title: A mechano-chemical model for energy transduction in cytochrome c oxidase: the work of a Maxwell's god.
abstract: Cytochrome c3 has a central role in the energetics of Desulfovibrio sp., where it performs an electroprotonic energy transduction step. This process uses a network of cooperativities, largely based on anti-Coulomb components, resulting from a mechano-chemical energy coupling mechanism. This mechanism provides a model coherent with the data available for the redox chemistry of haem a of cytochrome c oxidase and its link to the activation of protons. A crucial feature of the model is an anti-Coulomb effect that sets the stage for a molecular ratchet, ensuring vectoriality for the redox-driven localised movement of protons across the membrane, against an electrochemical gradient.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Rua da Quinta Grande, 6 - Apt. 127, 2780-156, Oeiras, Portugal. xavier@itqb.unl.pt
authors.forename: António V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Xavier
mesh_terms: D055592:Biophysical Phenomena; D001703:Biophysics; D003901:Desulfovibrio / Q000201:enzymology; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000502:physiology; D004583:Electrons; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D007700:Kinetics; D008956:Models, Chemical; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D011522:Protons
chemical_list: D011522:Protons; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV