Radical in the Peroxide-Produced F-Type Ferryl Form of Bovine Cytochrome Oxidase.

The reduction of O in respiratory cytochrome oxidases (CcO) is associated with the generation of the transmembrane proton gradient by two mechanisms. In one of them, the proton pumping, two different types of the ferryl intermediates of the catalytic heme -Cu center and forms, participate. Equivalent ferryl states can be also formed by the reaction of the oxidized CcO () with HO.

Modulation of the electron-proton coupling at cytochrome a by the ligation of the oxidized catalytic center in bovine cytochrome c oxidase.

Cytochrome a was suggested as the key redox center in the proton pumping process of bovine cytochrome c oxidase (CcO). Recent studies showed that both the structure of heme a and its immediate vicinity are sensitive to the ligation and the redox state of the distant catalytic center composed of iron of cytochrome a (Fe) and copper (Cu). Here, the influence of the ligation at the oxidized Fe-Cu center on the electron-proton coupling at heme a was examined in the wide pH range (6.