Proton-transport mechanisms in cytochrome c oxidase revealed by studies of kinetic isotope effects

Cytochrome c oxidase (CytcO) is a membrane-bound enzyme, which catalyzes the reduction of di-oxygen to water and uses a major part of the free energy released in this reaction to pump protons across the membrane. In the Rhodobacter sphaeroides aa3 CytcO all protons that are pumped across the membrane, as well as one half of the protons that are used for O2 reduction, are transferred through one specific intraprotein proton pathway, which holds a highly conserved Glu286 residue. Key questions that need to be addressed in order to understand the function of CytcO at a molecular level are related to the timing of proton transfers from Glu286 to a “pump site” and the catalytic site, respectively. Here, we have investigated the temperature dependencies of the H/D kinetic-isotope effects of intramolecular proton-transfer reactions in the wild-type CytcO as well as in two structural CytcO variants, one in which proton uptake from solution is delayed and one in which proton pumping is uncoupled from O2 reduction. These processes were studied for two specific reaction steps linked to transmembrane proton pumping, one that involves only proton transfer (peroxy–ferryl, P → F, transition) and one in which the same sequence of proton transfers is also linked to electron transfer to the catalytic site (ferryl–oxidized, F → O, transition). An analysis of these reactions in the framework of theory indicates that that the simpler, P → F reaction is rate-limited by proton transfer from Glu286 to the catalytic site. When the same proton-transfer events are also linked to electron transfer to the catalytic site (F → O), the proton-transfer reactions might well be gated by a protein structural change, which presumably ensures that the proton-pumping stoichiometry is maintained also in the presence of a transmembrane electrochemical gradient. Furthermore, the present study indicates that a careful analysis of the temperature dependence of the isotope effect should help us in gaining mechanistic insights about CytcO.

► Understanding mechanisms of proton transfer in cytochrome c oxidase. ► Electron transfer to the catalytic site is gated by protein structural changes. ► Protein structural changes control proton pumping.