Analyses of optical absorption and circular dichroism spectra of spinach ferredoxin at alkaline pH.

The whole protein structure and the microenvironments of the iron-sulfur cluster and of the side chains of amino acid residues of spinach ferredoxin were studied by optical absorption and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy in the alkaline pH range. From the pH-dependence of the optical absorption changes at 245 nm, the four tyrosyl residues of ferredoxin were classified into three groups: one exposed residue with a normal apparent pK value of 10.1, two exposed residues with abnormal apparent pK values of 12.0, and one buried residue showing time-dependent ionization. The absorption in the visible region disappeared gradually with the ionization of the buried residue rather than that of the three exposed residues. The apparent pK value of 10.0 was obtained from the rapid CD changes at 258 nm caused by pH elevation from neutral to alkaline pH. The structural alteration associated with the CD change had no effect on the secondary structure of the protein moiety other than the iron-sulfur cluster and the microenvironment of the cluster. The rate constants obtained from the time courses of the CD changes in the near-ultraviolet and visible regions were in good agreement with those obtained from the time courses of the optical absorption changes. These results lead to the conclusions that (1) the native ferredoxin structure is maintained through the interaction with the iron-sulfur cluster and (2) the protein structure in the neighborhood of the cluster, important for the physiological activity, is not perturbed even though the exposed tyrosyl residues are ionized.