Y25S Variant of Paracoccus pantotrophus Cytochrome cd sub(1) Provides Insight into Anion Binding by d sub(1) Heme and a Rare Example of a Critical Difference between Solution and Crystal Structures

• Published in: The Journal of biological chemistry 2005-07, Vol.280 (28), p.26073-26079
• Main Authors: Zajicek, Richard S, Cheesman, Myles R, Gordon, Euan HJ, Ferguson, Stuart J
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Paracoccus pantotrophus
• ISSN: 0021-9258; 1083-351X

Tyr super(25) is a ligand to the active site d sub(1) heme in as isolated, oxidized cytochrome cd sub(1) nitrite reductase from Paracoccus pantotrophus. This form of the enzyme requires reductive activation, a process that involves not only displacement of Tyr super(25) from the d sub(1) heme but also switching of the ligands at the c heme from bis-histidinyl to His/Met. A Y25S variant retains this bis-histidinyl coordination in the crystal of the oxidized state that has sulfate bound to the d sub(1) heme iron. This Y25S form of the enzyme does not require reductive activation, an observation previously interpreted as meaning that the presence of the phenolate oxygen of Tyr super(25) is the critical determinant of the requirement for activation. This interpretation now needs re-evaluation because, unexpectedly, the oxidized as prepared Y25S protein, unlike the wild type, has different heme iron ligands in solution at room temperature, as judged by magnetic circular dichroism and electron spin resonance spectroscopies, than in the crystal. In addition, the binding of nitrite and cyanide to oxidized Y25S cytochrome cd sub(1) is markedly different from the wild type enzyme, thus providing insight into the affinity of the oxidized d sub(1) heme ring for anions in the absence of the steric barrier presented by Tyr super(25).