The number of nucleotide binding sites in cytochrome C oxidase

The binding of 2'(3')-O-(2,4,6-trinitrophenyl)-adenosine-5'-triphosphate (TNP-ATP), [35S]ATP alpha S and 8-azido-[gamma-32P]ATP to isolated cytochrome c oxidase of bovine heart and liver and to the two-subunit enzyme of Paracoccus dentrificans was studied by measuring the fluorescence change or bound radioactivity, respectively. With TNP-ATP three binding sites were determined at cytochrome c oxidase from bovine heart and liver, both with two dissociation constants Kd of about 0.2 and 0.9 microM. Trypsin treatment of the enzyme from bovine heart, resulted in one binding site with a Kd of 0.3 microM. The two-subunit enzyme of Paracoccus dentrificans had only one binding site with a Kd of 3.6 microM. The binding of [35S]ATP alpha S to cytochrome c oxidase was studied by equilibrium dialysis. With the enzyme of bovine heart seven and the enzyme of liver six high-affinity binding sites with apparent Kd's of 7.5 and 12 microM, respectively, were obtained. The two-subunit enzyme of Paracoccus denitrificans had one binding site with a Kd of 20 microM. The large number of binding sites at cytochrome c oxidase from bovine heart, mainly at nuclear coded subunits, was verified by photoaffinity labelling with 8-azido-[gamma-32P]ATP.