Gas pressure effects on the rates of catalytic H(2) oxidation by hydrogenases.

Abstract

During catalysis by hydrogenases, entities no larger than H(2) or H(+) reach and leave a deeply buried active site, by as yet unidentified pathways. Novel experiments, conducted mainly with the membrane-bound [NiFe]-hydrogenase from Ralstonia eutropha, explore why small excess gas pressures (H(2) or He) attenuate the rate of H(2) oxidation