinery of complex I is located in the membrane domain of the enzyme (9) and is responsible for pumping three to four protons across the membrane (Fig. 1) (8, 11). Biochemical and structural studies suggest that the reduction of Q activates the proton pump via a conformationaldriven coupling mechanism, accompanied by electrostatic gating (2, 6-8, 12-14). A ...

In Photosystem II (PSII), the MnCaO-cluster of the active site advances through five sequential oxidation states (S to S) before water is oxidized and O is generated. Here, we have studied the transition between the low spin (LS) and high spin (HS) configurations of S using EPR spectroscopy, quantum chemical calculations using Density Functional Theory (DFT), and time-resolved UV-visible absorption spectroscopy. The EPR experiments show that the equilibrium between S and S is pH dependent, with a pK ≈ 8.3 (n ≈ 4) for the native MnCaO and pK ≈ 7.5 (n ≈ 1) for MnSrO. The DFT results suggest that exchanging Ca with Sr modifies the electronic structure of several titratable groups within the active site, including groups that are not direct ligands to Ca/Sr, e.g., W1/W2, Asp61, His332 and His337. This is consistent with the complex modification of the pK upon the Ca/Sr exchange. EPR also showed that NH addition reversed the effect of high pH, NH-S being present at all pH values studied. Absorption spectroscopy indicates that NH is no longer bound in the STyr state, consistent with EPR data showing minor or no NH-induced modification of S and S. In both Ca-PSII and Sr-PSII, S was capable of advancing to S at low temperature (198 K). This is an experimental demonstration that the S is formed first and advances to Svia the S state without detectable intermediates. We discuss the nature of the changes occurring in the S to S transition which allow the S to S transition to occur below 200 K. This work also provides a protocol for generating S in concentrated samples without the need for saturating flashes.