Carbon monoxide-releasing molecule-3 (CORM-3; Ru(CO)3Cl(glycinate)) as a tool to study the concerted effects of carbon monoxide and nitric oxide on bacterial flavohemoglobin Hmp: applications and pitfalls.

CO and NO are small toxic gaseous molecules that play pivotal roles in biology as gasotransmitters. During bacterial infection, NO, produced by the host via the inducible NO synthase, exerts critical antibacterial effects while CO, generated by heme oxygenases, enhances phagocytosis of macrophages. In Escherichia coli, other bacteria and fungi, the flavohemoglobin Hmp is the most important detoxification mechanism converting NO and O2 to the ion nitrate (NO3(-)). The protoheme of Hmp binds not only O2 and NO, but also CO so that this ligand is expected to be an inhibitor of NO detoxification in vivo and in vitro. CORM-3 (Ru(CO)(3)Cl(glycinate)) is a metal carbonyl compound extensively used and recently shown to have potent antibacterial properties. In this study, attenuation of the NO resistance of E. coli by CORM-3 is demonstrated in vivo. However, polarographic measurements showed that CO gas, but not CORM-3, produced inhibition of the NO detoxification activity of Hmp in vitro. Nevertheless, CO release from CORM-3 in the presence of soluble cellular compounds is demonstrated by formation of carboxy-Hmp. We show that the inability of CORM-3 to inhibit the activity of purified Hmp is due to slow release of CO in protein solutions alone i.e. when sodium dithionite, widely used in previous studies of CO release from CORM-3, is excluded. Finally, we measure intracellular CO released from CORM-3 by following the formation of carboxy-Hmp in respiring cells. CORM-3 is a tool to explore the concerted effects of CO and NO in vivo.