1H NMR study of the magnetic properties and electronic structure of the hydroxide complex of substrate-bound heme oxygenase from Neisseria meningitidis: influence of the axial water deprotonation on the distal H-bond network

Inactivation of the heme degrading enzyme IsdI by an active site substitution that diminishes heme ruffling

IsdG and IsdI are paralogous heme degrading enzymes from the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus. Heme bound by these enzymes is extensively ruffled such that the meso-carbons at the sites of oxidation are distorted toward bound oxygen. In contrast, the canonical heme oxygenase family degrades heme that is bound with minimal distortion. Trp-66 is a conserved heme pocket residue in IsdI implicated in heme ruffling. IsdI variants with Trp-66 replaced with residues having less bulky aromatic and alkyl side chains were characterized with respect to catalytic activity, heme ruffling, and electrochemical properties. The heme degradation activity of the W66Y and W66F variants was approximately half that of the wild-type enzyme, whereas the W66L and W66A variants were inactive. A crystal structure and NMR spectroscopic analysis of the W66Y variant reveals that heme binds to this enzyme with less heme ruffling than observed for wild-type IsdI. The reduction potential of this variant (-96 ± 7 mV versus standard hydrogen electrode) is similar to that of wild-type IsdI (-89 ± 7 mV), so we attribute the diminished activity of this variant to the diminished heme ruffling observed for heme bound to this enzyme and conclude that Trp-66 is required for optimal catalytic activity.

Electronic properties of the highly ruffled heme bound to the heme degrading enzyme IsdI

IsdI, a heme-degrading protein from Staphylococcus aureus, binds heme in a manner that distorts the normally planar heme prosthetic group to an extent greater than that observed so far for any other heme-binding protein. To understand better the relationship between this distinct structural characteristic and the functional properties of IsdI, spectroscopic, electrochemical, and crystallographic results are reported that provide evidence that this heme ruffling is essential to the catalytic activity of the protein and eliminates the need for the water cluster in the distal heme pocket that is essential for the activity of classical heme oxygenases. The lack of heme orientational disorder in (1)H-NMR spectra of the protein argues that the catalytic formation of β- and δ-biliverdin in nearly equal yield results from the ability of the protein to attack opposite sides of the heme ring rather than from binding of the heme substrate in two alternative orientations.

1H NMR study of the influence of mutation on the interaction of the C-terminus with the active site in heme oxygenase from Neisseria meningitidis: implications for product release

The HO from the pathogenic bacterium Neisseria meningitidis, NmHO, possesses C-terminal His207, Arg208, and His209 residues that are undetected in crystal structures. NMR found the C-terminus ordered and interacting with the active site and shown to undergo a spontaneous cleavage of the C-terminal Arg208-His209 bond that affects the product off rate. A preliminary model for the interaction based on the wild-type (WT) NmHO complexes has been presented [Liu, Y., Ma, L.-H., Satterlee, J. D., Zhang, X., Yoshida, T., and La Mar, G. N. (2006) Biochemistry 45, 3875-3886]. Two-dimensional (1)H NMR data of resting-state, azide-inhibited substrate complexes of the three C-terminal truncation mutants (Des-His209-, Des-Arg208His209-, and Des-His207Arg208His209-NmHO) confirm the previous proposed roles for His207 and Arg208 and reveal important additional salt bridges involving the His209 carboxylate and the side chains of both Lys126 and Arg208. Deletion of His209 leads to a qualitatively retained C-terminal geometry, but with increased separation between the C-terminus and active site. Moreover, replacing vinyls with methyls on the substrate leads to a decrease in the separation between the C-terminus and the active site. The expanded model for the C-terminus reveals a less stable His207-Arg208 cis peptide bond, providing a rationalization for its spontaneous cleavage. The rate of this spontaneous cleavage is shown to correlate with the proximity of the C-terminus to the active site, suggesting that the closer interaction leads to increased strain on the already weak His207-Arg208 peptide bond. The relevance of the C-terminus structure for in vitro studies, and the physiological function of product release, is discussed.

Solution 1H NMR characterization of substrate-free C. diphtheriae heme oxygenase: pertinence for determining magnetic axes in paramagnetic substrate complexes

Proton 2D NMR was used to confirm in solution a highly conserved portion of the molecular structure upon substrate loss for the heme oxygenase from the pathogenic bacterium Corynebacterium diphtheriae, HmuO. The chemical shifts for the conserved portion of the structure are assessed as references for the dipolar shifts needed to determine the orientation of the paramagnetic susceptibility tensor, chi, in paramagnetic substrate complexes of HmuO. It is shown that the chemical shifts for the structurally conserved portion of substrate-free HmuO serve as excellent references for residues with only small to moderate sized dipolar shifts in the cyanide-inhibited substrate complex of HmuO, yielding an orientation of chi that is essentially the same as conventionally obtained from large dipolar shifts based on empirical estimates of the diamagnetic reference. The implications of these diamagnetic chemical shifts for characterizing the hydrogen bonding in the physiologically relevant, resting-state, high-spin aquo complex are discussed. The pattern of labile proton exchange in the distal H-bond network of substrate-free HmuO allowed comparison of changes in dynamic stability of tertiary contacts in the substrate-free and substrate-bound HmuO and with the same complexes of human heme oxygenase.

Coupling of the distal hydrogen bond network to the exogenous ligand in substrate-bound, resting state human heme oxygenase

Mammalian heme oxygenase (HO) possesses catalytically implicated distal ordered water molecules within an extended H-bond network, with one of the ordered water molecules (#1) providing a bridge between the iron-coordinated ligand and the catalytically critical Asp140, that, in turn, serves as an acceptor for the Tyr58 OH H-bond. The degree of H-bonding by the ligated water molecule and the coupling of this water molecule to the H-bond network are of current interest and are herein investigated by (1)H NMR. Two-dimensional NMR allowed sufficient assignments to provide both the H-bond strength and hyperfine shifts, the latter of which were used to quantify the magnetic anisotropy in both the ferric high-spin aquo and low-spin hydroxo complexes. The anisotropy in the aquo complex indicates that the H-bond donation to water #1 is marginally stronger than in a bacterial HO, while the anisotropy for the hydroxo complex reveals a conventional (d(xz), d(yz))(1) ground state indicative of only moderate to weak H-bond acceptance by the ligated hydroxide. Mapping out the changes of the H-bond strengths in the network during the ligated water --> hydroxide conversion by correcting for the effects of magnetic anisotropy reveals a very substantial change in H-bond strength for Tyr58 OH and lesser effects on nearby H-bonds. The effect of pH on the H-bonding network in human HO is much larger and transmitted much further from the iron than in a pathogenic bacterial HO. The implications for the HO mechanism of the H-bond of Tyr58 to Asp140 are discussed.

1H NMR study of the effect of variable ligand on heme oxygenase electronic and molecular structure

Heme oxygenase carries out stereospecific catabolism of protohemin to yield iron, CO and biliverdin. Instability of the physiological oxy complex has necessitated the use of model ligands, of which cyanide and azide are amenable to solution NMR characterization. Since cyanide and azide are contrasting models for bound oxygen, it is of interest to characterize differences in their molecular and/or electronic structures. We report on detailed 2D NMR comparison of the azide and cyanide substrate complexes of heme oxygenase from Neisseria meningitidis, which reveals significant and widespread differences in chemical shifts between the two complexes. To differentiate molecular from electronic structural changes between the two complexes, the anisotropy and orientation of the paramagnetic susceptibility tensor were determined for the azide complex for comparison with those for the cyanide complex. Comparison of the predicted and observed dipolar shifts reveals that shift differences are strongly dominated by differences in electronic structure and do not provide any evidence for detectable differences in molecular structure or hydrogen bonding except in the immediate vicinity of the distal ligand. The readily cleaved C-terminus interacts with the active site and saturation-transfer allows difficult heme assignments in the high-spin aquo complex.

Assignment of Ferriheme Resonances for High- and Low-Spin Forms of Nitrophorin 3 by H and C NMR Spectroscopy and Comparison to Nitrophorin 2: Heme Pocket Structural Similarities and Differences

Nitrophorin 3 (NP3) is the only one of the four major NO-binding heme proteins found in the saliva of the blood-sucking insect Rhodnius prolixus (also called the Kissing Bug) for which it has not been possible to obtain crystals of diffraction quality for structure determination by X-ray crystallography. Thus we have used NMR spectroscopy, mainly of the hyperfine-shifted ferriheme substituent resonances, to learn about the similarities and differences in the heme pocket and the iron active site of NP3 as compared to NP2, which has previously been well-characterized by both X-ray crystallography and NMR spectroscopy. Only one residue in the heme pocket differs between the two, F27 of NP2 is Y27 for NP3; in both cases this residue is expected to interact strongly with the 2-vinyl side chain of the B heme rotational isomer or the 4-vinyl of the A heme rotational isomer. Both the high-spin (S = 5/2) aquo complex, NP3-H(2)O, and the low-spin (S = 1/2) N-methylimidazole (NMeIm) complex of NP3 have been studied. It is found that the chemical shifts of the protons of both forms are similar to those of the corresponding NP2 complexes, but with minor differences that indicate a slightly different angle for the proximal histidine (H57) ligand plane. The B heme rotational isomer is preferred by both NP3 and NP2 in both spin states, but to a greater extent when phenylalanine is present at position 27 (A:B = 1:8 for NP2, 1:6 for NP3-Y27F, 1:4 for NP3, and 1:3 for NP2-F27Y). Careful analysis of the 5Me and 8Me shifts of the A and B isomers of the two high-spin nitrophorins leads to the conclusion that the heme environment for the two isomers differs in some way that cannot be explained at the present time. The kinetics of deprotonation of the high-spin complexes of NP2 and NP3 are very different, with NP2 giving well-resolved high-spin aquo and "low-spin" hydroxo proton NMR spectra until close to the end of the titration, while NP3 exhibits broadened (1)H NMR spectra indicative of an intermediate rate of exchange on the NMR timescale between the two forms throughout the titration. The heme methyl shifts of NP2-OH are similar in magnitude and spread to those of NP2-CN, while those of metmyoglobin-hydroxo complexes are much larger in magnitude but not spread. It is concluded that the hydroxo complex of NP2 is likely S = 1/2 with a mixed (d(XY))(2)(d(XZ),d(YZ))(3)/(d(xy))(1)(d(xz),d(yz))(4) electron configuration, while those of met-Mb-OH are likely S = 1/2,3/2 mixed spin systems.

Distinct reaction pathways followed upon reduction of oxy-heme oxygenase and oxy-myoglobin as characterized by Mössbauer spectroscopy

Activation of O(2) by heme-containing monooxygenases generally commences with the common initial steps of reduction to the ferrous heme and binding of O(2) followed by a one-electron reduction of the O(2)-bound heme. Subsequent steps that generate reactive oxygen intermediates diverge and reflect the effects of protein control on the reaction pathway. In this study, Mössbauer and EPR spectroscopies were used to characterize the electronic states and reaction pathways of reactive oxygen intermediates generated by 77 K radiolytic cryoreduction and subsequent annealing of oxy-heme oxygenase (HO) and oxy-myoglobin (Mb). The results confirm that one-electron reduction of (Fe(II)-O(2))HO is accompanied by protonation of the bound O(2) to generate a low-spin (Fe(III)-O(2)H(-))HO that undergoes self-hydroxylation to form the alpha-meso-hydroxyhemin-HO product. In contrast, one-electron reduction of (Fe(II)-O(2))Mb yields a low-spin (Fe(III)-O(2)(2-))Mb. Protonation of this intermediate generates (Fe(III)-O(2)H(-))Mb, which then decays to a ferryl complex, (Fe(IV)=O(2-))Mb, that exhibits magnetic properties characteristic of the compound II species generated in the reactions of peroxide with heme peroxidases and with Mb. Generation of reactive high-valent states with ferryl species via hydroperoxo intermediates is believed to be the key oxygen-activation steps involved in the catalytic cycles of P450-type monooxygenases. The Mössbauer data presented here provide direct spectroscopic evidence supporting the idea that ferric-hydroperoxo hemes are indeed the precursors of the reactive ferryl intermediates. The fact that a ferryl intermediate does not accumulate in HO underscores the determining role played by protein structure in controlling the reactivity of reaction intermediates.