Paradoxical Stabilization of the Neutral Flavin Semiquinone of Xanthine Dehydrogenase at High pH

The pH dependence of the behavior of chicken liver xanthine dehydrogenase in the course of reductive titrations with sodium dithionite has been examined. Below pH 8.5, the behavior of xanthine dehydrogenase is similar to that of the much better understood milk xanthine oxidase, with the amount of neutral semiquinone accumulating transiently in the course of the titration increasing somewhat as the pH decreases. At pH 10, however, an anomalously large accumulation of the neutral semiquinone is observed by both UV/visible and EPR spectroscopy. Treatment of xanthine dehydrogenase with the thiol reagent iodoacetamide significantly diminishes the ability of the enzyme to stabilize the neutral flavin semiquinone at high pH. These data are consistent with the presence of a protein thiol in the immediate vicinity of the flavin, whose ionization above pH 8.5 results in thermodynamic stabilization of the neutral flavin semiquinone over the anionic form.