XRMA analysis and X-ray diffraction analysis of dental enamel from human permanent teeth exposed to hydrogen peroxide of varying pH.

BACKGROUND: This in vitroinvestigation shows how 3.3% H2O2, at different pH-values affects the enamel. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A number of fifteen human premolars were used. The enamel of the coronal half in six of the teeth, were exposed by H2O2. Nine teeth were prepared to enamel powder. The enamel was exposed to 3.3% H2O2, at six different pH-values (pH range 4.5 - 7.0). Analyses of the topography of enamel performed by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and the chemical composition of enamel by X-ray microanalysis (XRMA). X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) analysed the crystallinity in enamel powder. RESULTS: The exposure to H2O2 at pH<5.5 resulted in a rougher topography of the enamel, according to the SEM studies. The XRMA analysis revealed a increase in the ratio of Ca:C. Exposure to H2O2 at pH>5.5 resulted in a decrease of O in the exposed enamel, and changes in C:P, Ca:C, Ca:P and Ca:O were observed. The H2O22 did not affect the unit cell parameters, but the signal-to-noise level was increased for slightly acidic or neutral solutions. The unit cell parameters decreased in the acidic solutions. CONCLUSIONS: The exposure to H2O2 at varying pH values affect the enamel with two different mechanisms. One effect is the oxidation of the organic or bioorganic matter in the hydroxyapatite matrix, due to the use of 3.3% H2O2. The other effect is due to the current pH of the H2O2, since the structure of the hydroxyapatite starts to erode when the pH<5.5. Key words:Dental Enamel, Tooth Bleaching Agents, Hydrogen Peroxide, Scanning Electron Microscopy, X-ray diffraction.

pH dependence of copper geometry, reduction potential, and nitrite affinity in nitrite reductase.

Many properties of copper-containing nitrite reductase are pH-dependent, such as gene expression, enzyme activity, and substrate affinity. Here we use x-ray diffraction to investigate the structural basis for the pH dependence of activity and nitrite affinity by examining the type 2 copper site and its immediate surroundings in nitrite reductase from Rhodobacter sphaeroides 2.4.3. At active pH the geometry of the substrate-free oxidized type 2 copper site shows a near perfect tetrahedral geometry as defined by the positions of its ligands. At higher pH values the most favorable copper site geometry is altered toward a more distorted tetrahedral geometry whereby the solvent ligand adopts a position opposite to that of the His-131 ligand. This pH-dependent variation in type 2 copper site geometry is discussed in light of recent computational results. When co-crystallized with substrate, nitrite is seen to bind in a bidentate fashion with its two oxygen atoms ligating the type 2 copper, overlapping with the positions occupied by the solvent ligand in the high and low pH structures. Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy is used to assign the pH dependence of the binding of nitrite to the active site, and EPR spectroscopy is used to characterize the pH dependence of the reduction potential of the type 2 copper site. Taken together, these spectroscopic and structural observations help to explain the pH dependence of nitrite reductase, highlighting the subtle relationship between copper site geometry, nitrite affinity, and enzyme activity.

Structures of the oxidized and reduced forms of nitrite reductase from Rhodobacter sphaeroides 2.4.3 at high pH: changes in the interactions of the type 2 copper.

Nitrite reductase is an enzyme operating in the denitrification pathway which catalyses the conversion of nitrite (NO2(-)) to gaseous nitric oxide (NO). Here, crystal structures of the oxidized and reduced forms of the copper-containing nitrite reductase from Rhodobacter sphaeroides 2.4.3 are presented at 1.74 and 1.85 A resolution, respectively. Whereas the structure of the enzyme is very similar to those of other copper-containing nitrite reductases, folding as a trimer and containing two copper sites per monomer, the structures reported here enable conformational differences between the oxidized and reduced forms of the enzyme to be identified. In the type 1 copper site, a rotational perturbation of the side chain of the copper ligand Met182 occurs upon reduction. At the type 2 copper site, a dual conformation of the catalytic residue His287 is observed in the oxidized structure but is lacking in the reduced structure, such that the interactions of the oxidized type 2 copper ion can be regarded as adopting octahedral geometry. These findings shed light on the structural mechanism of the reduction of a copper-bound nitrite to nitric oxide and water.

Effects of a novel disulfide bond and engineered electrostatic interactions on the thermostability of azurin.

Identification and evaluation of factors important for thermostability in proteins is a growing research field with many industrial applications. This study investigates the effects of introducing a novel disulfide bond and engineered electrostatic interactions with respect to the thermostability of holo azurin from Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Four mutants were selected on the basis of rational design and novel temperature-dependent atomic displacement factors from crystal data collected at elevated temperatures. The atomic displacement parameters describe the molecular movement at higher temperatures. The thermostability was evaluated by optical spectroscopy as well as by differential scanning calorimetry. Although azurin has a high inherent stability, the introduction of a novel disulfide bond connecting a flexible loop with small alpha-helix (D62C/K74C copper-containing mutant), increased the T(m) by 3.7 degrees C compared with the holo protein. Furthermore, three mutants were designed to introduce electrostatic interactions, K24R, D23E/K128R, and D23E/K128R/K24R. Mutant K24R stabilizes loops between two separate beta-strands and D23E/K128R was selected to stabilize the C-terminus of azurin. Furthermore, D23E/K128R/K24R was selected to reflect the combination of the electrostatic interactions in D23E/K128R and K24R. The mutants involving electrostatic interactions had a minor effect on the thermostability. The crystal structures of the copper-containing mutants D62C/K74C and K24R have been determined to 1.5 and 1.8 A resolution. In addition the crystal structure of the zinc-loaded mutant D62C/K74C has also been completed to 1.8 A resolution. These structures support the selected design and provide valuable information for evaluating effects of the modifications on the thermostability of holo azurin.

The crystal structure of the spinach plastocyanin double mutant G8D/L12E gives insight into its low reactivity towards photosystem 1 and cytochrome f.

Plastocyanin (Pc) is a copper-containing protein, which functions as an electron carrier between the cytochrome b(6)f and photosystem 1 (PS1) complexes in the photosynthetic electron transfer (ET) chain. The ET is mediated by His87 situated in the hydrophobic surface in the north region of Pc. Also situated in this region is Leu12, which mutated to other amino acids severely disturbs the ET from cytochrome f and to PS1, indicating the importance of the hydrophobic surface. The crystal structure of the Pc double mutant G8D/L12E has been determined to 2.0 A resolution, with a crystallographic R-factor of 18.3% (R(free)=23.2%). A comparison with the wild-type structure reveals that structural differences are limited to the sites of the mutations. In particular, there is a small but significant change in the hydrophobic surface close to His87. Evidently, this leads to a mismatch in the reactive complex with the redox partners. For PS1 this results in a 20 times weaker binding and an eightfold slower ET as determined by kinetic measurements. The mutations that have been introduced do not affect the optical absorption spectrum. However, there is a small change in the EPR spectrum, which can be related to changes in the copper coordination geometry.

Crystal structure of the double azurin mutant Cys3Ser/Ser100Pro from Pseudomonas aeruginosa at 1.8 A resolution: its folding-unfolding energy and unfolding kinetics.

Azurin is a cupredoxin, which functions as an electron carrier. Its fold is dominated by a beta-sheet structure. In the present study, azurin serves as a model system to investigate the importance of a conserved disulphide bond for protein stability and folding/unfolding. For this purpose, we have examined two azurin mutants, the single mutant Cys3Ser, which disrupts azurin's conserved disulphide bond, and the double mutant Cys3Ser/Ser100Pro, which contains an additional mutation at a site distant from the conserved disulphide. The crystal structure of the azurin double mutant has been determined to 1.8 A resolution(2), with a crystallographic R-factor of 17.5% (R(free)=20.8%). A comparison with the wild-type structure reveals that structural differences are limited to the sites of the mutations. Also, the rates of folding and unfolding as determined by CD and fluorescence spectroscopy are almost unchanged. The main difference to wild-type azurin is a destabilisation by approximately 20 kJ x mol(-1), constituting half the total folding energy of the wild-type protein. Thus, the disulphide bond constitutes a vital component in giving azurin its stable fold.