Margareta R. A. Blomberg

The proton pumping mechanism in cytochrome c oxidase, the terminal enzyme in the respiratory chain, has been investigated using hybrid DFT with large chemical models. In previous studies, a gating mechanism was suggested based on electrostatic interpretations of kinetic experiments. The predictions from that analysis are tested here. The main result is that the suggestion of a positively charged transition state for proton transfer is confirmed, while some other suggestions for the gating are not supported. It is shown that a few critical relative energy values from the earlier studies are reproduced with quite high accuracy using the present model calculations. Examples are the forward barrier for proton transfer from the N-side of the membrane to the pump-loading site when the heme a cofactor is reduced, and the corresponding back leakage barrier when heme a is oxidised. An interesting new finding is an unexpected double-well potential for proton transfer from the N-side to the pump-loading site. In the intermediate between the two transition states found, the proton is bound to PropD on heme a. A possible purpose of this type of potential surface is suggested here. The accuracy of the present values are discussed in terms of their sensitivity to the choice of dielectric constant. Only one energy value, which is not critical for the present mechanism, varies significantly with this choice and is therefore less certain.

Density functional methods have been applied to investigate the properties of the active site of copper‐containing nitrite reductases and possible reaction mechanisms for the enzyme catalysis. The results for a model of the active site indicate that a hydroxyl intermediate is not formed during the catalytic cycle, but rather a state with a protonated nitrite bound to the reduced copper. Electron affinity calculations indicate that reduction of the T2 copper site does not occur immediately after nitrite binding. Proton affinity calculations are indicative of substantial pK_a differences between different states of the T2 site. The calculations further suggest that the reaction does not proceed until uptake of a second proton from the bulk solution. They also indicate that Asp‐92 may play both a key role as a proton donor to the substrate, and a structural role in promoting catalysis. In the D92N mutant another base, presumably a nearby histidine (His‐249) may take the role as the proton donor. On the basis of these model calculations and available experimental evidence, an ordered reaction mechanism for the reduction of nitrite is suggested. An investigation of the binding modes of the nitric oxide product and the nitrite substrate to the model site has also been made, indicating that nitric oxide prefers to bind in an end‐on fashion to the reduced T2 site. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem 28: 528–539, 2007

The Density functional theory (B3LYP) has been used to study the mechanisms of OO bond cleavage and proton pumping in cytochrome c oxidase. To understand how the energy from the exergonic reduction of molecular oxygen is used to pump protons across the mitochondrial membrane, the energetics of all steps in the catalytic cycle have to be evaluated. For this purpose, models have to be designed that can accurately reproduce relative redox potentials and pK_a values within the active site. The present study shows that it is possible to construct such models and to calculate energy profiles which, to a large extent, agree with experimental information. However, the energy profiles point out a problem with an unbalanced partitioning of the energy between the reductive and oxidative half cycles, which is in disagreement with the experimental observation that the proton pumping is evenly distributed between the two half cycles. A conclusion from the present study is, therefore, that something is probably still missing in the modeling of the active site. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem 27: 1373–1384, 2006

Density functional theory (B3LYP) has been applied to large models of the Fe(II)−Cu(I) binuclear center in cytochrome oxidase, investigating the mechanism of O−O bond cleavage in the mixed valence form of the enzyme. To comply with experimental information, the O₂ molecule is assumed to be bridging between iron and copper during the O−O bond cleavage, leading to the formation of a ferryl−oxo group and a cupric hydroxide. In accord with previous suggestions, the calculations show that it is energetically feasible to take the fourth electron needed in this reaction from the tyrosine residue that is cross-linked to one of the copper ligands, resulting in the formation of a neutral tyrosyl radical. However, the calculations indicate that simultaneous transfer of an electron and a proton from the tyrosine to dioxygen during bond cleavage leads to a barrier more than 10 kcal/mol higher than that experimentally determined. This may be overcome in two ways. If an extra proton in the binuclear center assists in the mechanism, the calculated reaction barrier agrees with experiment. Alternatively, the fourth electron might initially be supplied by a residue in the vicinity other than the tyrosine.