Comparative Cd-113 nuclear magnetic resonance studies of Cd(II)-substituted blue copper proteins

The 113Cd NMR spectra of plastocyanin (Spinacea), stellacyanin (Rhus vernicifera), and two azurins (Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Alcaligenes faecalis) have been measured after introducing Cd(II) into the blue copper-binding sites. Relative to Cd(C1O4)2 the chemical shifts are 432, 380, 372, and 379 ppm, respectively, all of which are found to be reasonable values for binding sites containing a cysteine thiolate ligand. The 113Cd resonances of the cadmium derivatives of stellacyanin and the azurins are so near the same that the proteins must present very similar metal-binding sites. In contrast the plastocyanin derivative resonates about 50 ppm further downfield which may signal a change in coordination number. The spin lattice relaxation times of the 113Cd resonances are of the order of 0.1 s, and a major portion of the relaxation apparently occurs through the chemical shift anisotropy mechanism. At 13 degrees C the 113Cd resonance of Psuedomonas azurin shifts slightly downfield with increasing pH. This is explained by a small change in the environment about cadmium which occurs as a result of the conformational change that attends the titration of His-35.