Mathematical Modeling of ROS Production and Diode-like Behavior in the SDHA/SDHB Subcomplex of Succinate Dehydrogenases in Reverse Quinol-Fumarate Reductase Direction

Succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) plays an important role in reverse electron transfer during hypoxia/anoxia, in particular, in ischemia, when blood supply to an organ is disrupted, and oxygen is not available. It was detected in the voltammetry studies about three decades ago that the SDHA/SDHB subcomplex of SDH can have such a strong nonlinear property as a “tunnel-diode” behavior in reverse quinol-fumarate reductase direction. The molecular and kinetic mechanisms of this phenomenon, that is, a strong drop in the rate of fumarate reduction as the driving force is increased, are still unclear. In order to account for this property of SDH, we developed and analyzed a mechanistic computational model of reverse electron transfer in the SDHA/SDHB subcomplex of SDH. It was shown that a decrease in the rate of succinate release from the active center during fumarate reduction quantitatively explains the experimentally observed tunnel-diode behavior in SDH and threshold values of the electrode potential of about −80 mV. Computational analysis of ROS production in the SDHA/SDHB subcomplex of SDH during reverse electron transfer predicts that the rate of ROS production decreases when the tunnel-diode behavior appears. These results predict a low rate of ROS production by the SDHA/SDHB subcomplex of SDH during ischemia.