The Unusual Homodimer of a Heme-Copper Terminal Oxidase Allows Itself to Utilize Two Electron Donors

A Bioinspired Copper-Pair Catalyst in Metal-Organic Frameworks for Molecular Dioxygen Activation and Aerobic Oxidative C-N Coupling

Open Cu sites were loaded to the UiO-67 metal-organic framework (MOF) skeleton by introduction of flexible Cu-binding pyridylmethylamine (pyma) side chains to the biphenyldicarboxylate linkers. Distance between Cu centers in the MOF pores was tuned by controlling the density of metal-binding side chains. "Interacted" Cu-pair or "isolated" monomeric Cu sites were achieved with high and low (pyma)Cu side chain loading, respectively. Spectroscopic and theoretical studies indicate that "interacted" Cu pairs can effectively bind and activate molecular dioxygen to form Cu2O2 clusters, which showed high catalytic activity for aerobic oxidative C-N coupling. On the contrary, MOF catalyst bearing isolated monomeric Cu sites only showed modest catalytic activity. Enhancement in catalytic performance for the Cu-pair catalyst is attributed to the remote synergistic effect of the paired Cu site, which binds molecular dioxygen and cleaves the O═O bond in a collaborative manner. This work demonstrates that noncovalently interacted metal-pair sites can effectively activate inert small molecules and promote heterogeneous catalytic processes.

Cryo-Electron Microscopy Structure of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis Cytochrome bcc:aa3 Supercomplex and a Novel Inhibitor Targeting Subunit Cytochrome cI

The mycobacterial cytochrome bcc:aa3 complex deserves the name "supercomplex" since it combines three cytochrome oxidases-cytochrome bc, cytochrome c, and cytochrome aa3-into one supramolecular machine and performs electron transfer for the reduction of oxygen to water and proton transport to generate the proton motive force for ATP synthesis. Thus, the bcc:aa3 complex represents a valid drug target for Mycobacterium tuberculosis infections. The production and purification of an entire M. tuberculosis cytochrome bcc:aa3 are fundamental for biochemical and structural characterization of this supercomplex, paving the way for new inhibitor targets and molecules. Here, we produced and purified the entire and active M. tuberculosis cyt-bcc:aa3 oxidase, as demonstrated by the different heme spectra and an oxygen consumption assay. The resolved M. tuberculosis cyt-bcc:aa3 cryo-electron microscopy structure reveals a dimer with its functional domains involved in electron, proton, oxygen transfer, and oxygen reduction. The structure shows the two cytochrome cIcII head domains of the dimer, the counterpart of the soluble mitochondrial cytochrome c, in a so-called "closed state," in which electrons are translocated from the bcc to the aa3 domain. The structural and mechanistic insights provided the basis for a virtual screening campaign that identified a potent M. tuberculosis cyt-bcc:aa3 inhibitor, cytMycc1. cytMycc1 targets the mycobacterium-specific α3-helix of cytochrome cI and interferes with oxygen consumption by interrupting electron translocation via the cIcII head. The successful identification of a new cyt-bcc:aa3 inhibitor demonstrates the potential of a structure-mechanism-based approach for novel compound development.

Evolution of quinol oxidation within the heme‑copper oxidoreductase superfamily

The heme‑copper oxidoreductase (HCO) superfamily is a large superfamily of terminal respiratory enzymes that are widely distributed across the three domains of life. The superfamily includes biochemically diverse oxygen reductases and nitric oxide reductases that are pivotal in the pathways of aerobic respiration and denitrification. The adaptation of HCOs to use quinol as the electron donor instead of cytochrome c has significant implication for the respiratory flexibility and energetic efficiency of the respiratory chains that include them. In this work, we explore the adaptation of this scaffold to two different electron donors, cytochromes c and quinols, with extensive sequence analysis of these enzymes from publicly available datasets. Our work shows that quinol oxidation evolved independently within the HCO superfamily at least seven times. Enzymes from only two of these independently evolved clades have been biochemically well-characterized. Combining structural modeling with sequence analysis, we identify putative quinol binding sites in each of the novel quinol oxidases. Our analysis of experimental and modeling data suggests that the quinol binding site appears to have evolved at the same structural position within the scaffold more than once.

Complex Interplay of Heme-Copper Oxidases with Nitrite and Nitric Oxide

Nitrite and nitric oxide (NO), two active and critical nitrogen oxides linking nitrate to dinitrogen gas in the broad nitrogen biogeochemical cycle, are capable of interacting with redox-sensitive proteins. The interactions of both with heme-copper oxidases (HCOs) serve as the foundation not only for the enzymatic interconversion of nitrogen oxides but also for the inhibitory activity. From extensive studies, we now know that NO interacts with HCOs in a rapid and reversible manner, either competing with oxygen or not. During interconversion, a partially reduced heme/copper center reduces the nitrite ion, producing NO with the heme serving as the reductant and the cupric ion providing a Lewis acid interaction with nitrite. The interaction may lead to the formation of either a relatively stable nitrosyl-derivative of the enzyme reduced or a more labile nitrite-derivative of the enzyme oxidized through two different pathways, resulting in enzyme inhibition. Although nitrite and NO show similar biochemical properties, a growing body of evidence suggests that they are largely treated as distinct molecules by bacterial cells. NO seemingly interacts with all hemoproteins indiscriminately, whereas nitrite shows high specificity to HCOs. Moreover, as biologically active molecules and signal molecules, nitrite and NO directly affect the activity of different enzymes and are perceived by completely different sensing systems, respectively, through which they are linked to different biological processes. Further attempts to reconcile this apparent contradiction could open up possible avenues for the application of these nitrogen oxides in a variety of fields, the pharmaceutical industry in particular.

The Unusual Homodimer of a Heme-Copper Terminal Oxidase Allows Itself to Utilize Two Electron Donors

The heme-copper oxidase superfamily comprises cytochrome c and ubiquinol oxidases. These enzymes catalyze the transfer of electrons from different electron donors onto molecular oxygen. A B-family cytochrome c oxidase from the hyperthermophilic bacterium Aquifex aeolicus was discovered previously to be able to use both cytochrome c and naphthoquinol as electron donors. Its molecular mechanism as well as the evolutionary significance are yet unknown. Here we solved its 3.4 Å resolution electron cryo-microscopic structure and discovered a novel dimeric structure mediated by subunit I (CoxA2) that would be essential for naphthoquinol binding and oxidation. The unique structural features in both proton and oxygen pathways suggest an evolutionary adaptation of this oxidase to its hyperthermophilic environment. Our results add a new conceptual understanding of structural variation of cytochrome c oxidases in different species.