Cytochrome C Oxidase - energy transducer, electron carrier.

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For more information see Biochemistry Online: Chapter 8B - B:  BIOLOGICAL OXIDATION REACTIONS DEHYDROGENASES, MONO- AND DIOXYGENASES, AND OXIDASES


II. General Structure

Wireframe

If you manually rotate the structure, return it to the original orientation before the next selection. The original.

Colored chains

Note the dimeric structure of the enzyme - the large number of colors resulting is from the 26 discrete chains in Cyt. C Oxidase (13 in each dimer).

Backbone
Protein backbone with spacefilling heme (CPK), Cu2+ (gold), and Mg2+, green 
Protein backbone with cytochrome C binding sites and heme/metal groups

Asp and Glu residues in the
cytochrome C binding sites green and the heme/metal groups cyan. The negatively charged Asp and Glu residues which comprise the cytochrome C concave binding sites facilitate the binding of cytochrome C, which with a pI of 10.6 has a large positive charge.  Observe the close proximity of the binding sites to the heme/metal centers.

Cartoon