Electron transfer and conformation states in bovine cytochrome c oxidase.

The fluorophores 1,5-I-AEDANS and eosin maleimide bind to subunit III of bovine cytochrome c oxidase. Fluorescence lifetime measurements have been made of bound AEDANS under a number of conditions. It appears that the spatial relationship between this bound probe and metal centers is unaffected by the redox changes in the enzyme. Cyanide binding to CuA-modified cytochrome c oxidase during turnover suggests that reduction of cytochrome a leads to exposure of the cytochrome a3-CuB binuclear center to incoming ligands. These results are discussed in terms of a model describing the roles of cytochrome a and CuA in triggering the "closed" to "open" transition.