Study on the direct electron transfer process of superoxide dismutase

The electron transfer process of biological important species, superoxide d ismutase (SOD), was studied using cyclic voltammetric method at different c onditions. The rate of electron transfer process of SOD at conventional bar e gold electrode was very low. Different methods were used to enhance the r ate of this process. Gold microdisk electrode and gold minigrid electrode w ere used to replace the used conventional size gold electrode and the elect ron transfer rate was enhanced obviously. Different promoters, such as bis( 4-pyridyl)disulfide, histidine and arginine, were used to promote the elect ron transfer process also. Promising results were observed with the help of those promoters. The rate enhancement through the participation of amino a cids might be more interesting for the exploration of the real process of S OD-related reaction inside the human body. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. A ll rights reserved.