Calculation of the redox potentials of iron-sulfur proteins: the 2-/3-couple of [Fe4S*4Cys4] clusters in Peptococcus aerogenes ferredoxin, Azotobacter vinelandii ferredoxin I, and Chromatium vinosum high-potential iron protein.

Calculations of the redox potentials of the 2-/3-couples of [Fe4S4Cys4] clusters in the iron-sulfur proteins Peptococcus aerogenes ferredoxin (PaFd), Azotobacter vinelandii ferredoxin I (AvFdI) and Chromatium vinosum high potential iron protein (CvHiPIP) based on the Protein Dipoles Langevin Dipoles (PDLD) method are reported. The structures of these proteins have been determined by X-ray crystallography; in the case of PaFd the structure has recently been revised due to a change in the sequence close to Cluster II. The large differences between the potentials of the [Fe4S4Cys4] clusters of PaFd and AvFdI and the potential of the [Fe4S*4Cys4] cluster of CvHiPIP are successfully modeled and originate principally in differences in the configuration of main-chain amide groups near the clusters. The small difference between the potentials of PaFd and AvFdI is also satisfactorily modeled in the case of Cluster I of PaFd. Solvent dipoles close to the cluster in PaFd are an important contributor to its higher potential. The two X-ray structures of PaFd yield similar results for Cluster I of PaFd. In contrast, the results for Cluster II differ substantially; for reasons not yet clear, the recently revised structure leads to results in worse agreement with experiment.