Based on the assumption that electron transfer between globular proteins oc
curs by a collective excitation of polaron type, the dependence of the rate
of this process on the distance between the donor and acceptor centers wit
h regard to their detailed electron structure was calculated, The electron
structure of the heme was calculated by the quantum-chemical MNDO-PM3 metho
d. The results were compared with experimental data on interprotein and int
raglobular electron transfer, It is shown that, in the framework of this mo
del, the electron transfer is not exponential and does not require a partic
ular transfer pathway since the whole protein macromolecule is involved in
the formation of the electron excited state.