Effect of Tris on catalytic activity of MP-11

The effect of tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane (Tris) on the catalytic activity and microstructure of heme undecapeptide, microperoxidase-11 (MP-11) in the aqueous solution was investigated using cyclic voltammetry, circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy, UV–vis absorption spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). It was found for the first time that Tris would inhibit the catalytic activity and electrochemical reaction of MP-11 at the glassy carbon (GC) electrode. This is mainly due to the fact that Tris would induce more α-helix and β-turn conformations from the random coil conformation of MP-11, cause the asymmetric split-up in the Soret band region of MP-11, increase the non-planarity of the heme of MP-11, and change the electron densities of N, O and S atoms of MP-11. Meanwhile, It was found that the electrochemical reaction of MP-11 with Tris at GC electrode is diffusion-controlled, and the diffusion coefficient of MP-11 and the rate constant for the heterogeneous electron transfer of MP-11 in the presence of Tris are decreased by 19% and 16%, respectively. Further experiments showed that the electrocatalytic current of MP-11 on the reduction of H2O2 is decreased by about 25% after the addition of Tris to the MP-11 solution.