Thermodynamics of oxidation-reduction reactions and its application to bioenergetics.
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The kinetics of the electron-transfer process which occurs between ferrocytochrome c and partially reduced mammalian cytochrome oxidase were studied by the rapid spectrophotometric techniques of stopped flow and temperature jump. Stopped-flow experiments showed initial very fast extinction changes at 605 nm and at 563 nm, indicating the simultaneous reduction of cytochrome a and oxidation of ferrocytochrome c. During this 'burst' phase, say the first 50 ms after mixing, it was invariably found that more cytochrome c had been oxidized than cytochrome a had been reduced. This discrepancy in electron equivalents may be accounted for by the rapid reduction of another redox site in the enzyme, possibly that associated with the extinction changes observed at 830 nm. During the incubation period in which the partially reduced oxidase was prepared, the rate of reduction of cytochrome a by ferrocytochrome c, at constant reactant concentrations, decreased with time. Temperature-jump experiments showed the presence of two relaxation processes. The faster of the two phases was assigned to the electron-transfer reaction between cytochrome c and cytochrome a. A study of the concentration-dependence of the reciprocal relaxation time for this phase yielded a rate constant of 9 X 10(6)M-1-s-1 for the electron transfer from cytochrome c to cytochrome a, and a value of 8.5 X 10(6)M-1-s-1 for the reverse reaction. The equilibrium constant for the electron-transfer reaction is therefore close to unity. The slower phase has been interpreted as signalling the transfer of electrons between cytochrome a and another redox site within the oxidase molecule.
A stopped-flow investigation of the electron-transfer reaction between oxidized azurin and reduced Pseudomonas aeruginosa cytochrome c-551 oxidase and between reduced azurin and oxidized Ps. aeruginosa cytochrome c-551 oxidase was performed. Electrons leave and enter the oxidase molecule via its haem c component, with the oxidation and reduction of the haem d1 occurring by internal electron transfer. The reaction mechanism in both directions is complex. In the direction of oxidase oxidation, two phases assigned on the basis of difference spectra to haem c proceed with rate constants of 3.2 X 10(5)M-1-S-1 and 2.0 X 10(4)M-1-S-1, whereas the haem d1 oxidation occurs at 0.35 +/- 0.1S-1. Addition of CO to the reduced enzyme profoundly modifies the rate of haem c oxidation, with the faster process tending towards a rate limit of 200S-1. Reduction of the oxidase was similarly complex, with a fast haem c phase tending to a rate limit of 120S-1, and a slower phase with a second-order rate of 1.5 X 10(4)M-1-S-1; the internal transfer rate in this direction was o.25 +/- 0.1S-1. These results have been applied to a kinetic model originally developed from temperature-jump studies.
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Marine, sediment-dwelling ciliates were examined for cytochrome oxidase activity by a cytochemical method and for fine structural details. Species of Plagiopylidae (Trichostomatida), i.e. Plagiopyla frontata, Sonderia vorax and Sonderia sp., and of Heterotrichda, i.e., Parablepharisma pellitum, Parablepharisma sp., Metopus contortus, Metopus vestitus and Caenomorpha capucina; previously considered to be obligate anaerobes because of their sulfide-containing habitat, do not have cytochrome oxidase activity or mitochondria with cristae or tubuli. The evolutionary origin and significance of anaerobic ciliates is discussed. Most of the anaerobic ciliates harbor a flora of ecto- and endosymbiotic bacteria as demonstrated by transmission and scanning electron micrographs. It is speculated that the bacteria may utilize the metabolic end products of the protozoa for growth and energy yielding processes. These associations are also compared with other, previously described cases of symbiosis involving prokaryotes and protozoa.
Lipid-depleted cytochrome c oxidase (EC 1.9.3.1) containing less than 20 microgram lipids per milligram protein was reconstituted with pure phospholipids of well-defined chemical structure and fatty acid composition without using detergents and (or) sonication. For the maximal restoration of electron transport activity, lipid-depleted cytochrome c oxidase required acidic phospholipds such as phosphatidylglycerol or phosphatidylserine or lysophospholipids such as lysophosphatidylcholine or lysophosphatidic acid, but no specific phospholipid fatty acid composition was necessary. The organization of the lipid environment of the reconstituted cytochrome c oxidase, having a well-defined lipid composition, morphology, and a high specific activity, was examined by electron spin resonance spectroscopy using 2-(14-carboxytetradecyl)-2-ethyl-4,4-dimethyl-3-oxazolidinyloxyl (16-doxyl stearic acid) and 16-doxyl stearic acid - containing phosphatidylglycerol. The presence of boundary lipid was established in both lamellar and micellar organizations of reconstituted cytochrome c oxidase and was not necessarily related to the enzymatic activity of the complex. Our results have established that aside from structural considerations, the boundary lipid, at least in the reconstituted cytochrome c oxidase, is a necessary but not sufficient condition for the enzymatic expression of cytochrome c oxidase.
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The degradation process of mitochondria in rabbit reticulocytes proceeds predominately directly in the cytosol rather than in secondary lysosomes as judged by electronmicroscopy. At least five cytosolic protein factors are present in reticulocytes, which could be related to the degradation of mitochondria: the two inhibitory proteins of the respiratory chain RF and RC and three enzymes which cause a lysis of mitochondria in vitro (lipoxygenase, proteinase, phospholipase A). The properties of these factors are the subject of this paper. A hypothetic scheme of the degradation of mitochondria in reticulocytes is proposed. The degradation of mitochondria in reticulocytes is viewed as a complex interplay of various cytosolic factors and the functional state of the mitochondrial membranes. The lipoxygenase damages the membranes and triggers the penetration of the respiratory inhibitors. In this manner, a catastrophic cycle is initiated which leads to the complete breakdown of the mitochondria.
The fusion of cytochrome oxidase liposomes with liposomes reconstituted with mitochondrial hydrophobic protein is dependent on the presence of an acidic phospholipid in the liposomes and on the addition of Ca++ions. Liposomes which have grown, by fusion, to diameters in excess of 1000 A lose the ability to fuse further, unless an osmotic gradient across the liposome membrane is established, with the internal osmotic pressure higher than the external. At a given Ca++ concentration, the extent to which this second fusion step takes place is determined by the ratio of internal to external osmolarity. Single-walled liposomes with diameters exceeding 1 mumM have been produced by this technique. The data suggest that the thermodynamic driving force for the Ca++-induced fusion is an excess surface free energy which can be supplied by membrane curvature or transmembrane osmotic gradients.
The application of a new preparation method for demonstrating the activities of hydrolytic and oxidative enzymes in Candida albicans is reported. The problem of inadequate penetration of fixatives into yeast cells has been solved by sectioning solidified pellets of the cells in the presence of glutaraldehyde, a procedure that yields a fairly well preserved ultrastructure and sufficient enzyme activities. The subcellular distribution of most specific and nonspecific phosphatases and of peroxidases is at variance with that found in mammalian cells. The activities toward beta-glycerophosphate, p-nitrophenylphosphate, adenosine triphosphate, adenosine monophosphate, thiamine pyrophosphate and glucose 6-phosphate are almost exclusively confined to the central vacuolar apparatus. Oxidative and peroxidative activities are demonstrated only in mitochondria. Specific marker enzymes for endoplasmic reticulum, plasmalemma, Golgi apparatus and peroxisomes in C. albicans are not found. The possible function of the various subcellular organelles in relation to their enzymatic content is discussed.
Reactivity of mitochondria and peroxisomes to diaminobenzidine was investigated in Tetrahymena pyriformis and in wild-type and cytochrome oxidase-deficient Paramecium aurelia. Wild-type and cytochrome oxidase-deficient Paramecium gave positive mitochondrial reactions in the absence of added H2O2, and the deposits were enhanced by the addition of H2O2, whereas Tetrahymena gave positive mitochondrial reactions only upon addition of H2O2. These results are discussed in the light of the current ideas concerning the mechanism of staining by diaminobenzidine. Peroxisome-like organelles which react positively to diaminobenzidine, the reaction being partially inhibited by aminotriazole, were identified in both protozoa.
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Toxoplasma belonging on the RH strain were studied under a transmission electron microscope. The activities looked for were: peroxidase, cytochrome oxydase and acid phosphatase. An oxydasic cytochrome respiratory activity was seen. It is localised on the crests and on the peripheral membrane of the mitochondria of Toxoplasma gondii. In the given experimental conditions, no such activity appeared in the other intracytoplasmic organels of the parasite, nor in the vacuoles of the host-cells containing living toxoplasma but the organels of those host-cells presented an oxydasic activity.
The structure and the orientation of cytochrome c oxidase molecules in crystalline cytochrome c oxidase membranes (Vanderkooi, G., Senior, A.E., Capaldi, R.A., and Hayashi, H. (1972) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 274, 38-48) were studied by image analysis of electron micrographs and by reacting the crystalline preparations with immune gamma-globulins against individual cytochrome c oxidase subunits. Binding of gamma-globulins to the membranes was detected by the following two methods: (a) electrophoretic identification of gamma-globulin polypeptides in the washed membranes; (b) electron microscopic examination of the negatively stained membranes. The membranes bound immune gamma-globulins against subunit IV (which faces the matrix side in intact mitochondria) but failed to bind immune gamma-globulins against subunits II + III (which face the outer side of the inner membrane in intact mitochondria). In contrast, solubilized cytochrome c oxidase bound either of the two immune gamma-globulins. All cytochrome c oxidase molecules in the crystalline membranes are thus asymmetrically arranged so that subunit IV faces outward and subunits II + III face toward the interior. This orientation is opposite to that found with intact mitochondria. The data also suggest that the crystalline membranes form closed vesicles which are impermeable to externally added gamma-globulins.
Reconstituted cytochrome oxidase liposomes were fused with liposomes reconstituted with mitochondrial hydrophobic protein, which acts as a membrane-bound uncoupler of cytochrome oxidase. Fusion was assayed by the loss of respiratory control of cytochrome oxidase as measured by the increased rate of ascorbate oxidation induced by hydrophobic protein when both proteins shared the same vesicles. Fusion was dependent on the presence of phosphatidylserine in the liposomes Ca++ in the aqueous medium. Phosphatidylcholine-phosphatidylserine liposomes required higher concentrations of phosphatidylserine and Ca++ than did phosphatidylethanolamine-phosphatidylserine liposomes. Cytochrome oxidase vesicles containing high concentrations of phosphatidylserine showed little or no respiratory control, while those with lower concentrations showed high respiratory control; respiratory control could be induced by fusing cytochrome oxidase vesicles containing high phosphatidylserine with protein-free liposomes containing low phosphatidylserine concentration. If cytochrome oxidase vesicles and hydrophobic protein vesicles were prefused separately for 15 min, they lost the ability to fuse upon being subsequently mixed together. The reconstituted vesicles had diameters of about 200 A; fusion yielded vesicles with diameters in excess of 1000 A.
Pseudomonas cytochrome oxidase (EC 1.9.3.2) was studied by negative staining in the electron microscope. The best resolution was obtained with uranyl oxalate (pH 6.0) as negative stain. Electron micrographs confirm the idea of the dimeric structure of the enzyme. A rough model of cytochrome oxidase was constructed based on different projections of the molecule seen in the electron micrographs. In this model the subunits are identical and sterically equivalent.
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