Oxidative modification of methionine80 in cytochrome c by reaction with peroxides

The Met80-heme iron bond of cytochrome c (cyt c) is cleaved by the interaction of cyt c with cardiolipin (CL) in membranes. The Met80 dissociation enhances the peroxidase activity of cyt c and triggers cyt c release from mitochondrion to the cytosol at the early stage of apoptosis. This paper demonstrates the selective oxidation of Met80 for the reaction of ferric cyt c with a peroxide, meta-chloroperbenzoic acid (mCPBA), in the presence of CL-containing liposomes by formation of a ferryl species (Compound I). After the reaction of cyt c with mCPBA in the presence of 1,2-dioloeyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DOPC) liposomes containing CL, the electrospray ionization mass spectrum of the peptide fragments, obtained by digestion of cyt c with lysyl endopeptidase, exhibited a peak at m/z = 795.45; whereas, this peak was not observed for the peptide fragments obtained after the reaction in the presence of DOPC liposomes not containing CL. According to the tandem mass spectrum of the m/z = 795.45 peptide fragment, Met80 was modified with a 16 Da mass increase. The purified Met80-modified cyt c exhibited a peroxidase activity more than 5-fold higher than that of the unmodified protein. Transient absorption bands around 650 nm were generated by the reactions with mCPBA for ferric wild-type cyt c in the presence of CL-containing DOPC liposomes and ferric Y67F cyt c in the absence of liposomes. The formation and decomposition rates of the 650-nm absorption species increased and decreased, respectively, by increasing the mCPBA concentration in the reaction, indicating transient formation of Compound I.