[Crystal structure of fully oxidized cytochrome c-oxidase from the bovine heart at 2.8 A resolution].

Structural and functional studies on cytochrome c oxidase before the crystal structures appeared, are summarized to show the importance of X-ray crystal structure at the atomic resolution for understanding mechanism of the enzyme reaction, O2 reduction coupled with proton pumping. Crystal structure of bovine heart enzyme at the fully oxidized state at 2.8 A resolution are reviewed to evaluate of the contribution for understanding the enzyme reaction mechanism. Effects of detergent structure on the crystallization conditions of the bovine heart cytochrome c oxidase, which was critical for obtaining the X-ray crystal structure, are presented to propose a possible mechanism of crystallization of multicomponent membrane proteins.