Generation of radical form of dipyridamole at illumination of photosynthetic reaction centers of Rb. sphaeroides.

The study of the effect of vasodilator, antiplatelet agent, and inhibitor P-glycoprotein dipyridamole (DIP) on the functioning of the transmembrane protein of the reaction center (RC) of Rb. sphaeroides showed that the activation of RC by constant light generates the DIP radical cation, which significantly affects the kinetics of recombination of charges divided between photoactive bacteriochlorophyll and quinone acceptors. Thus, the antioxidant properties of DIP may affect the functional activity of membrane proteins, and this apparently should be taken into account in the studies of the mechanisms of therapeutic action of this drug.

[Specific features of the melanophore system in different color morphs of larvae of the common toad (Bufo bufo L.)].

In a natural pond among usual black larvae of the common toad (Bufo bufo L.), a few unusual individuals of red-olive coloring were found out. In both morphs we investigated the melanophores of skin using different methods. The ESR-spectrometric analysis has shown the absence of distinctions between morphs by the amount of melanin. Analysis of total preparations of skin has shown the presence of various kinds of melanophore cells both in the derma and in the epidermis. Among typical melanophores, essentially differing cells appeared (atypical cells). In black morph tadpoles, the number of all kinds of melanophores is significantly greater than in red-olive morphs. It is shown that dark coloring is connected with a considerable number of atypical cells in the epidermis imposed on a dense layer of typical dermal melanophores with dispersed melanin.

Conformational changes near the cytochrome P450 active site upon binding of two different ligands.

It is shown that a stable nitroxyl radical, 4-cyano-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl, forms a complex with cytochrome P4502B4 by analogy with the second type substrates by joining directly to pentacoordinate heme iron. The bound radical is inaccessible to water-soluble paramagnetic ions, which confirms its localization in a hydrophobic pocket near the heme. Benzphetamine and N,N-dimethylaniline, the first-type nonpolar substrates, induce conformational changes of the spin-labeled hemoprotein which are evidently accompanied by an increase in the volume of the pocket resulting in emergence of contact with aqueous phase, and the heme-bound spin label becomes accessible to water-soluble paramagnetics. In this case potassium ferricyanide broadens the spin-labeled cytochrome signal and, as a result, lowers the amplitudes of the spectral components. Similar changes were registered at non-micellar concentrations of nonionic detergent Emulgen 913, whose activating effect on hydroxylation reactions is associated, as we showed previously, with its presence in the CYP2B4 active site simultaneously with substrates.

Reduction of photosystem I reaction center by recombinant DrgA protein in isolated thylakoid membranes of the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803.

To study the function of soluble NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase of the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 encoded by drgA gene, recombinant DrgA protein carrying 12 histidine residues on the C-terminal end was expressed in Escherichia coli and purified. Recombinant DrgA is a flavoprotein that exhibits quinone reductase and nitroreductase activities with NAD(P)H as the electron donor. Using EPR spectroscopy, it was demonstrated that addition of recombinant DrgA protein and NADPH to DCMU-treated isolated thylakoid membranes of the cyanobacterium increased the dark re-reduction rate of the photosystem I reaction center (P700(+)). Thus, DrgA can participate in electron transfer from NADPH to the electron transport chain of the Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 thylakoid membrane.

Effects of dark adaptation on light-induced electron transport through photosystem I in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803.

Kinetics of the redox reactions in the reaction center (P700) of photosystem I (PSI) of the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 have been studied by EPR spectroscopy. The redox kinetics were recorded based on accumulation of the EPRI signal when the final signal was the sum of individual signals produced in response to illumination of the cells. After prolonged (more than 3 sec) dark intervals between illuminations, the kinetic curve of the EPR signal from P700+ was multiphasic. After a sharp increase in the signal amplitude at the beginning of illumination (phase I), the amplitude rapidly (for 0.1-0.2 sec) decreased (phase II). Then the signal amplitude gradually increased (phase III) until the steady rate of electron transfer was established. With short-term (1 sec) dark intervals between the flashes and also in the presence of 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea (DCMU), the kinetics of the light-induced increase in the EPR signal from P700+ were monophasic. Inhibition with iodoacetamide of electron transport on the acceptor side of PSI under anaerobic conditions or an increase in the amount of respiration substrates on addition of glucose into a suspension of DCMU-treated wild-type cells increased the level of P700 reduction in phase III. The findings suggest that the kinetic curve of the EPR signal from P700+ is determined by both the electron entrance onto P700+ on the donor side of PSI and activity of electron acceptors of PSI.

H2O2-induced inhibition of photosynthetic O2 evolution by Anabaena variabilis cells.

Hydrogen peroxide inhibits photosynthetic O2 evolution. It has been shown that H2O2 destroys the function of the oxygen-evolving complex (OEC) in some chloroplast and Photosystem (PS) II preparations causing release of manganese from the OEC. In other preparations, H2O2 did not cause or caused only insignificant release of manganese. In this work, we tested the effect of H2O2 on the photosynthetic electron transfer and the state of OEC manganese in a native system (intact cells of the cyanobacterium Anabaena variabilis). According to EPR spectroscopy data, H2O2 caused an increase in the level of photooxidation of P700, the reaction centers of PS I, and decreased the rate of their subsequent reduction in the dark by a factor larger than four. Combined effect of H2O2, CN-, and EDTA caused more than eight- to ninefold suppression of the dark reduction of P700+. EPR spectroscopy revealed that the content of free (or loosely bound) Mn2+ in washed cyanobacterial cells was ~20% of the total manganese pool. This content remained unchanged upon the addition of CN- and increased to 25-30% after addition of H2O2. The content of the total manganese decreased to 35% after the treatment of the cells with EDTA. The level of the H2O2-induced release of manganese increased after the treatment of the cells with EDTA. Incubation of cells with H2O2 for 2 h had no effect on the absorption spectra of the photosynthetic pigments. More prolonged incubation with H2O2 (20 h) brought about degradation of phycobilins and chlorophyll a and lysis of cells. Thus, H2O2 causes extraction of manganese from cyanobacterial cells, inhibits the OEC activity and photosynthetic electron transfer, and leads to the destruction of the photosynthetic apparatus. H2O2 is unable to serve as a physiological electron donor in photosynthesis.

Reduction of photosystem I reaction center in DrgA mutant of the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 lacking soluble NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase.

Photoautotrophically grown cells of the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 wild type and the Ins2 mutant carrying an insertion in the drgA gene encoding soluble NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase (NQR) did not differ in the rate of light-induced oxygen evolution and Photosystem I reaction center (P700+) reduction after its oxidation with a white light pulse. In the presence of DCMU, the rate of P700+ reduction was lower in mutant cells than in wild type cells. Depletion of respiratory substrates after 24 h dark-starvation caused more potent decrease in the rate of P700+ reduction in DrgA mutant cells than in wild type cells. The reduction of P700+ by electrons derived from exogenous glucose was slower in photoautotrophically grown DrgA mutant than in wild type cells. The mutation in the drgA gene did not impair the ability of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 cells to oxidize glucose under heterotrophic conditions and did not impair the NDH-1-dependent, rotenone-inhibited electron transfer from NADPH to P700+ in thylakoid membranes of the cyanobacterium. Under photoautotrophic growth conditions, NADPH-dehydrogenase activity in DrgA mutant cells was less than 30% from the level observed in wild type cells. The results suggest that NQR, encoded by the drgA gene, might participate in the regulation of cytoplasmic NADPH oxidation, supplying NADP+ for glucose oxidation in the pentose phosphate cycle of cyanobacteria.

Role of NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase encoded by drgA gene in reduction of exogenous quinones in cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 cells.

Insertion mutant Ins2 of the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803, lacking NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase (NQR) encoded by drgA gene, was characterized by higher sensitivity to quinone-type inhibitors (menadione and plumbagin) than wild type (WT) cells. In photoautotrophically grown cyanobacterial cells more than 60% of NADPH:quinone-reductase activity, as well as all NADPH:dinoseb-reductase activity, was associated with the function of NQR. NQR activity was observed only in soluble fraction of cyanobacterial cells, but not in membrane fraction. The effects of menadione and menadiol on the reduction of Photosystem I reaction center (P700(+)) after its photooxidation in the presence of DCMU were studied using the EPR spectroscopy. The addition of menadione increased the rate of P700(+) reduction in WT cells, whereas in Ins2 mutant the reduction of P700(+) was strongly inhibited. In the presence of menadiol the reduction of P700(+) was accelerated both in WT and Ins2 mutant cells. These data suggest that NQR protects the cyanobacterial cells from the toxic effect of exogenous quinones by their reduction to hydroquinones. These data may also indicate the probable functional homology of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 NQR with mammalian and plant NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductases (DT-diaphorases).

[Experimental and theoretical study of processes of cyclical electron transport around photosystem I]. / Ekspeirmental'noe i teoreticheskoe issledovanie protsessov tsiklicheskgo élektronnogo transporta vokrug fotosistemy I.

The kinetics of photoinduced EPR I signals at different concentrations of ferredoxin was studied on isolated pea chloroplasts. A kinetic model of ferredoxin-dependent electron transport around photosystem I was suggested. A multiparticle model was constructed, which makes it possible to "directly" model the processes of electron transfer in multiprotein complexes and limited diffusion in different compartments of the system (stroma, lumen, and intermembrane space). A comparison of the kinetic and "direct" models revealed an important role of spatial organization of the system in the kinetics of redox turnover of P700.

Role of chloroplast photosystems II and I in apoptosis of pea guard cells.

Received Revision received We investigated the CN--induced apoptosis of guard cells in epidermal peels isolated from pea (Pisum sativum L.) leaves. This process was considerably stimulated by illumination and suppressed by the herbicides DCMU (an inhibitor of the electron transfer between quinones Q(A) and Q(B) in PS II) and methyl viologen (an electron acceptor from PS I). These data favor the conclusion drawn by us earlier that chloroplasts are involved in the apoptosis of guard cells. Pea mutants with impaired PS I (Chl-5), PS II (Chl-I), and PS II + PS I (Xa-17) were tested. Their lesions were confirmed by the ESR spectra of Signal I (oxidized PS I reaction centers) and Signal II (oxidized tyrosine residue Y(D) in PS II). Destruction of nuclei (a symptom of apoptosis) and their consecutive disappearance in guard cells were brought about by CN- in all the three mutants and in the normal pea plants. These results indicate that the light-induced enhancement of apoptosis of guard cells and its removal by DCMU are associated with PS II function. The effect of methyl viologen preventing CN--induced apoptosis in wild-type plants was removed or considerably decreased upon the impairment of the PS II and/or PS I activity.

Effects of oxygen on the dark recombination between photoreduced secondary quinone and oxidized bacteriochlorophyll in Rhodobacter sphaeroides reaction centers.

The influence of duration of exposure to actinic light (from 1 sec to 10 min) and temperature (from 3 to 35 degrees C) on the temporary stabilization of the photomobilized electron in the secondary quinone acceptor (QB) locus of Rhodobacter sphaeroides reaction centers (RC) was studied under aerobic or anaerobic conditions. Optical spectrophotometry and ESR methods were used. The stabilization time increased significantly upon increasing the exposure duration under aerobic conditions. The stabilization time decreased under anaerobic conditions, its dependence on light exposure duration being significantly less pronounced. Generation of superoxide radical in photoactivated aerobic samples was revealed by the ESR method. Possible interpretation of the effects is suggested in terms of interaction between the semiquinone QB with oxygen, the interaction efficiency being determined by the conformational transitions in the structure of RC triggered by actinic light on and off.

Participation of free radicals in photoreduction of protochlorophyllide to chlorophyllide in an artificial pigment-protein complex.

The primary stages of protochlorophyllide phototransformation in an artificially formed complex containing heterologously expressed photoenzyme protochlorophyllide-oxidoreductase (POR), protochlorophyllide, and NADPH were investigated by optical and ESR spectroscopy. An ESR signal (g = 2.002; H = 1 mT) appeared after illumination of the complex with intense white light at 77 K. The ESR signal appeared with simultaneous quenching of the initial protochlorophyllide fluorescence, this being due to the formation of a primary non-fluorescent intermediate. The ESR signal disappeared on raising the temperature to 253 K, and a new fluorescence maximum at 695 nm belonging to chlorophyllide simultaneously appeared. The data show that the mechanism of protochlorophyllide photoreduction in the complex is practically identical to the in vivo mechanism: this includes the formation of a short-lived non-fluorescent free radical that is transformed into chlorophyllide in a dark reaction.

Transition metal ion complexes with associates of porphyrin bound to a hydrophobic-hydrophilic copolymer.

The interaction of dimeric forms of meso-tetraphenylporphine with Mn2+ as well as the interaction of associated forms of meso-tetra(p-aminophenyl)porphine bound to a hydrophobic-hydrophilic copolymer with Mn2+ and Fe3+ were studied by absorption, luminescence, Raman, and EPR spectroscopies. Both dimeric and associated forms of these porphyrins produced Mn2+ complexes. Manganese ions in these complexes undergo clusterization, which is accompanied by transformation of the six-line EPR signal of Mn2+ into a broad single-line signal. The EPR signal of Mn2+ in these clusters is characterized by a g-factor value typical of a free electron with half-width DeltaHpp = 50 mT. The interaction of the two-component complex with Fe3+ produces a donor-acceptor complex. The electronic spectrum of the donor-acceptor complex contains a broad band with a maximum at 760 nm. The molar extinction coefficient of the complex at 760 nm is 9.1.104 M-1.cm-1, and the rate constant for its formation is Kdac = (3.9 +/- 0.6).106 M-1. The constants for Mn2+ binding to the organic compounds used in this work were also determined.

[Use of electron paramagnetic resonance in assessing viscosity of blood lipids in diabetes mellitus in children]. / Ispol'zovanie élektronnogo paramagnitnogo rezonansa v otsenke viazkosti lipidov krovi pri sakharnom diabete u detei.

Viscosity of blood serum lipids was studied in children with insulin-dependent diabetes involving nitroxyl containing probes-registered by means of radiospectrometer RE 1307. The following parameters were studied: the ratios between values exhibiting the probe distribution in polar and hydrophobic phases [formula: see text] as well as between content of low polar (I+1) and high polar (I-1) spectral components. The "f' value showed the state of lipid density and the ratio [formula: see text] allowed to estimate the lipid microviscosity. 34 children of 7-15 years old with insulin-dependent diabetes were examined in dynamics of treatment under stationary conditions. Distinct metabolic impairments and aggravation of the lipid peroxidation syndrome were mainly responsible for pronounced increase in lipid viscosity. The procedure of spin probes may contribute to study of diabetes pathogenesis as well as to serve as a diagnostic means in evaluation of the disease complications at early stages.

[The effect of lysolecithin on rat liver microsome monooxygenase activity after induction by xenobiotics of the methylcholanthrene type]. / Vliianie lizoletsitina na monoksigenaznye aktivnosti mikrosom pecheni krys posle induktsii ksenobiotikami metilkholantrenovogo tipa.

Effects of exogenous gamma-myristoyl- and gamma-palmitoyllysolecithins on physico-chemical characteristics of rat liver microsomes, such as hydrophobicity and viscosity, as well as on oxidative NADPH-dependent O-deethylation of 7-ethoxycoumarin (7-EC), O-demethylation of p-nitroanisole (p-NA) and hydroxylation of 3.4-benz(a)pyrene (BP) induced by the mechylcholanthrene xenobiotics methylcholanthrene (MCh), beta-naphthoflavone (NF) and Sovol (SV) have been investigated. The specific inducible form of P-450c showed different affinity for the substrates. Lysolecithin decreased the hydrophobicity but only slightly increased membrane viscosity, whereas the monooxygenase substrates neutralized these effects. Lysolecithin (2-20 micrograms/mg of microsomal protein) inhibited the activity of deethylase 7-EC (maximally by 11%) in NF- and SV-induced microsomes, this inhibiting effect being more pronounced than that in MCh-induced microsomes. At higher concentrations lysolecithin inhibited the rate of 7-EC deethylation in MCh-induced microsomes more strongly; the maximal inhibition (23%) was observed at the protein concentration of 60 micrograms/mg. In case of NF- and SV-induced microsomes the inhibition was 18%. The inhibiting effect of lysolecithin on 7-EC dealkylation was expressed in a lesser degree than that on p-NA O-demethylation in induced (but not intact) microsomes. A significant positive correlation has been found between the changes in hydrophobicity and inhibition rates in the presence of lysolecithin, however only for 7-EC deethylation.

Superoxide mediated chlorophyll allomerization in a dimethyl sulphoxide-water mixture.

The interaction of chlorophyll a with superoxide anion was studied in an alkaline DMSO-water system. It was found that O2(-.), directly or via HO2., produces the chlorophyll enolate-ion (Molish's intermediate) that is oxidized to Mg-chlorine(s). The allomerization reaction was found to be inhibited by superoxide dismutase. A possible participation of oxygen radicals in chlorophyll degradation in plants is discussed.

The primary reactions in the protochlorophyll(ide) photoreduction as investigated by optical and ESR spectroscopy.

It has been found that at low temperatures (77K-153K) a long-lived (at these temperatures) singlet ESR signal induced by intensive light appears in etiolated leaves of plants and in model systems including both the monomeric and aggregated protochlorophyll.Comparison of the results of ESR, fluorescence and absorption spectra measurements made it possible to suggest that at the initial stages of the protochlorophyll(ide) photoreduction process at least two paramagnetic non-fluorescent intermediates are formed, one of which seems to be identical to the previously found intermediate with absorption maximum at 690 nm. On the strength of the obtained results a conclusion can be drawn that photoreduction of the semi-isolated double-c=c-bond of the chlorophyll precursor molecule in etiolated leaves and in model systems is actualized via at least two stages of free radicals formation. A scheme of the primary reactions of chlorophyllide biosynthesis has been proposed.