Heme Pocket (heme + pocket)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Structure of relaxed-state human hemoglobin: insight into ligand uptake, transport and release

ACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION D, Issue 1 2009
Joy D. Jenkins
Hemoglobin was one of the first protein structures to be determined by X-ray crystallography and served as a basis for the two-state MWC model for the mechanism of allosteric proteins. Since then, there has been an ongoing debate about whether Hb allostery involves the unliganded tense T state and the liganded relaxed R state or whether it involves the T state and an ensemble of liganded relaxed states. In fact, the former model is inconsistent with many functional observations, as well as the recent discoveries of several relaxed-state Hb structures such as RR2, R3 and R2. One school of thought has suggested the R2 state to be the physiologically relevant relaxed end state, with the R state mediating the T,R2 transition. X-ray studies have been performed on human carbonmonoxy Hb at a resolution of 2.8,Ĺ. The ensuing liganded quaternary structure is different from previously reported liganded Hb structures. The distal ,-heme pocket is the largest when compared with other liganded Hb structures, partly owing to rotation of ,His63(E7) out of the distal pocket, creating a ligand channel to the solvent. The structure also shows unusually smaller ,- and ,-clefts. Results from this study taken in conjunction with previous findings suggest that multiple liganded Hb states with different quaternary structures may be involved in ligand uptake, stabilization, transport and release. [source]


Spectroscopic study on structure of horseradish peroxidase in water and dimethyl sulfoxide mixture

BIOPOLYMERS, Issue 2 2002
Yasushi Maeda
Abstract The structure of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) in phosphate buffered saline (PBS)/dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) mixed solvents at different compositions is investigated by IR, electronic absorption, and fluorescence spectroscopies. The fluorescence spectra and the amide I spectra of ferric HRP [HRP(Fe3+)] show that overall structural changes are relatively small up to 60% DMSO. Although the amide I band of HRP(Fe3+) shows a gradual change in the secondary structure and a decrease in the contents of , helices, its fluorescence spectra indicate that the distance between the heme and Trp173 is almost constant. In contrast, the changes in the positions of the Soret bands for resting HRP(Fe3+) and catalytic intermediates (compounds I and II) and the IR spectra at the CO stretching vibration mode of carbonyl ferrous HRP [HRP(Fe2+)-CO] show that the microenvironment in the distal heme pocket is altered, even with low DMSO contents. The large reduction of the catalytic activity of HRP even at low DMSO contents can be attributed to the structural transition in the distal heme pocket. In PBS/DMSO mixtures containing more than 70 vol % DMSO, HRP undergoes large structural changes, including a large loss of the secondary structure and a dissociation of the heme from the apoprotein. The presence of the components of the amide I band that can be assigned to strongly hydrogen bonding amide CO groups at 1616 and 1684 cm,1 suggests that the denatured HRP may aggregate through strong hydrogen bonds. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Biopolymers (Biospectroscopy) 67: 107,112, 2002 [source]


A Colloidal Au Monolayer Modulates the Conformation and Orientation of a Protein at the Electrode/Solution Interface

CHEMPHYSCHEM, Issue 8 2005
Xiue Jiang
Abstract The orientation and conformation of adsorbed cytochrome c (cyt c) at the interface between an electrode modified with colloidal Au and a solution were studied by electrochemical, spectroscopic, and spectroelectrochemical techniques. The results indicate that the colloidal Au monolayer formed via preformation of an organic self-assembled monolayer (SAM) can increase the electronic coupling between the SAM and cyt c in the same manner as bifunctional molecular bridges, one functional group of which is bound to the electrode surface while the other interacts with the protein surface. The approach of cyt c to the modified electrode/solution interface can be assisted by strong interactions of the intrinsic charge of colloidal particles with cyt c, while the heme pocket remains almost unchanged due to the screening effect of the negatively charged field created by the intrinsic charge. The conformational changes of cyt c induced by its adsorption at a bare glassy carbon electrode/solution interface and the effect of the electric field on the ligation state of the heme can be avoided at the colloidal-Au-modified electrode/solution interface. Finally, a possible model for the adsorption orientation of cyt c at the colloidal-Au-modified electrode/solution interface is proposed. [source]


Study on the Gas Phase Stability of Heme-binding Pocket in Cytochrome Tb5 and Its Mutants by Electrospray Mass Spectrometry

CHINESE JOURNAL OF CHEMISTRY, Issue 12 2002
Chong-Tian Yu
Abstract To elucidate the effect of various amino add residues on the heme-binding pocket in cytochrome Tb5, several residues were chosen for replacement by means of site-directed mutagenesis. Comparison of the mass spectrum between the F35Y mutant and the wild type shows that the relative abundance of holoprotein ion of F35Y is lower than that of the wild type in gas phase. It is concluded that mutation from Phe35 residue to tyrosine decreases the hydrophobic character of cytochrome Tb5 heme pocket, which decreases the stability of heme-binding pocket. ESI-MS spectra of the mutants V61E, V61K, V61H and V61Y show various contribution of amino acid to the stability of heme-binding pocket. The small and non-polar residue Val61 was replaced with large or polar residues, resulting in enhancing the trend of heme leaving from the pocket. In addition, comparison of the mass relative abundance of holo-proteins among all the Vakil-mutants, shows mat their stability in gas phase appropriately submit the following order: wild type > V61H > V61E > V61K , V61Y. The extra great stability of quadruple sites mutant E44/48/56A/D60A shows that reduction of electrostatic or hydrogen bond interactions among the residues locating in the outside region of the heme edge remarkably affect the stability of heme. The results of analyzing the oxidation states of heme iron in Tb5 and its mutants by insource-CAD experiment suggest that the charge states of heme iron Maintain inflexible in mutation process. [source]


Proline-40 is Essential to Maintaining Cytochrome b5, s Stability and Its Electron Transfer with Cytochrome c

CHINESE JOURNAL OF CHEMISTRY, Issue 11 2002
Zhi-Qian Wang
Abstract In order to illustrate the roles played by Pro40 in the structure, properties and functions of Cytochrome b5, three mutated genes, P40V, P40Y, P40G were constructed in this work. Only the P40V gene was successfully expressed into holoprotein in E. coli JM83. According to the results of X-ray crystallographic analysis and various kinds of spectroscopy studies, it is evident that substituting valine for Pro40 does not result in significant alterations in the protein,s overall structure; however, local conformational perturbations in the proximity of the heme do occur. The redox potential of the P40V mutant is 40 mV lower than that of the wild type protein. Its stability towards heat, urea, acid and ethanol were significantly decreased. The mutation leads to a decrease in the hydrophobicity of the heme pocket, which is probably the major factor contributing to the above changes. Binding constants and electron transfer rates between cytochrome bs and cytochrome c were determined using UV-visible spectroscopy and stopped-flow techniques for both the wild type and the mutant. The results showed that the substitution of Pro40 by valine does not influence the binding constant of cytochrome b5 to cytochrome c; however, the electron transfer rate between them decreased significantly. This indicates that proline-40 is essential to maintaining cytochrome bss stability and its electron transfer with cytochrome c. These studies also provided a good example that property and functional changes of a protein do not necessarily require large overall structural alterations; in most cases, only perturbations on the local conformations are sufficient to induce significant changes in protein,s properties and functions. [source]


NO synthase isoforms specifically modify peroxynitrite reactivity

FEBS JOURNAL, Issue 19 2010
Amandine Maréchal
Nitric oxide synthases (NOSs) are multi-domain hemothiolate proteins that are the sole source of nitric oxide (NO) in mammals. NOSs can also be a source or a sink for peroxynitrite (PN), an oxidant that is suspected to be involved in numerous physiopathological processes. In a previous study, we showed that the oxygenase domain of the inducible NOS (iNOSoxy) reacts with PN and changes its oxidative reactivity [Maréchal A, Mattioli TA, Stuehr DJ & Santolini J (2007) J Biol Chem282, 14101,14112]. Here we report a similar analysis on two other NOS isoforms, neuronal NOS (nNOS) and a bacterial NOS-like protein (bsNOS). All NOSs accelerated PN decomposition, with accumulation of a similar heme intermediate. The kinetics of PN decomposition and heme transitions were comparable among NOSs. However, their effects on PN reactivity differ greatly. All isoforms suppressed PN two-electron oxidative activity, but iNOSoxy enhanced PN one-electron oxidation and nitration potencies, the oxygenase domain of nNOS (nNOSoxy) affected them minimally, and bsNOS abolished all PN reactivities. This led to the loss of both NOS and PN decomposition activities for nNOSoxy and iNOSoxy, which may be linked to the reported alterations in their electronic absorption spectra. Bacterial bsNOS was affected to a lesser extent by reaction with PN. We propose that these differences in PN reactivity among NOSs might arise from subtle differences in their heme pockets, and could reflect the physiological specificity of each NOS isoform, ranging from oxidative stress amplification (iNOS) to detoxification (bsNOS). [source]