Search results for "MEP"
showing 10 items of 209 documents
Nature of FeIII–O2, FeII–CO and FeIII–CN complexes of hemoprotein models
2003
Abstract Parametrization of a molecular-mechanics program to include terms specific for 5- and 6-coordinate transition metal complexes results in computer-simulated structures of hemo complexes. The principal new feature peculiar to 5- and 6-coordination is a term that measures the effect of electron-pair repulsion modified by the ligand electronegativity and takes into account the different structural possibilities. The work consists in the modification of program molecular mechanics for 5- and 6-coordination. The model system takes into account the structural differences of the fixing centre in the haemoglobin (Hb) subunits. The customary proximal histidine is added. The macrocycle hemo I…
Oxidation of melatonin by oxoferryl hemoglobin: A mechanistic study
2002
Reaction of melatonin with the hypervalent iron centre of oxoferryl hemoglobin, produced in aqueous solution from methemoglobin and H2O2, has been investigated at 37 degrees C and pH 7.4, by absorption spectroscopy. The reaction results in reduction of the oxoferryl moiety with formation of a heme-ferric containing hemoprotein. Stopped-flow spectrophotometric measurements provide evidence that the reduction of oxoferryl-Hb by melatonin is first-order in oxoferryl-Hb and first-order in melatonin. The bimolecular reaction constant at pH 7.4 and 37 degrees C is 112 +/- 1.0 M(-1) s(-1). Two major oxidation products from melatonin have been found by gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy: the cycl…
Cyanide binding and heme cavity conformational transitions in **Drosophila melanogaster** hexacoordinate hemoglobin
2006
The reason for the presence of hemoglobin-like molecules in insects, such as Drosophila melanogaster, that live in fully aerobic environments has yet to be determined. Heme endogenous hexacoordination (where HisE7 and HisF8 axial ligands to the heme Fe atom are both provided by the protein) is a recently discovered mechanism proposed to modulate O-2 affinity in hemoglobins from different species. Previous results have shown that D. melanogaster hemoglobin 1 (product of the glob1 gene) displays heme endogenous hexacoordination in both the ferrous and ferric states. Here we present kinetic data characterizing the exogenous cyanide ligand binding process, and the three-dimensional structure (a…
The Heme Environment of Mouse Neuroglobin
2001
Neuroglobin (Ngb) is a newly discovered oxygen-binding heme protein that is primarily expressed in the brain of humans and other vertebrates. To characterize the structure/function relationships of this new heme protein, we have used resonance Raman spectroscopy to determine the structure of the heme environment in Ngb from mice. In the Fe2+CO complex, two conformations of the Fe–CO unit are present, one of which arises from an open conformation of the heme pocket in which the CO is not interacting with any nearby residue, and the other arises from a closed conformation where a positively charged residue near the CO group stabilizes the complex. For the Fe2+O2 complex, we detect a single νF…
Hole burning and pressure phenomena in chromoproteins
1993
Abstract We investigated the behavior of spectral holes under pressure at various frequencies within the inhomogeneous band for two proteins, namely myoglobin and horseradish peroxidase. In order to achieve narrow bandwidth hole burning, the heme chromophore was replaced by protoporphyrin IX and mesoporphyrin IX, respectively. In myoglobin, we found that the pressure induced shift of the holes varied in a strongly non-linear fashion, when the burn-frequency was tuned across the absorption band. In horseradish peroxidase the pressure shift was linear with burn-frequency but changed in a dramatic fashion upon complex formation with a substrate molecule. These observations are interpreted with…
Iron Porphyrins as Models of Cytochromec Oxidase
2001
A series of iron porphyrins has been synthesized as models of cytochrome c oxidase; their activity as 4 e− catalysts in the reduction of dioxygen has been studied at pH 7. These compounds have been obtained by grafting very different residues onto the same iron complex, namely tripodal tetraamines, pickets, and straps, in order to change the environment of the metal center. In the case of porphyrins bearing a tripodal cap, the secondary amines have been alkylated with different substituents so as to modify the electronic environment of the distal pocket. Surprisingly, when the iron porphyrin is functionalized with four identical acrylamido pickets, the resulting complex exhibits biomimetic …
Protein Tyrosine Nitration Induced by Heme/Hydrogen Peroxide: Inhibitory Effect of Hydroxycinnamoyl Conjugates
2006
The present study was designed to optimize the experimental conditions that govern the heme-catalyzed nitration of protein tyrosine residues by nitrite, and, within this framework, to study the effects of 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid and its methyl ester, both of which have been previously reported to be antioxidants and inhibitors of leukocyte functions. Although the presence of hydrogen peroxide is essential in cell-free systems, an excess of this compound was found to be detrimental, so much so that an increase in hemin concentration actually resulted in an inverse effect on the reaction, depending on the levels of fixed hydrogen peroxide. Unlike previous reports on nitrite-induced albumin …
Heme symmetry, vibronic structure, and dynamics in heme proteins: ferrous nicotinate horse myoglobin and soybean leghemoglobin.
2000
We report the visible and Soret absorption bands, down to cryogenic temperatures, of the ferrous nicotinate adducts of native and deuteroheme reconstituted horse heart myoglobin in comparison with soybean leghemoglobin-a. The band profile in the visible region is analyzed in terms of vibronic coupling of the heme normal modes to the electronic transition in the framework of the Herzberg–Teller approximation. This theoretical approach makes use of the crude Born–Oppenheimer states and therefore neglects the mixing between electronic and vibrational coordinates; however, it takes into account the vibronic nature of the visible absorption bands and allows an estimate of the vibronic side bands…
Enhancement of Nitro Reduction in Rat Liver Microsomes by Haemin and Haemoproteins
1978
1. Reductive metabolism of p-nitrobenzoic acid and neoprontosil in rat liver microsomes was studied in the presence of haemin, haemoglobin and myoglobin. 2. Microsomal nitro reduction is enhanced 4-fold in the presence of haemoglobin, whereas azo reduction is not affected. 3. Microsomal nitro reduction is enhanced to a similar extent by haemoglobin, haemin and boiled haemoglobin, whereas myoglobin is about half as active. 4. Maximal enhancement of microsomal nitro reductase activity by haemoglobin is achieved at high substrate concentration (6 mM) and low microsomal protein concentration (0.5--1.0 mg/ml). 5. Control microsomal nitro reduction as well as the haemoglobin-enhanced microsomal n…
Thermal broadening of the Soret band in heme complexes and in heme-proteins: role of iron dynamics
1994
We report the thermal broadening of the Soret band in heme-CO, heme-OH and protoporphyrin IX in the temperature range 300-20 K. For protoporphyrin IX the temperature dependent Gaussian line broadening follows the behavior predicted by the harmonic approximation in the entire temperature range investigated. In contrast, for heme-CO and heme-OH the harmonic behavior is obeyed only up to about 180 K and an anomalous line broadening increase is observed at higher temperatures. This effect is attributed to the onset of anharmonic motions of the iron atom with respect to the porphyrin plane. Comparison with previously reported analogous data for heme proteins enables us to suggest that the onset …