Bioenergetics articles within Nature Chemistry

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• Article | 07 November 2016

  Why copper is preferred over iron for oxygen activation and reduction in haem-copper oxidases

  Despite decades of research into heme-copper oxidases, the advantages provided by copper over iron as the non-heme metal has remained unclear. Now, the preference of copper over iron has finally been explained. Copper favours faster electron transfer and higher O–O bond activation, which results in much higher oxidase activity than would be achieved by an iron equivalent.

  • Ambika Bhagi-Damodaran
  • , Matthew A. Michael
  •  & Yi Lu

• News & Views | 24 October 2011

  Proton fronts on membranes

  Proton migration on membranes is a crucial step in the bioenergetics of the cell. It has typically been regarded as slow successive proton transfers between ionizable moieties within the membrane, but recent measurements suggest fast lateral diffusion in the membrane's hydration layer.

  • Noam Agmon
  •  & Menachem Gutman