Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 1990 Oct 9;29(40):9370-6.
doi: 10.1021/bi00492a010.

A nontraditional role for water in the cytochrome c oxidase reaction

J A Kornblatt  1 , G H Hoa
Affiliations

A nontraditional role for water in the cytochrome c oxidase reaction

J A Kornblatt et al. Biochemistry. .

Abstract

The passage of electrons through cytochrome c oxidase is directly related to the activity of water. Reducing the activity in a system containing reductant, oxygen, and cytochrome oxidase blocks electron transfer between reduced cytochrome a and oxidized cytochrome a3. The extent of the block is directly related to the osmotic pressure of the system, implying that the protein shell of the oxidase acts as a semipermeable membrane that excludes osmotic perturbants but not water. It appears that approximately 10 water molecules must enter and leave the oxidase in order for internal electron transfer to occur.

PubMed Disclaimer

Publication types