Structure of the heme d of Penicillium vitale and Escherichia coli catalases

Reaction of E. coli catalase HPII with cyanide as ligand and as inhibitor

Cyanide forms an inhibitory complex with the haem d-containing E. coli catalase HPII, spectrally similar to the cyanide complex of beef liver enzyme but with absorption bands shifted 90 nm towards the red end of the spectrum. Both the Kd and Ki values are approximately 7 microM in the wild-type enzyme. The cyanide reaction is slow, with a bimolecular 'on' constant approx. 2000 x smaller than that of eukaryotic enzyme, and an 'off' constant diminished by a similar amount. Catalases with a mutated distal histidine (H128) fail to bind cyanide at cyanide concentrations below 50 mM. Catalases with a mutated distal asparagine (N201) show only small changes in cyanide affinity from the wild type. The major fraction of HPII N201A has a Kd approximately 40 microM, and a minor fraction has a lower cyanide affinity; the major fraction of HPII N201Q has a Kd approximately 15 microM. The Kd and Ki for HPII N201D is approximately 8 microM, essentially identical with that of the wild type but N201D appears to bind cyanide somewhat more rapidly than does wild-type enzyme. The HPII mutant N201H can be obtained in both haem d and protohaem forms; it exhibits two types of cyanide binding behaviour. In its protohaem form it binds cyanide poorly (Kd > or = 0.25 mM). After peroxide treatment converts t into haem d or a closely related species it binds cyanide with a much higher affinity (Kd approximately 15 microM). Cyanide binding to HPII requires a distal histidine to provide hydrogen-bonding stability, but not a distal asparagine. Rates of cyanide binding and release are controlled by haem group accessibility through the channel leading to the outside. In HPII N201H channel opening may depend upon oxidation of the haem from the starting protohaem to the final haem d form.

Probing the structure of catalase HPII of Escherichia coli--a review

Escherichia coli produces two catalases or hydroperoxidases, HPI and HPII. HPI is a bifunctional catalase-peroxidase active as a tetramer of identical 80049-Da subunits encoded by katG. The expression of katG is controlled at the basal level by sigma s (KatF), and its induction by H2O2 is regulated by OxyR. HPII is a monofunctional catalase active as a tetramer of identical 84118-Da subunits encoded by katE. The induction of katE expression in the stationary phase is controlled by sigma s. The core of HPII is similar in sequence to other catalases including the conservation of several residues that have been implicated as playing a catalytic role, His128, Asn201, Ser167 and Tyr415. These residues have served as targets for site-directed mutagenesis in a study that has demonstrated their role in the catalytic mechanism of HPII. In addition, the two Cys residues in HPII have been targeted in a similar study revealing that they do not have a catalytic role, but that Cys438 is blocked by a novel modification. Despite many structural similarities to bovine liver catalase, the heme component of HPII has proved to be quite different. The presence of a cis heme d was determined spectrally and chromatographically, and the inability of certain mutants to generate the modified heme revealed that it was HPII itself that was catalysing the oxidation of heme b to heme d. The recent solution of the crystal structure of HPII and mass spectrometry have revealed that the heme d bound to HPII is a spirolactone structure with a cis orientation of the oxygens on the proximal side of the heme. This has created the problem of explaining how the oxidation of the heme can occur on the opposite side of the heme ring, remote from the catalytic residues.

Ferryl intermediates of catalase captured by time-resolved Weissenberg crystallography and UV-VIS spectroscopy

Various enzymes use semi-stable ferryl intermediates and free radicals during their catalytic cycle, amongst them haem catalases. Structures for two transient intermediates (compounds I and II) of the NADPH-dependent catalase from Proteus mirabilis (PMC) have been determined by time-resolved X-ray crystallography and single crystal microspectrophotometry. The results show the formation and transformation of the ferryl group in the haem, and the unexpected binding of an anion during this reaction at a site distant from the haem.