Spinach plastocyanin and turnip cytochrome f have been covalently linked by using a water-soluble carbodiimide to yield an adduct of the two proteins. The redox potential of cytochrome f in the adduct was shifted by -20 mV relative to that of free cytochrome f, while the redox potential of plastocyanin in the adduct was the same as that of free plastocyanin. Solvent perturbation studies showed the degree of heme exposure in the adduct to be less than in free cytochrome f, indicating that plastocyanin was linked in such a way as to bury the exposed heme edge. Small changes were also observed when the resonance Raman spectrum of the adduct was compared to that of free cytochrome f. The adduct was incapable of interacting with or donating electrons to photosystem I. Peptide mapping and sequencing studies revealed two sites of linkage between the two proteins. In one site of linkage, Asp-44 of plastocyanin is covalently linked to Lys-187 of cytochrome f. This represents the first identification of a group on cytochrome f that is involved in the interaction with plastocyanin. The other site of linkage involves Glu-59 and/or Glu-60 of plastocyanin to as yet unidentified amino groups on cytochrome f. Euglena cytochrome c-552 could also be covalently linked to turnip cytochrome f, although with a lower efficiency than spinach plastocyanin. In contrast, a variety of cyanobacterial cytochrome c-553's and a cyanobacterial plastocyanin could not be covalently linked to turnip cytochrome f.

Formation of ATP from ADP on the external surface of vascular endothelial cells has been attributed to plasma membrane ATP synthase, ectoadenylate kinase (ecto-AK), and/or ectonucleoside diphosphokinase. These enzymes or their catalytic products have been causatively linked to the elaboration of vascular networks and the regulation of capillary function. The amount of ATP generated extracellularly is small, requiring sensitive analytical methods for quantification. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells were used to revisit extracellular ATP synthesis using a reliable tetrazolium reduction assay and multiwell plate cultures. Test conditions compatible with AK stability were established. Extracellular AK activity was found to be <1% of the total (intracellular and extracellular), raising the possibility that the external enzyme could have leaked from living cells and/or a few dying cells. To determine whether AK inadvertently leaked from the cells, the activity of another cytoplasmic enzyme, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD), was also measured. G6PD is present in the cytoplasm in similar abundance to AK. The activity ratio of G6PD (extracellular/total) was found to be similar to that of AK. Because G6PD in the medium was probably due to leakage, other cytoplasmic macromolecules, including AK, should be released proportionately from the cells. The role of plasma membrane ATP synthase in extracellular ATP formation was examined using Hanks' balanced salt solution with and without selective inhibitors of AK and ATP synthase activities. With P 1 ,P 5 -di(adenosine 5)-pentaphosphate (inhibitor of AK activity), no extracellular ATP synthesis was detected, whereas with oligomycin, piceatannol, and aurovertin (inhibitors of F 1 F 0 -ATP synthase and F 1 -ATPase activities), no inhibition of extracellular ATP synthesis was observed. AK activity alone could account for the observed extracellular ATP synthesis. The possible impact of ADP impurity in the assays is discussed. Extracellular ATP formation from ADP has been reported in cultures of several lines of human cells, including vascular endothelial cells, dermal keratinocytes, and some lines of tumor cells, and has been attributed to the activities of plasma membrane ATP synthase (PM-ATP synthase) 2 (1-7) and ecto forms of adenylate kinase (AK; ATP-AMP transphosphorylase, myokinase, EC 2.7.4.3) (5, 8 -12) and/or nucleoside diphosphokinase (8,(11)(12)(13)(14). F 1 F 0 -ATP synthase, the principal ATPforming apparatus of mitochondria and chloroplasts, is a complex, membrane-attached enzyme that generates ATP from ADP and P i , energized by a transmembrane proton gradient (15). A cogent rationale for PM-ATP synthase in endothelial cells has yet to be developed, even though there are reports that, within the plasma membrane, the protein complex itself may play a regulatory role in angiogenesis, i.e. the process of elaborating the blood capillary network in undervascularized tissues (1, 3, 4). AK, which is widely distributed within the plant and animal kingdoms, is l...

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The single sulfhydryl residue (cysteine-63) of the beta subunit of the chloroplast ATP synthase F1 (CF1) was accessible to labeling reagents only after removal of the beta subunit from the enzyme complex. This suggests that cysteine-63 may be located at an interface between the beta and the alpha subunits of CF1, although alternative explanations such as a conformational change in beta brought about by its release from CF1 cannot be ruled out. Cysteine-63 was specifically labeled with [(diethylamino)methylcoumarinyl]-maleimide, and the distance between this site and trinitrophenyl-ADP at the nucleotide binding site on beta was mapped using fluorescence resonance energy transfer. Cysteine-63 is located in a hydrophobic pocket, 42 A away from the nucleotide binding site on beta.

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