Andrzej T. Kowal

The inhibition site of MPP+, the neurotoxic bioactivation product of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine is near the Q-binding site of NADH dehydrogenase.

The inhibition of NADH dehydrogenase by 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP+) leading to ATP depletion has been proposed to explain cell death in the expression of the neurotoxicity of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP). Electron paramagnetic resonance studies show no effect of MPP+ on the reduction of the iron-sulfur clusters of NADH dehydrogenase. Mitochondria inhibited by MPP+ were sonicated and both the NADH oxidase and the NADH-Q reductase activities were measured. NADH oxidase activity was not fully restored to control levels, but NADH-Q reductase activity was the same as that of the control. Neither succinate-oxidase nor succinate-Q reductase activities were inhibited. These data indicate that MPP+ interaction with NADH dehydrogenase interferes with the passage of electrons from the iron-sulfur cluster of highest potential to endogenous Q10 but that the inhibition can be relieved by the addition of a small, water-soluble Q analog. Inhibition at this site is sufficient to explain the inhibition of respiration and no inhibition of other mitochondrial functions was observed.

Spectroscopic Properties of Siroheme Extracted from Sulfite Reductases

Siroheme has been extracted from sulfite reductases and its properties in aqueous solution have been investigated by optical absorption, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), and magnetic circular dichroism (MDC) spectroscopy. The absorption spectrum of siroheme exhibits a marked pH dependence, and two pK values, 4.2 and 9.0, were determined by pH titration in the range 2-12. The first pK (4.2) is thought to correspond to the ionization of the carboxylic acid side-chains on the tetrapyrrole rings, and the second pK (9.0) is attributed to displacement of the axial ligand chloride by hydroxide. The binding of the strong field ligands, CO, NO, and cyanide, were investigated by UV-visible absorption and, in the case of the cyanide complex, by low-temperature EPR and MCD spectroscopies. CO and NO were able to reduce and bind to siroheme without additional reducing agent. The EPR spectrum of the isolated siroheme (chloride-ferrisiroheme) exhibits an axial signal with g perpendicular = 6.0 and g parallel = 2.0, typical of high-spin ferric hemes (S = 5/2), whereas the cyanide-complexed siroheme exhibits an approximately axial signal with g perpendicular = 2.38 and g parallel = 1.76 that is indicative of a low-spin ferric heme (S = 1/2). The low-temperature MCD spectra and magnetization data for the as-isolated and cyanide-complexed ferrisiroheme are entirely consistent with the interpretation of the EPR spectra. The results for ferrosiroheme indicate that the siroheme remains high spin (S = 2) and low spin (S = 0) on reduction of the as-isolated and cyanide-complexed siroheme, respectively. The isolated siroheme expressed sulfite reductase activity but the assessable catalytic cycle was much less than that of the native enzyme, showing the importance of the protein environment.