On the inter-monomer electron transfer in cytochrome bc1bc_{1}

Cytochrome $bc_{1}$ is a structural and functional homodimer. The catalytically-relevant inter-monomer electron transfer has been implicated by a number of experiments, including those based on analyses of the cross-dimer mutated derivatives. As some of the original data on these derivatives have recently been questioned, we extend kinetic analysis of these mutants to confirm the enzymatic origin of the observed activities and their relevance in exploration of conditions that expose electron transfer between the monomers. While obtained data consistently implicate rapid inter-monomer electron equilibration in cytochrome $bc_{1}$, the mechanistic and physiological meaning of this equilibration is yet to be established

Distinct properties of semiquinone species detected at the ubiquinol oxidation Q_{o} site of cytochrome bc_{1} and their mechanistic implications

The two-electron ubiquinol oxidation or ubiquinone reduction typically involves semiquinone (SQ) intermediates. Natural engineering of ubiquinone binding sites of bioenergetic enzymes secures that SQ is sufficiently stabilized, so that it does not leave the site to membranous environment before full oxidation/reduction is completed. The ubiquinol oxidation Q(o) site of cytochrome bc(1) (mitochondrial complex III, cytochrome b(6)f in plants) has been considered an exception with catalytic reactions assumed to involve highly unstable SQ or not to involve any SQ intermediate. This view seemed consistent with long-standing difficulty in detecting any reaction intermediates at the Q(o) site. New perspective on this issue is now offered by recent, independent reports on detection of SQ in this site. Each of the described SQs seems to have different spectroscopic properties leaving space for various interpretations and mechanistic considerations. Here, we comparatively reflect on those properties and their consequences on the SQ stabilization, the involvement of SQ in catalytic reactions, including proton transfers, and the reactivity of SQ with oxygen associated with superoxide generation activity of the Q(o) site

Fusing two cytochromes b of Rhodobacter capsulatus cytochrome bc1 using various linkers defines a set of protein templates for asymmetric mutagenesis

Cytochrome bc1 (mitochondrial complex III), one of the key enzymes of biological energy conversion, is a functional homodimer in which each monomer contains three catalytic subunits: cytochrome c1, the iron–sulfur subunit and cytochrome b. The latter is composed of eight transmembrane α-helices which, in duplicate, form a hydrophobic core of a dimer. We show that two cytochromes b can be fused into one 16-helical subunit using a number of different peptide linkers that vary in length but all connect the C-terminus of one cytochrome with the N-terminus of the other. The fusion proteins replace two cytochromes b in the dimer defining a set of available protein templates for introducing mutations that allow breaking symmetry of a dimer. A more detailed comparison of the form with the shortest, 3 amino acid, linker to the form with 12 amino acid linker established that both forms display similar level of structural plasticity to accommodate several, but not all, asymmetric patterns of mutations that knock out individual segments of cofactor chains. While the system based on a fused gene does not allow for the assessments of the functionality of electron-transfer paths in vivo, the family of proteins with fused cytochrome b offers attractive model for detailed investigations of molecular mechanism of catalysis at in vitro/reconstitution level

Catalytically-relevant electron transfer between two hemes b_{L} in the hybrid cytochrome bc_{1}-like complex containing a fusion of Rhodobacter sphaeroides and capsulatus cytochromes b

AbstractTo address mechanistic questions about the functioning of dimeric cytochrome bc1 new genetic approaches have recently been developed. They were specifically designed to enable construction of asymmetrically-mutated variants suitable for functional studies. One approach exploited a fusion of two cytochromes b that replaced the separate subunits in the dimer. The fusion protein, built from two copies of the same cytochrome b of purple bacterium Rhodobacter capsulatus, served as a template to create a series of asymmetrically-mutated cytochrome bc1-like complexes (B–B) which, through kinetic studies, disclosed several important principles of dimer engineering. Here, we report on construction of another fusion protein complex that adds a new tool to investigate dimeric function of the enzyme through the asymmetrically mutated forms of the protein. This complex (BS–B) contains a hybrid protein that combines two different cytochromes b: one coming from R. capsulatus and the other — from a closely related species, R. sphaeroides. With this new fusion we addressed a still controversial issue of electron transfer between the two hemes bL in the core of dimer. Kinetic data obtained with a series of BS–B variants provided new evidence confirming the previously reported observations that electron transfer between those two hemes occurs on a millisecond timescale, thus is a catalytically-relevant event. Both types of the fusion complexes (B–B and BS–B) consistently implicate that the heme-bL–bL bridge forms an electronic connection available for inter-monomer electron transfer in cytochrome bc1

Mitochondrial disease-related mutations at the cytochrome b-iron-sulfur protein (ISP) interface : molecular effects on the large-scale motion of ISP and superoxide generation studied in Rhodobacter capsulatus cytochrome bc_{1}

AbstractOne of the important elements of operation of cytochrome bc1 (mitochondrial respiratory complex III) is a large scale movement of the head domain of iron–sulfur protein (ISP-HD), which connects the quinol oxidation site (Qo) located within the cytochrome b, with the outermost heme c1 of cytochrome c1. Several mitochondrial disease-related mutations in cytochrome b are located at the cytochrome b-ISP-HD interface, thus their molecular effects can be associated with altered motion of ISP-HD. Using purple bacterial model, we recently showed that one of such mutations — G167P shifts the equilibrium position of ISP-HD towards positions remote from the Qo site as compared to the native enzyme [Borek et al., J. Biol. Chem. 290 (2015) 23781-23792]. This resulted in the enhanced propensity of the mutant to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) which was explained on the basis of the model evoking “semireverse” electron transfer from heme bL to quinone. Here we examine another mutation from that group — G332D (G290D in human), finding that it also shifts the equilibrium position of ISP-HD in the same direction, however displays less of the enhancement in ROS production. We provide spectroscopic indication that G332D might affect the electrostatics of interaction between cytochrome b and ISP-HD. This effect, in light of the measured enzymatic activities and electron transfer rates, appears to be less severe than structural distortion caused by proline in G167P mutant. Comparative analysis of the effects of G332D and G167P confirms a general prediction that mutations located at the cytochrome b-ISP-HD interface influence the motion of ISP-HD and indicates that “pushing” ISP-HD away from the Qo site is the most likely outcome of this influence. It can also be predicted that an increase in ROS production associated with the “pushing” effect is quite sensitive to overall severity of this change with more active mutants being generally more protected against elevated ROS.This article is part of a Special Issue entitled ‘EBEC 2016: 19th European Bioenergetics Conference, Riva del Garda, Italy, July 2–6, 2016’, edited by Prof. Paolo Bernardi

Identifying involvement of Lys251/Asp252 pair in electron transfer and associated proton transfer at the quinone reduction site of Rhodobacter capsulatus cytochrome bc(1)

Describing dynamics of proton transfers in proteins is challenging, but crucial for understanding processes which use them for biological functions. In cytochrome bc(1), one of the key enzymes of respiration or photosynthesis, proton transfers engage in oxidation of quinol (QH(2)) and reduction of quinone (Q) taking place at two distinct catalytic sites. Here we evaluated by site-directed mutagenesis the contribution of Lys251/Asp252 pair (bacterial numbering) in electron transfers and associated with it proton uptake to the quinone reduction site (Q(i) site). We showed that the absence of protonable group at position 251 or 252 significantly changes the equilibrium levels of electronic reactions including the Q(i)-site mediated oxidation of heme b(H), reverse reduction of heme b(H) by quinol and heme b(H)/Q(i) semiquinone equilibrium. This implicates the role of H-bonding network in binding of quinone/semiquinone and defining thermodynamic properties of Q/SQ/QH(2) triad. The Lys251/Asp252 proton path is disabled only when both protonable groups are removed. With just one protonable residue from this pair, the entrance of protons to the catalytic site is sustained, albeit at lower rates, indicating that protons can travel through parallel routes, possibly involving water molecules. This shows that proton paths display engineering tolerance for change as long as all the elements available for functional cooperation secure efficient proton delivery to the catalytic site. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license.Peer reviewe