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Updated: Jul 5, 2026

Application of Genetically Encoded Fluorescent Nitric Oxide (NO•) Probes, the geNOps, for Real-time Imaging of NO• Signals in Single Cells
Published on: March 16, 2017
Ultrafast ligand binding dynamics in the active site of native bacterial nitric oxide reductase
Sofia M Kapetanaki1, Sarah J Field, Ross J L Hughes
1Laboratoire d'Optique et Biosciences, CNRS, Ecole Polytechnique, F-91128 Palaiseau, France; INSERM U696, F-91128 Palaiseau, France.
Abstract:
The active site of nitric oxide reductase from Paracoccus denitrificans contains heme and non-heme iron and is evolutionarily related to heme-copper oxidases. The CO and NO dynamics in the active site were investigated using ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy. We find that, upon photodissociation from the active site heme, 20% of the CO rebinds in 170 ps, suggesting that not all the CO transiently binds to the non-heme iron. The remaining 80% does not rebind within 4 ns and likely migrates out of the active site without transient binding to the non-heme iron. Rebinding of NO to ferrous heme takes place in approximately 13 ps. Our results reveal that heme-ligand recombination in this enzyme is considerably faster than in heme-copper oxidases and are consistent with a more confined configuration of the active site.
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