Understanding the Mechanism of Short-Range Electron TransferUsing an Immobilized Cupredoxin

The hydrophobic patch of azurin (AZ)from Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an important recognitionsurface for electron transfer (ET) reactions. The influenceof changing the size of this region, by mutating the Cterminalcopper-binding loop, on the ET reactivity of AZadsorbed on gold electrodes modified with alkanethiol selfassembledmonolayers (SAMs) has been studied. Thedistance-dependence of ET kinetics measured by cyclicvoltammetry using SAMs of variable chain length,demonstrates that the activation barrier for short-rangeET is dominated by the dynamics of molecular rearrangementsaccompanying ET at the AZ-SAM interface. Theseinclude internal electric field-dependent low-amplitudeprotein motions and the reorganization of interfacial watermolecules, but not protein reorientation. Interfacialmolecular dynamics also control the kinetics of shortrangeET for electrostatically and covalently immobilizedcytochrome c. This mechanism therefore may be utilizedfor short-distance ET irrespective of the type of metalcenter, the surface electrostatic potential, and the nature ofthe protein−SAM interaction.