Haem peroxidase

Haem peroxidases (or heme peroxidases) are haem-containing enzymes that use hydrogen peroxide as the electron acceptor to catalyse a number of oxidative reactions. Most haem peroxidases follow the reaction scheme:

In this mechanism, the enzyme reacts with one equivalent of H₂O₂ to give [Fe⁴⁺=O]R' (compound I). This is a two-electron oxidation/reduction reaction where H₂O₂ is reduced to water and the enzyme is oxidised. One oxidising equivalent resides on iron, giving the oxyferryl intermediate, while in many peroxidases the porphyrin (R) is oxidised to the porphyrin pi-cation radical (R'). Compound I then oxidises an organic substrate to give a substrate radical.

Haem peroxidases include two superfamilies: one found in bacteria, fungi, plants and the second found in animals. The first one can be viewed as consisting of 3 major classes. Class I, the intracellular peroxidases, includes: yeast cytochrome c peroxidase (CCP), a soluble protein found in the mitochondrial electron transport chain, where it probably protects against toxic peroxides; ascorbate peroxidase (AP), the main enzyme responsible for hydrogen peroxide removal in chloroplasts and cytosol of higher plants; and bacterial catalase- peroxidases, exhibiting both peroxidase and catalase activities. It is thought that catalase-peroxidase provides protection to cells under oxidative stress.