Control of electron delivery to the oxygen reduction site of cytochrome c oxidase: a role for protons.

We have studied the reaction of oxidized "pulsed" cytochrome c oxidase with reduced cytochrome c and with ruthenium(II) hexaammine using stopped-flow mixing. The rate of reduction of Fea3 (the oxygen-binding heme) is not a linear function of the population of reduced Fea (the low-spin heme), as would be expected if electron transfer between these sites is rate-limiting. Instead, the rate can be increased significantly by increasing the driving force of the reductant (lowering of Eh) even after Fea is almost completely reduced. Reduction of Fea3 becomes slower as the pH is raised, and consumption of protons can be seen simultaneously with electron entry into Fea3. Both the reduction of Fea3 and the proton uptake are biphasic. To explain these findings, we propose a model in which (1) intramolecular heme-heme electron transfer is fast, and has an essentially constant rate; (2) when reduction begins, the midpoint potentials of Fea3 and CuB are initially low, and only a small fraction of these centers become reduced; and (3) this reduced population is then stabilized by the uptake of protons. Thus, net reduction of Fea3 and CuB is controlled by the amount of the low-potential population which becomes reduced together with the rate of proton uptake by this reduced low-potential species. Important consequences of this mechanism for the function of the enzyme and for the respiratory chain as a whole are discussed.