Tyrosine-Coordinated P-Cluster in G. diazotrophicus Nitrogenase: Evidence for the Importance of O-Based Ligands in Conformationally Gated Electron Transfer

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• 作者：Cedric P. Owens ; Faith E. H. Katz ; Cole H. Carter ; Victoria F. Oswald ; F. Akif Tezcan
• 刊名：Journal of the American Chemical Society
• 出版年：2016
• 出版时间：August 17, 2016
• 年：2016
• 卷：138
• 期：32
• 页码：10124-10127
• 全文大小：320K
• 年卷期：0
• ISSN：1520-5126

文摘

The P-cluster is a unique iron–sulfur center that likely functions as a dynamic electron (ep>–p>) relay site between the Fe-protein and the catalytic FeMo-cofactor in nitrogenase. The P-cluster has been shown to undergo large conformational changes upon 2-ep>–p> oxidation which entail the coordination of two of the Fe centers to a Ser side chain and a backbone amide N, respectively. Yet, how and if this 2-ep>–p> oxidized state (Pp>OXp>) is involved in catalysis by nitrogenase is not well established. Here, we present the crystal structures of reduced and oxidized MoFe-protein (MoFeP) from Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus (Gd), which natively possesses an Ala residue in the position of the Ser ligand to the P-cluster. While reduced Gd-MoFeP is structurally identical to previously characterized counterparts around the FeMo-cofactor, oxidized Gd-MoFeP features an unusual Tyr coordination to its P-cluster along with ligation by a backbone amide nitrogen. EPR analysis of the oxidized Gd-MoFeP P-cluster confirmed that it is a 2-ep>–p> oxidized, integer-spin species. Importantly, we have found that the sequence positions corresponding to the Ser and Tyr ligands are almost completely covariant among Group I nitrogenases. These findings strongly support the possibility that the Pp>OXp> state is functionally relevant in nitrogenase catalysis and that a hard, O-based anionic ligand serves to stabilize this state in a switchable fashion.