1
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Lam Q, Van Stappen C, Lu Y, Dikanov SA. HYSCORE and QM/MM Studies of Second Sphere Variants of the Type 1 Copper Site in Azurin: Influence of Mutations on the Hyperfine Couplings of Remote Nitrogens. J Phys Chem B 2024; 128:3350-3359. [PMID: 38564809 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.3c08194] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
Secondary coordination sphere (SCS) interactions have been shown to play important roles in tuning reduction potentials and electron transfer (ET) properties of the Type 1 copper proteins, but the precise roles of these interactions are not fully understood. In this work, we examined the influence of F114P, F114N, and N47S mutations in the SCS on the electronic structure of the T1 copper center in azurin (Az) by studying the hyperfine couplings of (i) histidine remote Nε nitrogens and (ii) the amide Np using the two-dimensional (2D) pulsed electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) technique HYSCORE (hyperfine sublevel correlation) combined with quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) and DLPNO-CCSD calculations. Our data show that some components of hyperfine tensor and isotropic coupling in N47SAz and F114PAz (but not F114NAz) deviate by up to ∼±20% from WTAz, indicating that these mutations significantly influence the spin density distribution between the CuII site and coordinating ligands. Furthermore, our calculations support the assignment of Np to the backbone amide of residue 47 (both in Asn and Ser variants). Since the spin density distributions play an important role in tuning the covalency of the Cu-Scys bond of Type 1 copper center that has been shown to be crucial in controlling the reduction potentials, this study provides additional insights into the electron spin factor in tuning the reduction potentials and ET properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Quan Lam
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
| | - Casey Van Stappen
- Department of Chemistry, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, United States
| | - Yi Lu
- Department of Chemistry, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, United States
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
| | - Sergei A Dikanov
- Department of Veterinary Clinical Medicine, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
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2
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Van Stappen C, Dai H, Jose A, Tian S, Solomon EI, Lu Y. Primary and Secondary Coordination Sphere Effects on the Structure and Function of S-Nitrosylating Azurin. J Am Chem Soc 2023; 145:20610-20623. [PMID: 37696009 PMCID: PMC10539042 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.3c07399] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/13/2023]
Abstract
Much progress has been made in understanding the roles of the secondary coordination sphere (SCS) in tuning redox potentials of metalloproteins. In contrast, the impact of SCS on reactivity is much less understood. A primary example is how copper proteins can promote S-nitrosylation (SNO), which is one of the most important dynamic post-translational modifications, and is crucial in regulating nitric oxide storage and transportation. Specifically, the factors that instill CuII with S-nitrosylating capabilities and modulate activity are not well understood. To address this issue, we investigated the influence of the primary and secondary coordination sphere on CuII-catalyzed S-nitrosylation by developing a series of azurin variants with varying catalytic capabilities. We have employed a multidimensional approach involving electronic absorption, S and Cu K-edge XAS, EPR, and resonance Raman spectroscopies together with QM/MM computational analysis to examine the relationships between structure and molecular mechanism in this reaction. Our findings have revealed that kinetic competency is correlated with three balancing factors, namely Cu-S bond strength, Cu spin localization, and relative S(ps) vs S(pp) contributions to the ground state. Together, these results support a reaction pathway that proceeds through the attack of the Cu-S bond rather than electrophilic addition to CuII or radical attack of SCys. The insights gained from this work provide not only a deeper understanding of SNO in biology but also a basis for designing artificial and tunable SNO enzymes to regulate NO and prevent diseases due to SNO dysregulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Casey Van Stappen
- Department of Chemistry, University of Texas at Austin, 105 E 24th St., Austin, Texas 78712, United States
| | - Huiguang Dai
- Department of Chemistry, University of Texas at Austin, 105 E 24th St., Austin, Texas 78712, United States
- Department of Chemistry, University of Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, Illinois 61801, United States
| | - Anex Jose
- Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305-5080, United States
| | - Shiliang Tian
- Department of Chemistry, University of Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, Illinois 61801, United States
| | - Edward I Solomon
- Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305-5080, United States
- Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California 94025, United States
| | - Yi Lu
- Department of Chemistry, University of Texas at Austin, 105 E 24th St., Austin, Texas 78712, United States
- Department of Chemistry, University of Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, Illinois 61801, United States
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3
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Tran VA, Teucher M, Galazzo L, Sharma B, Pongratz T, Kast SM, Marx D, Bordignon E, Schnegg A, Neese F. Dissecting the Molecular Origin of g-Tensor Heterogeneity and Strain in Nitroxide Radicals in Water: Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Experiment versus Theory. J Phys Chem A 2023; 127:6447-6466. [PMID: 37524058 PMCID: PMC10424240 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.3c02879] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2023] [Revised: 07/01/2023] [Indexed: 08/02/2023]
Abstract
Nitroxides are common EPR sensors of microenvironmental properties such as polarity, numbers of H-bonds, pH, and so forth. Their solvation in an aqueous environment is facilitated by their high propensity to form H-bonds with the surrounding water molecules. Their g- and A-tensor elements are key parameters to extracting the properties of their microenvironment. In particular, the gxx value of nitroxides is rich in information. It is known to be characterized by discrete values representing nitroxide populations previously assigned to have different H-bonds with the surrounding waters. Additionally, there is a large g-strain, that is, a broadening of g-values associated with it, which is generally correlated with environmental and structural micro-heterogeneities. The g-strain is responsible for the frequency dependence of the apparent line width of the EPR spectra, which becomes evident at high field/frequency. Here, we address the molecular origin of the gxx heterogeneity and of the g-strain of a nitroxide moiety (HMI: 2,2,3,4,5,5-hexamethylimidazolidin-1-oxyl, C9H19N2O) in water. To treat the solvation effect on the g-strain, we combined a multi-frequency experimental approach with ab initio molecular dynamics simulations for structural sampling and quantum chemical EPR property calculations at the highest realistically affordable level, including an explicitly micro-solvated HMI ensemble and the embedded cluster reference interaction site model. We could clearly identify the distinct populations of the H-bonded nitroxides responsible for the gxx heterogeneity experimentally observed, and we dissected the role of the solvation shell, H-bond formation, and structural deformation of the nitroxide in the creation of the g-strain associated with each nitroxide subensemble. Two contributions to the g-strain were identified in this study. The first contribution depends on the number of hydrogen bonds formed between the nitroxide and the solvent because this has a large and well-understood effect on the gxx-shift. This contribution can only be resolved at high resonance frequencies, where it leads to distinct peaks in the gxx region. The second contribution arises from configurational fluctuations of the nitroxide that necessarily lead to g-shift heterogeneity. These contributions cannot be resolved experimentally as distinct resonances but add to the line broadening. They can be quantitatively analyzed by studying the apparent line width as a function of microwave frequency. Interestingly, both theory and experiment confirm that this contribution is independent of the number of H-bonds. Perhaps even more surprisingly, the theoretical analysis suggests that the configurational fluctuation broadening is not induced by the solvent but is inherently present even in the gas phase. Moreover, the calculations predict that this broadening decreases upon solvation of the nitroxide.
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Affiliation(s)
- Van Anh Tran
- Max-Planck-Institut
für Kohlenforschung, Kaiser-Wilhelm-Platz 1, 45470 Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany
| | - Markus Teucher
- Max-Planck-Institut
für Chemische Energiekonversion, Stiftstraße 34-36, 45470 Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany
| | - Laura Galazzo
- Department
of Physical Chemistry, University of Geneva, Quai Ernest Ansermet 30, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
- Faculty
of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Ruhr-Universität
Bochum, 44780 Bochum, Germany
| | - Bikramjit Sharma
- Lehrstuhl
für Theoretische Chemie, Ruhr-Universität
Bochum, 44780 Bochum, Germany
| | - Tim Pongratz
- Fakultät
für Chemie und Chemische Biologie, Technische Universität Dortmund, Otto-Hahn-Str. 4a, 44227 Dortmund, Germany
| | - Stefan M. Kast
- Fakultät
für Chemie und Chemische Biologie, Technische Universität Dortmund, Otto-Hahn-Str. 4a, 44227 Dortmund, Germany
| | - Dominik Marx
- Lehrstuhl
für Theoretische Chemie, Ruhr-Universität
Bochum, 44780 Bochum, Germany
| | - Enrica Bordignon
- Department
of Physical Chemistry, University of Geneva, Quai Ernest Ansermet 30, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
- Faculty
of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Ruhr-Universität
Bochum, 44780 Bochum, Germany
| | - Alexander Schnegg
- Max-Planck-Institut
für Chemische Energiekonversion, Stiftstraße 34-36, 45470 Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany
| | - Frank Neese
- Max-Planck-Institut
für Kohlenforschung, Kaiser-Wilhelm-Platz 1, 45470 Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany
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4
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Kubař T, Elstner M, Cui Q. Hybrid Quantum Mechanical/Molecular Mechanical Methods For Studying Energy Transduction in Biomolecular Machines. Annu Rev Biophys 2023; 52:525-551. [PMID: 36791746 PMCID: PMC10810093 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-biophys-111622-091140] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/17/2023]
Abstract
Hybrid quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) methods have become indispensable tools for the study of biomolecules. In this article, we briefly review the basic methodological details of QM/MM approaches and discuss their applications to various energy transduction problems in biomolecular machines, such as long-range proton transports, fast electron transfers, and mechanochemical coupling. We highlight the particular importance for these applications of balancing computational efficiency and accuracy. Using several recent examples, we illustrate the value and limitations of QM/MM methodologies for both ground and excited states, as well as strategies for calibrating them in specific applications. We conclude with brief comments on several areas that can benefit from further efforts to make QM/MM analyses more quantitative and applicable to increasingly complex biological problems.
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Affiliation(s)
- T Kubař
- Institute of Physical Chemistry, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany;
| | - M Elstner
- Institute of Physical Chemistry, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany;
- Institute of Biological Interfaces (IBG-2), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany;
| | - Q Cui
- Department of Chemistry, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA;
- Department of Physics, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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5
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Eschenbach P, Artiukhin DG, Neugebauer J. Reliable Isotropic Electron-Paramagnetic-Resonance Hyperfine Coupling Constants from the Frozen-Density Embedding Quasi-Diabatization Approach. J Phys Chem A 2022; 126:8358-8368. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.2c04959] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Patrick Eschenbach
- Theoretische Organische Chemie, Organisch-Chemisches Institut and Center for Multiscale Theory and Simulation, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Corrensstraße 36, 48149 Münster, Germany
| | - Denis G. Artiukhin
- Institut für Chemie und Biochemie, Freie Universität Berlin, Arnimallee 22, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Johannes Neugebauer
- Theoretische Organische Chemie, Organisch-Chemisches Institut and Center for Multiscale Theory and Simulation, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Corrensstraße 36, 48149 Münster, Germany
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6
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Gómez-Piñeiro RJ, Drosou M, Bertaina S, Decroos C, Simaan AJ, Pantazis DA, Orio M. Decoding the Ambiguous Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Signals in the Lytic Polysaccharide Monooxygenase from Photorhabdus luminescens. Inorg Chem 2022; 61:8022-8035. [PMID: 35549254 PMCID: PMC9131454 DOI: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.2c00766] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Understanding the structure and function of lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs), copper enzymes that degrade recalcitrant polysaccharides, requires the reliable atomistic interpretation of electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) data on the Cu(II) active site. Among various LPMO families, the chitin-active PlAA10 shows an intriguing phenomenology with distinct EPR signals, a major rhombic and a minor axial signal. Here, we combine experimental and computational investigations to uncover the structural identity of these signals. X-band EPR spectra recorded at different pH values demonstrate pH-dependent population inversion: the major rhombic signal at pH 6.5 becomes minor at pH 8.5, where the axial signal dominates. This suggests that a protonation change is involved in the interconversion. Precise structural interpretations are pursued with quantum chemical calculations. Given that accurate calculations of Cu g-tensors remain challenging for quantum chemistry, we first address this problem via a thorough calibration study. This enables us to define a density functional that achieves accurate and reliable prediction of g-tensors, giving confidence in our evaluation of PlAA10 LPMO models. Large models were considered that include all parts of the protein matrix surrounding the Cu site, along with the characteristic second-sphere features of PlAA10. The results uniquely identify the rhombic signal with a five-coordinate Cu ion bearing two water molecules in addition to three N-donor ligands. The axial signal is attributed to a four-coordinate Cu ion where only one of the waters remains bound, as hydroxy. Alternatives that involve decoordination of the histidine brace amino group are unlikely based on energetics and spectroscopy. These results provide a reliable spectroscopy-consistent view on the plasticity of the resting state in PlAA10 LPMO as a foundation for further elucidating structure-property relationships and the formation of catalytically competent species. Our strategy is generally applicable to the study of EPR parameters of mononuclear copper-containing metalloenzymes.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Maria Drosou
- Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis, Zografou 15771, Greece
| | - Sylvain Bertaina
- Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, IM2NP UMR 7334, Marseille 13397, France
| | - Christophe Decroos
- Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, Centrale Marseille, iSm2, Marseille 13397, France
| | - A Jalila Simaan
- Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, Centrale Marseille, iSm2, Marseille 13397, France
| | - Dimitrios A Pantazis
- Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung, Kaiser-Wilhelm-Platz 1, Mülheim an der Ruhr 45470, Germany
| | - Maylis Orio
- Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, Centrale Marseille, iSm2, Marseille 13397, France
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7
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Neese F. Software update: The
ORCA
program system—Version 5.0. WIRES COMPUTATIONAL MOLECULAR SCIENCE 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/wcms.1606] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 24.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Frank Neese
- Max Planck Institut für Kohlenforschung Mülheim an der Ruhr Germany
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8
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Affiliation(s)
- Milica Feldt
- Leibniz Institute for Catalysis: Leibniz-Institut fur Katalyse eV Theory & Catalysis Albert-Einstein-Str 29A 18059 Rostock GERMANY
| | - Quan Manh Phung
- Nagoya University: Nagoya Daigaku Department of Chemistry JAPAN
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9
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Demapan D, Kussmann J, Ochsenfeld C, Cui Q. Factors That Determine the Variation of Equilibrium and Kinetic Properties of QM/MM Enzyme Simulations: QM Region, Conformation, and Boundary Condition. J Chem Theory Comput 2022; 18:2530-2542. [PMID: 35226489 PMCID: PMC9652774 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.1c00714] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
To analyze the impact of various technical details on the results of quantum mechanical (QM)/molecular mechanical (MM) enzyme simulations, including the QM region size, catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) is studied as a model system using an approximate QM/MM method (DFTB3/CHARMM). The results show that key equilibrium and kinetic properties for methyl transfer in COMT exhibit limited variations with respect to the size of the QM region, which ranges from ∼100 to ∼500 atoms in this study. With extensive sampling, local and global structural characteristics of the enzyme are largely conserved across the studied QM regions, while the nature of the transition state (e.g., secondary kinetic isotope effect) and reaction exergonicity are largely maintained. Deviations in the free energy profile with different QM region sizes are similar in magnitude to those observed with changes in other simulation protocols, such as different initial enzyme conformations and boundary conditions. Electronic structural properties, such as the covariance matrix of residual charge fluctuations, appear to exhibit rather long-range correlations, especially when the peptide backbone is included in the QM region; this observation holds when a range-separated DFT approach is used as the QM region, suggesting that delocalization error is unlikely the origin. Overall, the analyses suggest that multiple simulation details determine the results of QM/MM enzyme simulations with comparable contributions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Darren Demapan
- Department of Chemistry, University of Munich (LMU), Butenandtstr. 7 (C), D-81377 Munich, Germany.,Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin, 1101 University Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, United States
| | - Jörg Kussmann
- Department of Chemistry, University of Munich (LMU), Butenandtstr. 7 (C), D-81377 Munich, Germany
| | - Christian Ochsenfeld
- Department of Chemistry, University of Munich (LMU), Butenandtstr. 7 (C), D-81377 Munich, Germany
| | - Qiang Cui
- Departments of Chemistry, Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, 590 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States
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10
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Harder, better, faster, stronger: Large-scale QM and QM/MM for predictive modeling in enzymes and proteins. Curr Opin Struct Biol 2021; 72:9-17. [PMID: 34388673 DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2021.07.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2021] [Revised: 06/25/2021] [Accepted: 07/05/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Computational prediction of enzyme mechanism and protein function requires accurate physics-based models and suitable sampling. We discuss recent advances in large-scale quantum mechanical (QM) modeling of biochemical systems that have reduced the cost of high-accuracy models. Tradeoffs between sampling and accuracy have motivated modeling with molecular mechanics (MM) in a multiscale QM/MM or iterative approach. Limitations to both conventional density-functional theory and classical MM force fields remain for describing noncovalent interactions in comparison to experiment or wavefunction theory. Because predictions of enzyme action (i.e. electrostatics), free energy barriers, and mechanisms are sensitive to the protocol and embedding method in QM/MM, convergence tests and systematic methods for quantifying QM-level interactions are a needed, active area of development.
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