Reduction midpoint potentials of bifurcating electron transfer flavoproteins

Recently, a variety of enzymes have been found to accept electrons from NAD(P)H yet reduce lower-potential carriers such as ferredoxin and flavodoxin semiquinone, in apparent violation of thermodynamics. The reaction is favorable overall, however, because these enzymes couple the foregoing endergonic one-electron transfer to exergonic transfer of the other electron from each NAD(P)H, in a process called “flavin-based electron bifurcation.” The reduction midpoint potentials (E°s) of the multiple flavins in these enzymes are critical to their mechanisms. We describe methods we have found to be useful for measuring each of the E°s of each of the flavins in bifurcating electron transfer flavoproteins.