title: Kinetic design of the respiratory oxidases.
abstract: Energy conservation in all kingdoms of life involves electron transfer, through a number of membrane-bound proteins, associated with proton transfer across the membrane. In aerobic organisms, the last component of this electron-transfer chain is a respiratory heme-copper oxidase that catalyzes reduction of O(2) to H(2)O, linking this process to transmembrane proton pumping. So far, the molecular mechanism of proton pumping is not known for any system that is driven by electron transfer. Here, we show that this problem can be addressed and elucidated in a unique cytochrome c oxidase (cytochrome ba(3)) from a thermophilic bacterium, Thermus thermophilus. The results show that in this oxidase the electron- and proton-transfer reactions are orchestrated in time such that previously unresolved proton-transfer reactions could be directly observed. On the basis of these data we propose that loading of the proton pump occurs upon electron transfer, but before substrate proton transfer, to the catalytic site. Furthermore, the results suggest that the pump site alternates between a protonated and deprotonated state for every second electron transferred to the catalytic site, which would explain the noninteger pumping stoichiometry (0.5 H(+)/e(-)) of the ba(3) oxidase. Our studies of this variant of Nature's palette of mechanistic solutions to a basic problem offer a route toward understanding energy conservation in biological systems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, The Arrhenius Laboratories for Natural Sciences, Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: von Ballmoos
authors.forename: Robert B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Gennis
authors.forename: Pia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ädelroth
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Brzezinski
mesh_terms: D003573:Cytochrome b Group / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D004579:Electron Transport; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D006418:Heme / Q000737:chemistry; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D007700:Kinetics; D008954:Models, Biological; D008958:Models, Molecular; D011522:Protons; D012242:Rhodobacter sphaeroides / Q000201:enzymology; D016963:Thermus thermophilus / Q000201:enzymology
chemical_list: D003573:Cytochrome b Group; D011522:Protons; D006418:Heme; C058557:cytochrome ba3; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV