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Biomedical subjects

A Schejter

Publications and source records attributed to A Schejter.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1981

Stepwise modification of the electrostatic charge of cytochrome c. Effects on protein conformation and oxidation-reduction properties.

Horse heart cytochrome c was progressively maleylated, and fractions containing increasing numbers of modified lysines were obtained. The 695 nm band was present in derivatives containing up to 14 maleylated residues. Circular dichroic spectra showed minor changes beginning with 8 substituted lysines; in derivatives with 14 or more maleylated lysines, circular dichroism indicated total disruption of the native conformation. The ionic strength dependence of the measured oxidation reduction potentials and second order rate constants of reduction with ascorbate varied as expected from application of Debye-Huckel theory to the differently charged derivatives. The thermodynamic oxidation-reduction potentials decreased with the increase in the number of negatively charged groups, in a manner similar to that observed for simple iron complexes.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

1H-NMR studies of the coordination geometry at the heme iron and the electronic structure of the heme group in cytochrome c-552 from Euglena gracilis.

The 1H-NMR lines of heme c in reduced and oxidized cytochrome c-552 from Euglena gracilis were individually assigned and the coordination geometry of the axial ligands was investigated. The electronic structure of the heme and the chirality of the axially bound methionine were found to be of the same type as in mammalian cytochrome c, but different from cytochrome c-551 from Pseudomonas aeruginosa. These results provide additional support for a previously proposed correlation between the chirality of attachment of the axial methionine and the electronic wave functions in oxidized cytochromes of the c type. Comparison of mammalian cytochrome c, cytochrome c-551 and cytochrome c-552 indicates that the chirality of the axially bound methionine is not linked with the evolutionary increase of the polypeptide chain length.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

The chemical reactivity of fully maleylated cytochrome c.

The chemical reactivity of fully maleylated horse heart cytochrome c with oxidants, reductants, and iron ligands was studied in the presence and absence of MgCl2. In the absence of salt, the partly unfolded protein reacts rapidly with cyanide in the ferric state (k = 235 M-1s-1); the reaction is exothermic (delta H = -9.4 kcal/mol) and entropically unfavored (delta S = -7.0 e.u.). In 0.01 M MgCl2, the refoleded protein recovers the behavior towards cyanide of native cytochrome c. The oxidation-reduction potential of the refolded species is 190 mV. In the course of reduction of the unfolded form with dithionite, a reduced intermediate species (t 1/2 = 5.9 s) is observed; this species binds carbon monoxide rapidly, but the ligand dissociates thereafter. This shows that full maleylation does not disrupt the conformational stability of reduced cytochrome c.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

Electrostatic effects on the kinetics of oxidation-reduction reactions of c-type cytochromes.

The kinetics of the oxidation-reduction reactions between horse heart cytochrome c, Euglena gracilis cytochrome c552, and ions (ascorbate, ferricyanide, and ferrocyanide) was investigated as a function of ionic strength at pH 7, 25 degrees C. The ionic strength was varied between 0.002 and 0.02 M. Data were analyzed according to four different functions of ionic strength. Results showed that the Kirkwood-Tanford smeared charge model holds well for the calculation of the activity coefficients and that the whole charges of these proteins are reflected in the rates of their reactions. Chemical modifications or changes in the pH that altered the charge of the proteins affected the primary salt effects as predicted by the smeared charge model.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

The contribution of electrostatic factors to the stabilization of the conformation of cytochrome c. Studies on the maleylated protein.

All the lysines of horse heart cytochrome c were maleylated yielding a low spin product. At room temperature and low salt concentration, this product lacked the 695 nm absorption band and showed tryptophan fluorescence and circular dichroic spectra typical of denatured cytochrome c. The 695 nm band and the native tryptophan fluorescence and circular dichroic spectra were restored by addition of salts, their effectiveness being dependent on the charge of the cation. On low salt concentration, the 695 nm band was also restored by lowering the temperature. Studies of the temperature dependence of the 695 nm band indicate that the thermal denaturation of maleylated cytochrome c occurs at temperatures 60-70 degrees C lower than in the native protein. This implies a destabilization of the native conformation by 5.6 kcal/mol; a similar value is evidenced by comparative urea denaturation studies on the native and modified proteins. The results confirm the assumption that the native conformation of cytochrome c is mostly determined by interactions involving internal residues.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Direct observation of the methionine residues of cytochrome c by 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

The two Cepsilon-methyl methionine groups in cytochrome c have been chemically enriched (45%) with 13C. Their 13C NMR signals have been monitored in both the oxidized and reduced states and under various solution conditions. Methionine residue 80 showed characteristic chemical shift positions for the reduced Fe(II) and cyano-Fe(III) forms. No signal for methionine 80 was observed in the oxidized Fe(III) form due to the paramagnetic effect of the iron atom to which it is bonded, but the position of the methionine 65 signal was shifted, indicating that it is sensitive to the change of oxidation state. Two well resolved signals were observed at pH 11 for the Fe(III) form but only one was resolved at pH 2, indicating that while methionine 80 is definitely displaced from the iron atom at alkaline pH, it may not be in acid conditions.

Cytochrome c Group↗
PubMed1977

1H NMR studies of the heme iron coordination in cytochrome c-552 from Euglena gracilis.

The coordination of the heme iron in cytochrome c-552 from Euglena gracilis was investigated by 1H NMR studies at 360 MHz. The data imply that the axial heme ligands are His-14 and Met-56 in both the oxidized and the reduced protein. Studies of mixed solutions of ferro- and ferricytochrome c-552, which provided much of the information on the heme structure, also showed that the intermolecular electron exchange is characterized by a bimolecular rate constant of 5-10(6) mol-1-s-1 at 29 degrees C, which is three orders of magnitude faster than the corresponding reaction in solutions of mammalian cytochromes c.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

A nuclear magnetic resonance study of the heme environment in beef liver catalase.

The effect of high-spin heme iron in beef liver catalase on the longitudinal and transverse proton relaxation rates of the solvent has been used to probe the environment of the paramagnetic center. The longitudinal proton relaxation rates were measured as a function of temperature (5-31 degrees C), frequency (5-100 MHz), and pH. T1p was found to be pH independent in the range 6-11, indicating that no significant difference occurs in the heme surrounding within this pH range. The ligands formate and acetate, which preserve the spin state of the heme iron upon ligation, displace a water molecule from the sixth coordination position. This reaction is pH independent, while the binding measured by optical spectroscopy is pH dependent. The electron methanol and ethanol essentially do not change the proton relaxation rates. The temperature and frequency dependencies indicate that the relaxation times are governed by the electronic relaxation time of the high-spin ferric iron tau s. Tau s, which was found to be frequency independent, could not be determined from the T1p/T2p ratio, but only from the frequency dependence of the longitudinal relaxation rate at low frequencies. The results of the least-squares fit of the data to the theory indicate that there is one iron-bound rapidly exchanging water molecule. For the Fe3+ ion it was determined that tau s = 7 x 10(-11) s.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

A spectrophotometric and fluorimetric study of alkaline transitions of Euglena cytochrome c 552.

The behavior of the photosynthetic cytochrome c552 upon titration with alkali depends on the ionic composition of the medium. In water the disappearance of the 695-nm band, indicating the displacement of the methionine ligand, as well as a remarkable tryptophan fluorescense enhancement, follow a single proton titration curve with pK of 10.0 and n=1.0. The product is a low spin type protein. In salt-containing media two successive steps are observed: in the first one, completed at about pH 10.3, a high-spin form of cytochrome c 552 is obtained and relatively small fluorescence enhancement is detected. In the second step, more profound fluorometric changes occur, while the material reverts to its low-spin form. Addition of salts to an alkaline solution of cytochrome c 552 in water results in the formation of a 600-nm high-spin band with a concomitant quenching of tryptophan fluorescence. The results imply that at high pH unfolding of the molecule is evident only when the low-spin product is obtained. In the high-spin alkaline form, the methionine ligand is probably displaced from iron coordination by hydroxyl ions, while in the low-spin alkaline form methionine may be replaced by a lysyl residue of the cytochrome c 552 protein. The results imply that the lysyl residue is available for coordination in salt solutions at a higher pH than in water.

Cytochrome c Group↗