One-electron oxidation of catecholamines generates free radicals with an in vitro toxicity correlating with their lifetime.

One-electron oxidation of dopamine by ferricyanide generates a highly reactive free radical intermediate that inactivates the V-type H(+)-ATPase proton pump in catecholamine storage vesicles, i.e., the driving force in both the vesicular uptake and the storage of catecholamines, in a cell-free in vitro model system at pH 7.0. Electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy revealed that a radical with g=2.0045, formed by this oxidation, was relatively long-lived (t(1/2) obs=79 s at pH 6.5 and 25 degrees C). Experimental evidence is presented that the observed radical most likely represents dopamine semiquinone free radical, although an o-quinone free radical cannot be ruled out. Oxidation of noradrenaline and adrenaline by ferricyanide generated similar isotropic radicals, but of shorter half-lives (i.e., 43 and 5.3 s, respectively), and the efficacy of inactivation of the H(+)-ATPase correlated with the half-life of the respective catecholamine free radical (i.e., dopamine >noradrenaline>>adrenaline). Thus, the generation of relatively long-lived semiquinone free radicals, although at low concentrations, in dopaminergic and noradrenergic neurons may represent a common mechanism of cytotoxicity linked to neurodegeneration of the respective neurons related to Parkinson disease.

Anion- and pH-dependent activation of the soluble form of dopamine beta-hydroxylase.

The present study presents evidence for the conclusion that the catalytic activity of dopamine beta-hydroxylase (DBH; dopamine beta-mono-oxygenase, EC 1.14.17.1) is regulated independently by pH and by anions. In the absence of activating anions (i.e. in 50 mM Mes buffer) the activity was essentially zero at low pH (5.1-5.3) when assayed with the artificial electron donors ferrocyanide (0.25 mM), N, N, N', N'-tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine (TMPD, 2 mM) or N, N-dimethyl-p-phenylenediamine (1 mM) and tyramine (8 mM) as the substrate to be hydroxylated. However, in the presence of activating anions (e.g. 0.05-0.6 M Cl(-) in 50 mM Mes buffer, 0.1 M phosphate buffer or 0.2 M acetate buffer) a high catalytic activity was observed at pH 5.1-5.3. The pronounced effect of anions at this pH may be related to the postulated anion-induced conformational change of DBH [Syvertsen, Melø and Ljones (1987) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 914, 6-18] resulting in a facilitated access of the substrates to the active site(s). The anion-activated DBH was inhibited when assayed with ferrocyanide and activated when assayed with TMPD as electron donors by increasing the pH (5.1 to 6.0). By contrast, in the absence of anions the activity increased from essentially zero at pH 5.1-5.3 to high values at pH 6.0, irrespective of the electron donor used. The data suggest that the conformational change induced by anion activation exposes a negatively charged group at or near the electron-donor-binding site(s) imposing an electrostatic repulsion towards ferrocyanide (four negative charges) and an electrostatic attraction towards the positively charged TMPD, thus explaining the different pH-activity curves obtained for the two electron donors. In contrast to the artificial electron donors, the physiological donor ascorbate [Terland and Flatmark (1975) FEBS Lett. 59, 52-56] supports hydroxylation of tyramine at low pH also in the absence of Cl(-), acetate or phosphate, confirming that ascorbate also functions as an anion activator.