Development of cytochrome c (cyt c)/cardiolipin (CL) peroxidase complex selective towards peroxidation of polyunsaturated CLs is a pre-requisite for mitochondrial membrane permeabilization. Tyr67Phe mutant exerted high resistance to H2O2-induced oligomerization. Measurements of Tyr fluorescence hetero-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and computer simulations position Tyr67 in close proximity to the porphyrin ring heme iron and one of the two axial heme-iron ligand residues Met80. Therefore the highly conserved Tyr67 is definitely a likely electron-donor (radical acceptor) in the oxygenase half-reaction of the cyt c/CL peroxidase complex. (cyt type C-7752 >95%) diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA) guanidine hydrochloride (GndCl) coomassie amazing blue n-hexane 2 hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and 15N isotope labeled NH4Cl were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis MO). 1 2 with liposomes (cyt c/CL percentage 1:20) at RT for 30 sec. The samples were frozen in liquid nitrogen and EPR spectra were recorded at 77 K under the following conditions: center field 3230 G; sweep width 50 G; field modulation 5 G; microwave power 10 mW; receiver gain 2 time constant 0.1 s; time scan 1 min. After baseline corrections concentrations of spins were determined by dual integration of EPR indicators as defined by Wyard [21]. The focus of spins was linked to test focus by documenting a 100 μM Cu (EDTA) regular at 77K. Double integration from the causing signal was utilized to determine a proportionality continuous between spin concentrations in EPR spectra and test concentrations. Therefore was utilized to calculate the focus of spin ? radicals in outrageous type and mutant types of cyt c. 2.1 Series alignment and calculation of conservation A complete of 406 proteins sequences corresponding to the BRL 52537 HCl eukaryotic cyt c family were extracted from your BRL 52537 HCl swissprot sequence database [22] using the criteria “family: cytochrome c family AND fragment: no NOT taxonomy: bacteria”. The extracted protein sequences were aligned using ClustalW [23] to obtain the multiple sequence alignment (MSA). After deleting the gaps comprising unaligned areas from your MSA a sequence conservation/consensus plot was created using the weblogo tool [24]. 3 RESULTS 3.1 Structure-based prediction of tyrosine involvement in radical formation To obtain initial insights into the possible involvement of Tyr residues in catalysis of oxygenation reactions we performed computational structural analysis of the family member locations of four Tyr with respect to the heme. The positions of the four Tyr residues (Tyr48 Tyr67 Tyr74 and Tyr97) in the native cyt c structure are demonstrated in (Fig. 2). The distances between the ?OH groups of these Tyr to the closest atom in the heme chromophore and to its iron are provided in (Table 1). The ?OH groups of buried Tyr48 and Tyr67 residues are within 4 ? of the heme moiety and are therefore much BRL 52537 HCl closer as compared to the surface-accessible Tyr74 and Tyr97. However only Tyr67 lies in close proximity to the iron co-ordination site. Further we examined the sequence conservation of the Tyr residues at positions 48 67 74 and 97 in cyt c family. We performed multiple sequence alignment of all the protein sequences that belong to ‘cyt c family’ and generated the sequence conservation storyline (Fig. 3). Of the four tyrosines compared Tyr67 is definitely one probably the most highly conserved residues in cyt c much like residues His18 Cys13 and Cys17. The only mutation that occurred at this position was tyrosine to phenylalanine (rate of recurrence <10%). Additional tyrosines Tyr48 Tyr74 and Tyr97 in horse heart cyt c are significantly less conserved compared to Tyr67. Therefore the distance analysis along with sequence conservation is compatible with the involvement of Tyr67 BRL 52537 HCl in the oxygenase catalytic activity. Number 2 Location of tyrosines in cyt c with respect to the heme ligand Number 3 Sequence conservation in cyt c family Table 1 Range measurements from your ?OH groups of tyrosines in cyt c to Heme (row 1) and Iron (row 2). The distances reported SC35 for heme are those to the closest atom which is definitely listed in brackets. Because the oxygenase activity towards polyunsaturated CL requires CL binding to cyt c ideally we would possess conducted the above range measurements in the structure of the complex between cyt c and CL. However since this structure is not known we BRL 52537 HCl carried out NMR spectroscopic measurements to gauge the amount of switch each tyrosine might encounter upon CL binding. 1H 15 heteronuclear solitary quantum coherence (HSQC) spectra correlate protons bound to nitrogen atoms and invite recognition of backbone NH groupings.