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Chances and challenges of long‐distance electron transfer for cellular redox reactions
Author(s) -
Giese Bernd,
Karamash Maksym,
Fromm Katharina M.
Publication year - 2023
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1002/1873-3468.14493
Subject(s) - redox , electron transfer , chemistry , biophysics , electron transport chain , biochemistry , biology , photochemistry , inorganic chemistry
Biological redox reactions often use a set‐up in which final redox partners are localized in different compartments and electron transfer (ET) among them is mediated by redox‐active molecules. In enzymes, these ET processes occur over nm distances, whereas multi‐protein filaments bridge μm ranges. Electrons are transported over cm ranges in cable bacteria, which are formed by thousands of cells. In this review, we describe molecular mechanisms that explain how respiration in a compartmentalized set‐up ensures redox homeostasis. We highlight mechanistic studies on ET through metal‐free peptides and proteins demonstrating that long‐distance ET is possible because amino acids Tyr, Trp, Phe, and Met can act as relay stations. This cuts one long ET into several short reaction steps. The chances and challenges of long‐distance ET for cellular redox reactions are then discussed.