We describe electron transfer through the NrfHA nitrite reductase heterodimer using a thermodynamic integration scheme based upon molecular dynamics simulations. From the simulation data, we estimate two of the characteristic energies of electron transfer, the thermodynamic driving forces, ΔG, and the reorganization energies, λ. Using a thermodynamic network analysis, the statistical accuracy of the ΔG values can be enhanced significantly. Although the reaction free energies and activation barriers are hardly affected by protein aggregation, the complete reaction mechanism only emerges from the simulations of the dimer rather than focussing on the individual protein chains: it involves an equienergetic transprotein element of electron storage and conductivity.

Until now, FMN/FAD radicals could not be stabilized in aqueous solution or other protic solvents because of rapid and efficient dismutation reactions. In this contribution, a novel system for stabilizing flavin radicals in aqueous solution is reported. Subsequent to trapping FMN in an agarose matrix, light-generated FMN radicals could be produced that were stable for days even under aerobic conditions, and their concentrations were high enough for extensive EPR characterization. All large hyperfine couplings could be extracted by using a combination of continuous-wave EPR and low-temperature ENDOR spectroscopy. To map differences in the electronic structure of flavin radicals, two exemplary proton hyperfine couplings were compared with published values from various neutral and anionic flavoprotein radicals: C(6)­H and C­(8α)­H 3 . It turned out that FMN•– in an aqueous environment shows the largest hyperfine couplings, whereas for FMNH• under similar conditions, hyperfine couplings are at the lower end and the values of both vary by up to 30%. This finding demonstrates that protein–cofactor interactions in neutral and anionic flavoprotein radicals can alter their electron spin density in different directions. With this aqueous system that allows the characterization of flavin radicals without protein interactions and that can be extended by using selective isotope labeling, a powerful tool is now at hand to quantify interactions in flavin radicals that modulate the reactivity in different flavoproteins.

We present a computer simulation study of the thermodynamics and kinetics of charge transfer reactions within the fungal peroxidase AauDyPI from Auricularia auriculae-judae. Driving forces and reorganization energies are obtained from a thermodynamic integration scheme based upon molecular dynamics simulations. To enhance the numerical accuracy, the free energies are analyzed within a least-squares scheme of a closely knit thermodynamic network. We identify Tyr147, Tyr229, and Trp105 as oxidative agents, and find Trp377 to be a long-lived reaction intermediate. The results are compared to recent experimental findings.

Using molecular dynamics simulations of the thermodynamic integration type, we study the energetics and kinetics of electron transfer through the nitrite reductase enzyme of Sulfurospirillum deleyianum, Wolinella succinogenes and Campylobacter jejuni. In all of these five-heme proteins, the storage of an even number of electrons within a monomeric chain is thermodynamically favoured. Kinetically, two of these electrons are usually transferred almost simultaneously towards the active site. Although the free energy landscape for charge transfer varies significantly from organism to organism, the heme cofactor closest to the interface of a protein dimer always exhibits a particularly low free energy, suggesting that protein dimerization is functional. Interheme electron interaction effects do not play a significant role.