J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 259, Issue 20, 12334-12338, Oct, 1984
Oxidation of deoxyhemerythrin to semi-methemerythrin by nitrite
JM Nocek, DM Kurtz Jr, RA Pickering and MP Doyle
In anaerobic phosphate buffer, pH 6.3-7.5, deoxyhemerythrin is oxidized to
semi-methemerythrin (semi-met) by excess sodium nitrite. This oxidation is
quantitative as judged by EPR spectroscopy. Further oxidation to
methemerythrin is not detected. The absorbance changes of hemerythrin
during the oxidation are biphasic. The rate of the faster first phase is
linearly dependent on [H+] and [NO2-] suggesting that the oxidant is
nitrous acid rather than nitrite. During the slower second phase, the
characteristic EPR spectrum of semi-methemerythrin appears. The first phase
can be interpreted by a scheme in which nitrous acid transforms
deoxyhemerythrin (FeIIFeII) to the semi-met nitrosyl adduct (FeIIFeIIINO)
and hydroxide. Independent experiments confirm that the combination of
semi-met plus NO produces an EPR-silent adduct. The rates of the absorbance
changes for the second phase are nearly independent of nitrite
concentration and pH in the range 6.3- 7.5. This slower phase involves the
transformation of the EPR-silent intermediate to the semi-met nitrite
adduct (FeIIFeIIINO2-) and is consistent with rate-limiting dissociation of
nitric oxide followed by rapid attachment of nitrite. Nitrite appears to be
a unique oxidant of deoxyhemerythrin in that when employed in excess, the
final, stable product is semi-met- rather than methemerythrin. The lack of
reactivity of ethyl nitrite with deoxyhemerythrin suggests that HONO
oxidizes deoxyhemerythrin via an "inner-sphere" process in contrast to
oxidants such as Fe(CN)6(3-). A proposed generalization is that excesses of
"inner-sphere" oxidants convert deoxy to (semi-met)R, which is stabilized
with respect to (semi-met)R, which is stabilized with respect to
(semi-met)0 and met because the oxidant and/or a product of the oxidant can
bind to the iron site.