Marco Borsari

Curcuminoids as potential new iron-chelating agents: spectroscopic, polarographic and potentiometric study on their Fe(III) complexing ability

The pKa values of curcumin and diacetylcurcumin are, here doubtless, determined by means of spectroscopic and potentiometric measurements, and the enolic proton is the more acidic one. The interaction of Fe 3 + with curcumin and diacetylcurcumin, in water/methanol 1:1 solution, leads to the formation of the complex species [FeH2CU(OH)2] and [FeDCU(OH)2 ]( H 2CU and DCU=curcumin or diacetylcurcumin monoanion, respectively) which prevails near pH 7. At more basic condition the prevailing species are [FeH2CU(OH)3] − and [FeDCU(OH)3] − , which prevent metal hydroxide precipitation. 1 H NMR data state that the dissociated -diketo moiety of the ligands is involved in metal chelation. The pKa value of the deprotonation reaction is strongly anticipated by the metal ion, as shown by UV spectral data. The stability constants, evaluated from potentiometric data, are near to that of desferrioxamine, which is, by now, the only iron-chelating agent for clinical use.

Silybin, a new iron-chelating agent

Silybin, a natural occurring flavolignan isolated from the fruits of Silibum marianum, has been reported to exert antioxidant and free radical scavenging abilities. It was suggested to act also as an iron chelator. The complexation and protonation equilibria of the ferric complex of this compound have been studied by potentiometric, spectrophotometric and electrochemical techniques. The formation of the complex silybin-Ga(III) in anhydrous DMSO-d6 has been studied by 1H NMR spectroscopy. Mass spectrometry and infrared spectroscopy on silybin-Fe(III) complex confirm all data obtained by 1H NMR spectroscopy. The experimental results show that silybin binds Fe(III) even at acidic pH. Different ternary complexes were observed at increasing methoxide ion concentration and their stability constants have been calculated. The results show the possible role of silybin in relation to the chelation therapy of chronic iron overload, as occurs in the treatment of Cooleys anemia.

The Reversible Opening of Water Channels in Cytochrome c Modulates the Heme Iron Reduction Potential

Dynamic protein-solvent interactions are fundamental for life processes, but their investigation is still experimentally very demanding. Molecular dynamics simulations up to hundreds of nanoseconds can bring to light unexpected events even for extensively studied biomolecules. This paper reports a combined computational/experimental approach that reveals the reversible opening of two distinct fluctuating cavities in Saccharomyces cerevisiae iso-1-cytochrome c. Both channels allow water access to the heme center. By means of a mixed quantum mechanics/molecular dynamics (QM/MD) theoretical approach, the perturbed matrix method (PMM), that allows to reach long simulation times, changes in the reduction potential of the heme Fe(3+)/Fe(2+) couple induced by the opening of each cavity are calculated. Shifts of the reduction potential upon changes in the hydration of the heme propionates are observed. These variations are relatively small but significant and could therefore represent a tool developed by cytochrome c for the solvent driven, fine-tuning of its redox functionality.

Enthalpy/entropy compensation phenomena in the reduction thermodynamics of electron transport metalloproteins

Compensation phenomena between the enthalpy and entropy changes of the reduction reaction for all classes of electron transport metalloproteins, namely cytochromes, iron-sulfur, and blue copper proteins, are brought to light. This is the first comprehensive report on such effects for biological redox reactions. Following Grunwald’s approach for the interpretation of H/S compensation for solution reactions, it is concluded that reduction-induced solvent reorganization effects involving the hydration shell of the molecule dominate the reduction thermodynamics in these species, although they have no net effect on the E° values, owing to exact compensation. Thus the reduction potentials of these species are primarily determined by the selective enthalpic stabilization of one of the two oxidation states due to ligand binding interactions and electrostatics at the metal site and by the entropic effects of reduction-induced changes in protein flexibility.

Effects of nonspecific ion-protein interactions on the redox chemistry of cytochrome c.

Abstract The effects of the ionic atmosphere on the enthalpic and entropic contributions to the reduction potential of native (state III) beef heart cytochrome c have been determined through variable-temperature direct electrochemistry experiments. At neutral or slightly alkaline pH values, from 5 to 50  °C, the reduction enthalpy and entropy become less negative with decreasing ionic strength. The reduction entropy extrapolated at null ionic strength is approximately zero, indicating that, in the absence of the screening effects of the salt ions on the network of the electrostatic interactions at the protein-solvent interface, the solvation properties and the conformational flexibility of the two redox states are comparable. The moderate decrease in E°′ observed with increasing ionic strength [ΔE°′IS =(E°′)I=0.1 M–(E°′)I=0 M=–0.035 V at 25  °C], once the compensating enthalpic and entropic effects of the salt-induced changes in the hydrogen bonding within the hydration sphere of the molecule in the two redox states are factorized out, results in being ultimately determined by the stabilizing enthalpic effect of the negatively charged ionic atmosphere on the ferri form. At pH 9, the ionic strength dependence of the reduction termodynamics of cytochrome c follows distinctive patterns, possibly as a result of specific binding of the hydroxide ion to the protein. A decrease in ionic strength at constant pH, as well as a pH increase at constant ionic strength, induces a depression of the temperature of the transition from the low-T to high-T conformer of cytochrome c, which suggests that a temperature-induced decrease in the pKa for a residue deprotonation is the key event of this conformational change.

Medium and Temperature Effects on the Redox Chemistry of Cytochrome c

Cytochromes c (cytc) are ubiquitous heme-containing metalloproteins that shuttle electrons in a variety of electron-transport chains, most often central to the production of the chemical energy necessary for cell life. The reduction potential (E°′) of the Fe3+/2+ couple is central to the physiological role of these species in that it influences the thermodynamic and kinetic features of electron-exchange reactions with redox partners. In the last two decades, voltammetric techniques exploiting the heterogeneous electron exchange between cytc and solid electrodes have proved to be particularly valuable for the determination of E°′ values for these species and for characterizing the mechanistic and kinetic aspects of the redox process for the various cytc conformers under a variety of solution conditions. The understanding of how, and to what extent, different molecular factors control the E°′ value in these species has been the subject of much debate. First coordination sphere effects on the heme iron and the interactions of the heme group with the surrounding polypeptide chain and the solvent are the main factors affecting E°′ in cytc. These interactions are sensitive to medium effects such as the pH and the nature and ionic composition of the solvent. E°′ is also strongly affected by the temperature. This article summarizes the authors’ work on the effects on the selective stabilization of the two redox states of class I cytochromes c exerted by acid-base equilibria, general ionic strength effects, specific anion binding, the presence of non-aqueous solvents, and the temperature. The temperature dependence of E°′ allows the determination of the enthalpy and entropy changes that accompany protein reduction. These parameters have proved to be informative with regard to the interplay between first coordination sphere effects and electrostatics at the heme−protein interface, including solvent dipoles, which mainly affect the reduction enthalpy, and solvent reorganization effects and differences in protein dynamics between the two oxidation states, which control the reduction entropy instead.

Effects of solvent on the redox properties of cytochrome c: cyclic voltammetry and 1H NMR experiments in mixed water-dimethylsulfoxide solutions

Abstract Bovine heart cytochrome c (cyt c) was studied through cyclic voltammetry, 1H NMR and circular dichroism measurements in mixed water-dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) solutions containing up to 50% DMSO by volume, under different conditions of temperature and pH. The effect of DMSO on the reduction potential of native cyt c was found to be determined mainly the he decrease in dielectric constant of the medium. No appreciable specific DMSO-protein interactions were detected. Instead, DMSO affects to some extent the conformation of alkaline cyt c and notably, stabilizes both redox states of this form to the detriment of the native form. In particular, DMSO lowers the pKa of the native to alkaline transition for oxidized cyt c and increases the electrochemical reversibility of the voltammetric wave of the alkaline form. DMSO-induced changes in the reduction entropy for native and alkaline cyt c were also determined and interpreted tentatively in terms of solvation properties of the heme and structural features of the protein environment.

Redox thermodynamics, acid-base equilibria and salt-induced effects for the cucumber basic protein. General implications for blue-copper proteins

Abstract The reduction potential of the basic blue-copper protein from cucumber peels (CBP) was determined through voltammetric techniques in different conditions of temperature, pH and ionic composition of the medium. The most notable properties of CBP include a positive entropy change upon reduction, a low-pH protonation and detachment of a metal-binding histidine in the reduced protein, and specific binding interactions with a number of anions present in common laboratory buffers, which influence to some extent the redox thermodynamics. The enthalpy and entropy changes accompanying reduction of the Cu(II) center were compared with those for other blue-copper proteins and correlated with spectroscopic data, structural properties and theoretical calculations. This allows some general considerations to be offered regarding the determinants of the reduction potential in this protein class. It emerges, in line with previous studies of the electronic structure of blue-copper sites, that the enthalpic contribution to the reduction potential is mainly modulated by the metal-binding interactions in the trigonal N2S ligand set, and particularly by the Cu-cysteinate bond, while the entropy term is mainly affected by solvation properties and possibly by the weak axial bond to copper. The role of solvent exposure of the metal site in the active-site protonations in reduced blue-copper proteins is discussed. Finally, it is shown that the Nernst-Debye-Huckel model qualitatively accounts for the ionic strength dependence of the reduction potential.

Modulation of Bacillus pasteurii cytochrome c553 reduction potential by structural and solution parameters

Abstract Direct cyclic voltammetry and 1H NMR spectroscopy have been combined to investigate the electrochemical and spectroscopic properties of cytochrome c553 isolated from the alkaliphilic soil bacterium Bacillus pasteurii. A quasi-reversible diffusion-controlled redox process is exhibited by cytochrome c553 at a pyrolitic graphite edge microelectrode. The temperature dependence of the reduction potential, measured using a non-isothermal electrochemical cell, revealed a discontinuity at 308 K. The thermodynamic parameters determined in the low-temperature range (275–308 K;ΔS°′=–162.7±1.2 J mol–1 K–1, ΔH°′=–53.0±0.5 kJ mol–1, ΔG°′=–4.5±0.1 kJ mol–1, E°′=+47.0±0.6 mV) indicate the presence of large enthalpic and entropic effects, leading, respectively, to stabilization and destabilization of the reduced form of cytochrome c553. Both effects are more accentuated in the high-temperature range (308–323 K;ΔS°′=–294.1±8.4 J mol–1 K–1, ΔH°′=–93.4±3.1 kJ mol–1, ΔG°′=–5.8±0.6 kJ mol–1, E°′=+60.3±5.8 mV), with the net result being a slight increase of the standard reduction potential. These thermodynamic parameters are interpreted using the compensation theory of hydration of biopolymers as indicating the extrusion, upon reduction, of water molecules from the hydration sphere of the cytochrome. The low-T and high-T conformers differ by the number of water molecules in the solvation sphere: in the high-T conformer, the number of water molecules extruded upon reduction increases, as compared to the low-T conformer. The ionic strength dependence of the reduction potential at 298 K, treated within the frame of extended Debye-Hückel theory, yields values of E°′(I=0)=–25.4±1.4 mV, zred=–11.3, and zox=–10.3. The pH dependence of the reduction potential at 298 K shows a plateau in the pH range 7–10 and an increase at more acidic pH, allowing the calculation of pKO=5.5 and pKR=5.7, together with the estimate of the reduction potentials of completely protonated (+71 mV) and deprotonated (+58 mV) forms of cytochrome c553. 1H NMR spectra of the oxidized paramagnetic cytochrome c553 indicate the presence of a His-Met axial coordination of the low-spin (S=1/2) heme iron, which is maintained in the temperature interval 288–340 K at pH 7 and in the pH range 4.8–10.0 at 298 K. The temperature dependence of the hyperfine-shifted signals shows both Curie-type and anti-Curie-type behavior, with marked deviations from linearity, interpreted as indicating the presence of a fast equilibrium between the low-T and high-T conformers, having slightly different heme electronic structures resulting from the T-induced conformational change. Increasing the NaCl concentration in the range 0–0.2 M causes a slight change of the 1H NMR chemical shifts of the hyperfine-shifted signals, with no influence on their linewidth. The calculated lower limit value of the apparent affinity constant for specific ion binding is estimated as 5.2±1.1 M–1. The pH dependence of the isotropically shifted 1H NMR signals of the oxidized cytochrome displays at least one ionization step with pKO=5.7. The thermodynamic and spectroscopic data indicate a large solvent-derived entropic effect as the main cause for the observed low reduction potential of B. pasteurii cytochrome c553.

Solvent-based deuterium isotope effects on the redox thermodynamics of cytochrome c.

The reduction thermodynamics of cytochrome c (cytc), determined electrochemically, are found to be sensitive to solvent H/D isotope effects. Reduction of cytochrome c is enthalpically more favored in D2O with respect to H2O, but is disfavored on entropic grounds. This is consistent with a reduction-induced strengthening of the H-bonding network within the hydration sphere of the protein. No significant changes in E°′ occur, since the above variations are compensative. As a main result, this work shows that the oxidation-state-dependent differences in protein solvation, including electrostatics and solvent reorganization effects, play an important role in determining the individual enthalpy and entropy changes of the reduction process. It is conceivable that this is a common thermodynamic feature of all electron transport metalloproteins. The isotope effects turn out to be sensitive to buffer anions which specifically bind to cytc. Evidence is gained that the solvation thermodynamics of both redox forms of cytc are sensibly affected by strongly hydrated anions.