Influence of pH and ionic strength on electrostatic properties of ferredoxin, FNR, and hydrogenase and the rate constants of their interaction.

Ferredoxin (Fd) protein transfers electrons from photosystem I (PSI) to ferredoxin:NADP+-reductase (FNR) in the photosynthetic electron transport chain, as well as other metabolic pathways. In some photosynthetic organisms including cyanobacteria and green unicellular algae under anaerobic conditions Fd transfers electrons not only to FNR but also to hydrogenase-an enzyme which catalyzes reduction of atomic hydrogen to H2. One of the questions posed by this competitive relationship between proteins is which characteristics of thylakoid stroma media allow switching of the electron flow between the linear path PSI-Fd-FNR-NADP+ and the path PSI-Fd-hydrogenase-H2. The study was conducted using direct multiparticle simulation approach. In this method protein molecules are considered as individual objects that experience Brownian motion and electrostatic interaction with the surrounding media and each other. Using the model we studied the effects of pH and ionic strength (I) upon complex formation between ferredoxin and FNR and ferredoxin and hydrogenase. We showed that the rate constant of Fd-FNR complex formation is constant in a wide range of physiologically significant pH values. Therefore it can be argued that regulation of FNR activity doesn't involve pH changes in stroma. On the other hand, in the model rate constant of Fd-hydrogenase interaction dramatically depends upon pH: in the range 7-9 it increases threefold. It may seem that because hydrogenase reduces protons it should be more active when pH is acidic. Apparently, regulation of hydrogenase's affinity to both her reaction partners (H+ and Fd) is carried out by changes in its electrostatic properties. In the dark, the protein is inactive and in the light it is activated and starts to interact with both Fd and H+. Therefore, we can conclude that in chloroplasts the rate of hydrogen production is regulated by pH through the changes in the affinity between hydrogenase and ferredoxin.

The role of electrostatic interactions in the process of diffusional encounter and docking of electron transport proteins.

Electrostatic interaction of plastocyanin and cytochrome f in the process of protein-protein complex formation was investigated by computer simulation methods. It was shown that long-range electrostatic interaction promotes energetically favorable mutual orientation of protein molecules at distances between their cofactors shorter than 5 nm. At distances shorter than 3 nm, these electrostatic interactions lead to a significantly detectable increase in the rate of convergence of the cofactors.

[Multiparticle computer simulation of protein interactions in the photosynthetic membrane].

The basic principles of the design of direct multiparticle models and the results of multiparticle computer simulation of electron transfer by mobile protein carriers in the photosynthetic membrane of a chloroplast thylakoid are presented. The reactions of complex formation of the protein plastocyanin with the protein cytochrome f and the pigment-protein complex of photosystem I, as well as of the protein ferredoxin with the protein FNR and photosystem 1 are considered. The role of diffusion and electrostatic interactions is discussed, and the effect of the shape of the reaction volume and ionic strength on the rate of electron transport are discussed.