Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Redox-driven proton pumping by heme-copper oxidases.

Peter Brzezinski1, Gisela Larsson

  • 1Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, The Arrhenius Laboratories for Natural Sciences, Stockholm University, Svante Arrhenius vag 12, SE-106 91, Stockholm, Sweden. peterb@dbb.su.se

Biochimica Et Biophysica Acta
|August 9, 2003
PubMed
Summary

Heme-copper oxidases pump protons using electron transfer to reduce oxygen. A proposed model explains how energy from this process drives proton translocation across membranes via structural changes.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Electron transfer between complexes III and IV in S. cerevisiae mitochondrial membranes.

FEBS letters·2026
Same author

Mycobacterial respiratory chain enzymes and growth are inhibited by decylubiquinone.

Communications biology·2025
Same author

Cryo-EM of native membranes reveals an intimate connection between the Krebs cycle and aerobic respiration in mycobacteria.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2025
Same author

Inhibition mechanism of potential antituberculosis compound lansoprazole sulfide.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2024
Same author

Electron transfer in the respiratory chain at low salinity.

Nature communications·2024
Same author

Stimulation of cytochrome c oxidase activity by detergents.

Biochimica et biophysica acta. Bioenergetics·2024

Area of Science:

  • Molecular bioenergetics
  • Enzymology
  • Membrane protein function

Background:

  • Heme-copper oxidases are integral membrane proteins crucial for cellular respiration.
  • Proton translocation is coupled to electron transfer from donors like cytochrome c to oxygen.
  • Understanding the molecular mechanisms of these redox-driven proton pumps is a key challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To elucidate the molecular mechanism of proton pumping in heme-copper oxidases.
  • To present a novel model for energy conservation during oxygen reduction and proton transfer.
  • To investigate the role of specific residues and structural changes in proton translocation.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of enzyme structure and function.
  • Biochemical assays to study electron transfer and proton pumping.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Computational modeling to understand energy transduction.

    • Main Results:

    • Proton pumping is linked to exergonic steps in oxygen reduction to water.
    • High pKa proton acceptors are generated at the catalytic site during oxygen reduction.
    • Deprotonation of specific residues, like glutamate E(I-286) in Rhodobacter sphaeroides cytochrome c oxidase, induces structural changes.
    • These structural changes propagate to the proton output side, facilitating proton transfer.

    Conclusions:

    • A novel proton-pumping model is proposed, conserving free energy from oxygen reduction.
    • Structural changes initiated by residue deprotonation are key to coupling electron transfer with proton translocation.
    • The model explains how protons are accepted from the input side and released to the output side of the membrane.