An interpretation of the three line EPR spectrum of nitric oxide hemeproteins and related model systems: the effect of the heme environment.

The EPR spectra of the nitric oxide (NO) derivatives of structurally perturbed Fe (II) hemeproteins show various patterns, all of which are characterized by the conspicuous three-line hyperfine splitting due to 14NO, in contrast to that of the native proteins. For the purpose of obtaining structural information from these three line spectra, the model systems were studied, which consist of NO, heme (or TPP-Fe(II), where TTP means alpha, beta, gamma, delta-tetraphenylporphine) and the nitrogenous base, pyridine or quinoline, which, respectively, give the native type or the three line (perturbed type) EPR spectrum. The ring proton paramagnetic shift of quinoline in this system shows that it is not coordinated to NO-TPP-Fe(II) as a normal axial ligand, in contrast to pyridine which gives the shift pattern of the ordinary axial ligation. This observation suggests that in the NO-hemeproteins some perturbations of the protein structure cause the rupture or distortion of the bond between the imidazole nitrogen on the fifth coordination site and the heme iron, resulting in the three line spectrum. The EPR study of the model systems, the pentacoordinated complex, NO-heme and NO-TPP-Fe(II), in various media revealed that the pentacoordinated species indeed exhibits, depending upon its environment, a variety of spectra, which closely reproduce the three line patterns observed in the perturbed proteins and some related model systems. Such spectral variation can be attributed to the difference in the degree of quenching the internal motion and/or the structural heterogeneity caused by molecular environment.