Oxygen exchange between the Fe(IV) = O heme and bulk water for the A2 isozyme of horseradish peroxidase

Common Reactivity and Properties of Heme Peroxidases: A DFT Study of Their Origin

Electronic structure calculations using the density-functional theory (DFT) have been performed to analyse the effect of water molecules and protonation on the heme group of peroxidases in different redox (ferric, ferrous, compounds I and II) and spin states. Shared geometries, spectroscopic properties at the Soret region, and the thermodynamics of peroxidases are discussed. B3LYP and M06-2X density functionals with different basis sets were employed on a common molecular model of the active site (Fe-centred porphine and proximal imidazole). Computed Gibbs free energies indicate that the corresponding aquo complexes are not thermodynamically stable, supporting the five-coordinate Fe(III) centre in native ferric peroxidases, with a water molecule located at a non-bonding distance. Protonation of the ferryl oxygen of compound II is discussed in terms of thermodynamics, Fe-O bond distances, and redox properties. It is demonstrated that this protonation is necessary to account for the experimental data, and computed Gibbs free energies reveal pK_a values of compound II about 8.5-9.0. Computation indicates that the general oxidative properties of peroxidase intermediates, as well as their reactivity towards water and protons and Soret bands, are mainly controlled by the iron porphyrin and its proximal histidine ligand.

Resonance Raman spectroscopy of oxoiron(IV) porphyrin π-cation radical and oxoiron(IV) hemes in peroxidase intermediates

The catalytic cycle intermediates of heme peroxidases, known as compounds I and II, have been of long standing interest as models for intermediates of heme proteins, such as the terminal oxidases and cytochrome P450 enzymes, and for non-heme iron enzymes as well. Reports of resonance Raman signals for compound I intermediates of the oxo-iron(IV) porphyrin pi-cation radical type have been sometimes contradictory due to complications arising from photolability, causing compound I signals to appear similar to those of compound II or other forms. However, studies of synthetic systems indicated that protein based compound I intermediates of the oxoiron(IV) porphyrin pi-cation radical type should exhibit vibrational signatures that are different from the non-radical forms. The compound I intermediates of horseradish peroxidase (HRP), and chloroperoxidase (CPO) from Caldariomyces fumago do in fact exhibit unique and characteristic vibrational spectra. The nature of the putative oxoiron(IV) bond in peroxidase intermediates has been under discussion in the recent literature, with suggestions that the Fe(IV)O unit might be better described as Fe(IV)-OH. The generally low Fe(IV)O stretching frequencies observed for proteins have been difficult to mimic in synthetic ferryl porphyrins via electron donation from trans axial ligands alone. Resonance Raman studies of iron-oxygen vibrations within protein species that are sensitive to pH, deuteration, and solvent oxygen exchange, indicate that hydrogen bonding to the oxoiron(IV) group within the protein environment contributes to substantial lowering of Fe(IV)O frequencies relative to those of synthetic model compounds.

Resonance Raman/absorption characterization of the oxo intermediates of cytochrome c oxidase generated in its reaction with hydrogen peroxide: pH and H2O2 concentration dependence

Effects of pH and H2O2 concentration on the reaction of cytochrome c oxidase (CcO) with H2O2 were studied with the high-performance Raman/absorption simultaneous determination technique reported previously (Proshlyakov et al., 1996). This reaction generates two intermediates called 607- and 580-nm forms, and we found that they show the same oxygen-isotope-sensitive RR bands as those of the intermediates in O2 reduction by CcO. In transient absorption spectra obtained under single turnover conditions, the 607-nm form appeared as the primary intermediate and subsequently the 580-nm and resting forms, suggesting that H2O2 serves as an oxidant for the resting enzyme but as a reductant for both the 607- and 580-nm forms in the peroxide cycle. The rise rate of absorption at 607 nm was insensitive to the H2O/D2O exchange, but the decay was significantly slower in D2O than in H2O. With the microcirculating system, each intermediate was maintained at a constant level under steady-state conditions by supplying H2O2 continuously. In the pH range between 7.4 and 10.0, the population of the 607-nm form decreased at higher pH and at higher concentrations of H2O2. The Fe=O stretching (VFe=O) frequencies of the oxo heme of the 607-nm form, observed at 804/769 cm-1 for their H2(16)O2/H2(18)O2 derivatives, were unaltered in this pH range and exhibited a D2O/H2O shift even at pH 10.0. This indicates that the iron-bound oxygen is hydrogen-bonded to a distal residue in this pH range. When the 580-nm form is dominant under the nonsaturating level of H2O2, two other oxygen-isotope-sensitive Raman bands have been observed at 785/750 cm-1 and 355/340 cm-1 at neutral pH, but the former disappeared above pH 8.5 and the latter above pH 9.0 without significant changes of absorption spectra, suggesting the presence of two separate species in the name of the 580-nm form. However, under the saturating concentration of H2O2, these Raman bands were unaltered between pH 7.4 and 10.0. In contrast, in the absence of excess peroxide, no oxygen-isotope-sensitive RR bands were observed despite dominance of the 580-nm form. The disappearance of these Raman bands demonstrates the occurrence of oxygen exchange between the oxo heme and bulk water, whose rate surpasses the formation rate of the 580-nm form at alkaline pH and/or at low H2O2 concentration. Such an oxygen exchange did not take place in the 607-nm form. Under the identical experimental conditions for generating a particular steady state, the exchange of H2O with D2O caused significant depopulation of the 580-nm form and concomitant increase of the 607-nm form. This was satisfactorily interpreted in terms of the difference in the decay rate of the 607-nm form between H2O and D2O. Thus, the reduction of the 607-nm form to the 580-nm form is likely to be a key step of the redox-linked proton pumping in the O2 reduction.

Observation of the FeIV=O stretching Raman band for a thiolate-ligated heme protein. Compound I of chloroperoxidase

The FeIV=O stretching vibration has never been identified for a cysteine-coordinated heme enzyme. In this study, resonance Raman and visible absorption spectra were observed simultaneously for transient species in the catalytic reaction of chloroperoxidase with hydrogen peroxide by using our original apparatus for mixed-flow and Raman/absorption simultaneous measurements. For the first intermediate, the FeIV=O stretching Raman band was observed at 790 cm-1, which shifted to 756 cm-1 with the 18O derivative, but the v4 band was too weak to be identified. This suggested the formation of an oxoferryl porphyrin pi cation radical. The second intermediate gave an intense v4 band at 1,372 cm-1 but no oxygen isotope-sensitive Raman band, suggesting oxygen exchange with bulk water.

Ferryl and hydroxy intermediates in the reaction of oxygen with reduced cytochrome c oxidase

Cytochrome c oxidase catalyses the 4-electron reduction of dioxygen to water and translocates protons vectorially across the inner mitochondrial membrane. Proposed reaction pathways for the catalytic cycle of the O2 reduction are difficult to verify without knowing the structures of the intermediates, but we now have such information for the catalytic intermediates in the first steps of the reaction of O2 with cytochrome c oxidase from resonance Raman spectroscopy, a technique that enables iron-ligand stretching modes to be identified. Here we report on two more key intermediates: a ferryl-oxo (Fe4 = O2-) and a ferric-hydroxy (Fe3+--OH-) intermediate at the level of 3- and 4-electron reduction, respectively. We identified these intermediates by their characteristic iron-oxygen stretching frequencies (786 cm-1 for Fe4+ = O2-, and 450 cm-1 for Fe3+ -- OH-) and oxygen and deuterium isotope shifts. The oxo atom in the ferryl intermediate is hydrogen-bonded and the iron-oxygen bond in the hydroxy intermediate is anomalously weak. With the identification of the primary, ferryl and hydroxy intermediates, the predominant structures at almost all stages of O2 reduction are now known and the catalytic pathway can be described with more certainty.

Identification and properties of an oxoferryl structure in myeloperoxidase compound II

Myeloperoxidase compound II has been characterized by using optical absorption and resonance Raman spectroscopies. Compared to compounds II in other peroxidases, the electronic and vibrational properties of this intermediate are strongly perturbed due to the unusual active-site iron chromophore that occurs in myeloperoxidase. Despite this difference in prosthetic group, however, other properties of myeloperoxidase compound II are similar to those observed for this intermediate in the more common peroxidases (horseradish peroxidase in particular). Two forms of the myeloperoxidase intermediate species, each with distinct absorption spectra, are recognized as a function of pH. We present evidence consistent with interconversion of these two forms via a heme-linked ionization of a distal amino acid residue with a pKa congruent to 9. From resonance Raman studies of isotopically labeled species at pH 10.7, we identify an iron-oxygen stretching frequency at 782 cm-1, indicating the presence of an oxoferryl (O = FeIV) group in myeloperoxidase compound II. We further conclude that the oxo ligand is not hydrogen bonded above the pKa but possibly exhibits oxygen exchange with the medium at pH values below the pKa due to hydrogen bonding of the oxo ligand to the distal protein group.