Resonance Raman studies of acetylheme-reconstituted myoglobins. Characterization of 2- versus 4-substituent/protein interactions

Modulating the nitrite reductase activity of globins by varying the heme substituents: Utilizing myoglobin as a model system

Globins, such as hemoglobin (Hb) and myoglobin (Mb), have gained attention for their ability to reduce nitrite (NO2(-)) to nitric oxide (NO). The molecular interactions that regulate this chemistry are not fully elucidated, therefore we address this issue by investigating one part of the active site that may control this reaction. Here, the effects of the 2,4-heme substituents on the nitrite reductase (NiR) reaction, and on the structures and energies of the ferrous nitrite intermediates, are investigated using Mb as a model system. This is accomplished by studying Mbs with hemes that have different 2,4-R groups, namely diacetyldeuteroMb (-acetyl), protoMb (wild-type (wt) Mb, -vinyl), deuteroMb (-H), and mesoMb (-ethyl). While trends on the natural charge on Fe and O-atom of bound nitrite are observed among the series of Mbs, the Fe(II)-NPyr (Pyr=pyrrole) and Fe(II)-NHis93 (His=histidine) bond lengths do not significantly change. Kinetic analysis shows increasing NiR activity as follows: diacetyldeuteroMb<wt Mb<deuteroMb<mesoMb. Nitrite binding energy calculations of the different Mb(II)-nitrite conformations demonstrate the N-bound complexes to be more stable than the O-bound complexes for all the different types of heme structures, with diacetyldeuteroMb having the greatest nitrite binding affinity. Spectral deconvolution on the final product generated from the reaction between Mb(II) and NO2(-) for the reconstituted Mbs indicates the formation of 1:1 Mb(III) and Mb(II)-NO. The electronic changes induced by the -R groups on the 2,4-positions do not alter the stoichiometric ratio of the products, resembling wt Mb.

The impact of altered protein-heme interactions on the resonance Raman spectra of heme proteins. Studies of heme rotational disorder

Heme proteins that have been reconstituted with certain hemins may contain substantial fractions of a minor component in which the orientation of the heme in the folded pocket differs from the major ("native") conformation by a 180 degrees rotation about the alpha-gamma meso axis. In fact, this minor component has also been shown to exist in some native proteins, including several mammalian globins. While resonance Raman spectroscopy has emerged as a powerful probe of active site structure of heme proteins, no systematic study has yet been undertaken to elucidate the specific spectral changes associated with this disorder. In the present work, combined analyses of the temporal behavior of both NMR and RR data sets have been completed to permit the extraction of a unique RR spectrum for the disoriented form, documenting rather dramatic changes associated with this rotational disorder. In addition, the use of protohemes bearing selectively deuterated peripheral methyl groups has permitted the association of the observed modes with specific fragments of the heme residing in the reversed orientation. The studies conducted here clearly illustrate the exquisite sensitivity of low frequency heme deformation modes to altered protein-heme interactions.

An Escherichia coli expression–based method for heme substitution

Heme reconstitution with porphyrin analogs is a powerful approach toward understanding the molecular function of heme proteins; present methods, however, have not proven to be generally useful. Here we describe the development and application of an expression-based method for introducing modified porphyrins. The approach allows efficient incorporation of heme analogs using a widely available bacterial strain and offers an attractive alternative to present reconstitution methods that subject proteins to harsh, denaturing conditions.

The effects of heme modification on reactivity, ligand binding properties and iron-coordination structures of cytochrome P450nor

Artificial cytochrome P450nors (nitric oxide reductase) were prepared by replacing the native protoheme with various 2,4-substituted hemes: meso-, deutero-, and diacetyldeutero-hemes. For these samples, the ratio of low spin/high spin states of the ferric resting enzyme were varied, indicating that the coordination of the water molecule at the iron sixth site was affected by the electron withdrawing capacities of the heme 2,4-substituents. The binding of the water molecule reduces the rate of binding of nitric oxide (NO) to the ferric iron. In addition, the reduction reaction of the ferric-NO complex with NADH, which constitutes the second step in the NO reduction, was facilitated by the electron withdrawing capacity of 2,4-substituents. Consequently, proto- (native-) P450nor exhibited the highest overall enzymatic activity (NO reduction activity), while the enzymes containing diacetyl-, deutero-, and meso-hemes had considerably lower activities, since the NO reduction activity is determined by a balance of the reaction rates of the above two steps. The optical absorption spectra of the ferric-NO and the ferrous-CO complexes of the reconstituted enzymes show that the electron density on the heme in both states was modulated by the substituent groups. However, the resonance Raman spectral measurements showed that the Fe-NO and N-O stretching frequencies in the ferric-NO complex were insensitive to the electron density of the heme while the Fe-CO and C-O stretching frequencies in the ferrous-CO complex were sensitively varied by the electron withdrawing capacity of the 2,4-substituent. The differences are discussed in terms of the difference in the iron-ligand bond characters between the ferric-NO and the ferrous-CO complexes.