title: An expanded function for superoxide dismutase.
abstract: alpha-Hydroxyalkylperoxyl radicals were generated from the primary and secondary alcohols methanol, ethanol and 2-propanol in N2O/O2-saturated aqueous solutions by pulse radiolysis. These radicals reduced a ferric iron porphyrin complex, tetrakis-(4-N-methylpyridyl)porphine, with diffusion-controlled rate constants. The extreme sensitivity of the shift of the Soret absorption band in this reaction was used to determine, by competition kinetics, the reactivity of the peroxyl radicals with different proteins. Only native Cu,Zn-superoxide dismutase and metallothionein showed competitive behavior, with SOD exhibiting rate constants close to the dismutation rate for O2-. Metallothionein was slower by a factor of 30 with hydroxymethylperoxyl radicals. We propose, that SOD has unique properties of the protein surface in addition to the prosthetic copper site, having possibly evolved as a 'general-purpose radical-scavenging protein'.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Strahlenbiologie, GSF Research Center, Neuherberg, FRG.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Bors
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Czapski
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saran
mesh_terms: D000438:Alcohols; D003300:Copper; D016166:Free Radical Scavengers; D005609:Free Radicals; D007700:Kinetics; D008668:Metallothionein / Q000378:metabolism; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D011166:Porphyrins / Q000378:metabolism; D011675:Pulse Radiolysis; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D015032:Zinc
chemical_list: D000438:Alcohols; D016166:Free Radical Scavengers; D005609:Free Radicals; D011166:Porphyrins; C021096:tetra(4-N-methylpyridyl)porphine; D003300:Copper; D008668:Metallothionein; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase; D015032:Zinc