Kinetics of superoxide scavenging by dismutase enzymes and manganese mimics determined by electron spin resonance.

This study presents an e.s.r. assay for superoxide dismutase (SOD). Enzymic reactions were studied in which Cu,Zn-SOD, Mn-SOD and Fe-SOD each competed with the spin trap 5,5-dimethyl-1-pyrroline 1-oxide (DMPO) for superoxide anion (O2-) at pH 7.8 O2- from dissolved KO2 (potassium superoxide) in dimethyl sulphoxide was added directly to the enzyme solutions containing DMPO. The results show that, in this competition reaction system, the kinetics of the reactions between the enzymes and O2- follow a function y = f[( SOD]0.5). The rate constant, kSOD = 6.4 x 10(9) M-1. S-1, determined for Cu,Zn-SOD is approximately an order of magnitude larger than those for Mn-SOD and Fe-SOD. A comparative study of reported SOD mimics, including Mn2+, MnO2-desferrioxamine mesylate (Desferal) and MnO2-Desferal-ascorbate, was done. The results show that solutions of these complexes are approximately three orders of magnitude less active than Cu,Zn-SOD and approximately two orders of magnitude less active than Mn-SOD or Fe-SOD. The results also suggest that the reactivity toward O2- in solutions of these complexes originates from the Mn2+ present and not from the MnO2-Desferal complexes.