Electron Transfer in the P450cam/PDX Complex. The QM/MM e-Pathway

Why Do Most Aromatics Fail to Support Hole Hopping in the Cytochrome c Peroxidase-Cytochrome c Complex?

Electron transport through aromatic species (especially tryptophan and tyrosine) plays a central role in water splitting, redox signaling, oxidative damage protection, and bioenergetics. The cytochrome c peroxidase (CcP)-cytochrome c (Cc) complex (CcP:Cc) is used widely to study interprotein electron transfer (ET) mechanisms. Tryptophan 191 (Trp191) of CcP supports hole hopping charge recombination in the CcP:Cc complex. Experimental studies find that when Trp191 is substituted by tyrosine, phenylalanine, or redox-active aniline derivatives bound in the W191G cavity, enzymatic activity and charge recombination rates both decrease. Theoretical analysis of these CcP:Cc complexes finds that the ET kinetics depend strongly on the chemistry of the modified Trp site. The computed electronic couplings in the W191F and W191G species are orders of magnitude smaller than in the native protein, due largely to the absence of a hopping intermediate and the large tunneling distance. Small molecules bound in the W191G cavity are weakly coupled electronically to the Cc heme, and the structural disorder of the guest molecule in the binding pocket may contribute further to the lack of enzymatic activity. The couplings in W191Y are not substantially weakened compared to the native species, but the redox potential difference for tyrosine vs tryptophan oxidation accounts for the slower rate in the Tyr mutant. Thus, theoretical analysis explains why only the native Trp supports rapid hole hopping in the CcP:Cc complex. Favorable free energies and electronic couplings are essential for establishing an efficient hole hopping relay in this protein-protein complex.

Conformational Motion of Ferredoxin Enables Efficient Electron Transfer to Heme in the Full-Length P450TT

Cytochrome P450 monooxygenases (P450s) are versatile biocatalysts used in natural products biosynthesis, xenobiotic metabolisms, and biotechnologies. In P450s, the electrons required for O₂ activation are supplied by NAD(P)H through stepwise electron transfers (ETs) mediated by redox partners. While much is known about the machinery of the catalytic cycle of P450s, the mechanisms of long-range ET are largely unknown. Very recently, the first crystal structure of full-length P450_TT was solved. This enables us to decipher the interdomain ET mechanism between the [2Fe-2S]-containing ferredoxin and the heme, by use of molecular dynamics simulations. In contrast to the "distal" conformation characterized in the crystal structure where the [2Fe-2S] cluster is ∼28 Å away from heme-Fe, our simulations demonstrated a "proximal" conformation of [2Fe-2S] that is ∼17 Å [and 13.7 Å edge-to-edge] away from heme-Fe, which may enable the interdomain ET. Key residues involved in ET pathways and interdomain complexation were identified, some of which have already been verified by recent mutation studies. The conformational transit of ferredoxin between "distal" and "proximal" was found to be controlled mostly by the long-range electrostatic interactions between the ferredoxin domain and the other two domains. Furthermore, our simulations show that the full-length P450_TT utilizes a flexible ET pathway that resembles either P450_Scc or P450_cam. Thus, this study provides a uniform picture of the ET process between reductase domains and heme domain.

Computational Design of Protein Function

The computational design of enzymes is a tremendous challenge for both chemistry and biochemistry. The ability to design stable and functional biocatalysts that could operate under different conditions to perform chemical reactions without precedent in nature, allowing the large-scale production of chemicals à la carte, would revolutionise both synthetic, pharmacologic and materials chemistry. Despite the great advances achieved, this highly multidisciplinary area of research is still in its infancy. This chapter describes the ‘inside-out’ protocol for computational enzyme design and both the achievements and limitations of the current technology are highlighted. Furthermore, molecular dynamics simulations have proved to be invaluable in the enzyme design process, constituting an important tool for discovering elusive catalytically relevant conformations of the engineered or designed enzyme. As a complement to the ‘inside-out’ design protocol, different examples where hybrid QM/MM approaches have been directly applied to discover beneficial mutations in rational computational enzyme design are described.

Directed evolution of P450cin for mediated electron transfer

Directed evolution is a powerful method to optimize enzyme properties for application demands. Interesting targets are P450 monooxygenases which catalyze the stereo- and regiospecific hydroxylation of chemically inert C-H bonds. Synthesis employing P450s under cell-free reaction conditions is limited by low total turnover numbers, enzyme instability, low product yields and the requirement of the expensive co-factor NADPH. Bioelectrocatalysis is an alternative to replace NADPH in cell-free P450-catalyzed reactions. However, natural enzymes are often not suitable for using non-natural electron delivery systems. Here we report the directed evolution of a previously engineered P450 CinA-10aa-CinC fusion protein (named P450cin-ADD-CinC) to use zinc/cobalt(III)sepulchrate as electron delivery system for an increased hydroxylation activity of 1,8-cineole. Two rounds of Sequence Saturation Mutagenesis (SeSaM) each followed by one round of multiple site-saturation mutagenesis of the P450 CinA-10aa-CinC fusion protein generated a variant (Gln385His, Val386Ser, Thr77Asn, Leu88Arg; named KB8) with a 3.8-fold increase in catalytic efficiency (28 µM^-1 min^-1) compared to P450cin-ADD-CinC (7 µM^-1 min^-1). Furthermore, variant KB8 exhibited a 1.5-fold higher product formation (500 µM µM^-1 P450) compared to the equimolar mixture of CinA, CinC and Fpr using NADPH as co-factor (315 µM µM^-1 P450). In addition, electrochemical experiments with the electron delivery system platinum/cobalt(III)sepulchrate showed that the KB8 variant had a 4-fold higher product formation rate (0.16 nmol (nmol) P450^-1 min^-1 cm^-2) than the P450cin-ADD-CinC (0.04 nmol (nmol) P450^-1 min^-1 cm^-2). In summary, the current work shows prospects of using directed evolution to generate P450 enzymes suitable for use with alternative electron delivery systems.

Identification, characterization and molecular adaptation of class I redox systems for the production of hydroxylated diterpenoids

Background

De novo production of multi-hydroxylated diterpenoids is challenging due to the lack of efficient redox systems.

Results

In this study a new reductase/ferredoxin system from Streptomyces afghaniensis (AfR·Afx) was identified, which allowed the Escherichia coli-based production of the trihydroxylated diterpene cyclooctatin, a potent inhibitor of human lysophospholipase. This production system provides a 43-fold increase in cyclooctatin yield (15 mg/L) compared to the native producer. AfR·Afx is superior in activating the cylcooctatin-specific class I P450s CotB3/CotB4 compared to the conventional Pseudomonas putida derived PdR·Pdx model. To enhance the activity of the PdR·Pdx system, the molecular basis for these activity differences, was examined by molecular engineering.

Conclusion

We demonstrate that redox system engineering can boost and harmonize the catalytic efficiency of class I hydroxylase enzyme cascades. Enhancing CotB3/CotB4 activities also provided for identification of CotB3 substrate promiscuity and sinularcasbane D production, a functionalized diterpenoid originally isolated from the soft coral Sinularia sp.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12934-016-0487-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

A theoretical multiscale treatment of protein-protein electron transfer: The ferredoxin/ferredoxin-NADP(+) reductase and flavodoxin/ferredoxin-NADP(+) reductase systems

In the photosynthetic electron transfer (ET) chain, two electrons transfer from photosystem I to the flavin-dependent ferredoxin-NADP(+) reductase (FNR) via two sequential independent ferredoxin (Fd) electron carriers. In some algae and cyanobacteria (as Anabaena), under low iron conditions, flavodoxin (Fld) replaces Fd as single electron carrier. Extensive mutational studies have characterized the protein-protein interaction in FNR/Fd and FNR/Fld complexes. Interestingly, even though Fd and Fld share the interaction site on FNR, individual residues on FNR do not participate to the same extent in the interaction with each of the protein partners, pointing to different electron transfer mechanisms. Despite of extensive mutational studies, only FNR/Fd X-ray structures from Anabaena and maize have been solved; structural data for FNR/Fld remains elusive. Here, we present a multiscale modelling approach including coarse-grained and all-atom protein-protein docking, the QM/MM e-Pathway analysis and electronic coupling calculations, allowing for a molecular and electronic comprehensive analysis of the ET process in both complexes. Our results, consistent with experimental mutational data, reveal the ET in FNR/Fd proceeding through a bridge-mediated mechanism in a dominant protein-protein complex, where transfer of the electron is facilitated by Fd loop-residues 40-49. In FNR/Fld, however, we observe a direct transfer between redox cofactors and less complex specificity than in Fd; more than one orientation in the encounter complex can be efficient in ET.

In-silico assessment of protein-protein electron transfer. a case study: cytochrome c peroxidase--cytochrome c

The fast development of software and hardware is notably helping in closing the gap between macroscopic and microscopic data. Using a novel theoretical strategy combining molecular dynamics simulations, conformational clustering, ab-initio quantum mechanics and electronic coupling calculations, we show how computational methodologies are mature enough to provide accurate atomistic details into the mechanism of electron transfer (ET) processes in complex protein systems, known to be a significant challenge. We performed a quantitative study of the ET between Cytochrome c Peroxidase and its redox partner Cytochrome c. Our results confirm the ET mechanism as hole transfer (HT) through residues Ala194, Ala193, Gly192 and Trp191 of CcP. Furthermore, our findings indicate the fine evolution of the enzyme to approach an elevated turnover rate of 5.47×10⁶ s⁻¹ for the ET between Cytc and CcP through establishment of a localized bridge state in Trp191.

We have developed a protocol capable of describing long-range electron transfer mechanisms at an atomic detailed level. We demonstrate the maturity of the computational techniques in obtaining a quantitative view of the Cytochrome c Peroxidase/Cytochrome c electron transfer process, known to be a significant challenge. In excellent agreement with experimental data, our results allow for the description of the electron transfer pathway, its mechanism and the electron transfer rate at a quantitative level. The overall protocol is free of parameterization and can be applied to any complex electron transfer process. Furthermore, the results reveal the fine enzyme evolution of this protein-protein complex to optimize its electron transfer rate by a localized bridge state.

Electron transfer pathways in cytochrome c oxidase

Mixed quantum mechanical/molecular mechanics calculations were used to explore the electron pathway of the terminal electron transfer enzyme, cytochrome c oxidase. This enzyme catalyzes the reduction of molecular oxygen to water in a multiple step process. Density functional calculations on the three redox centers allowed for the characterization of the electron transfer mechanism, following the sequence Cu(A)→heme a→heme a(3). This process is largely affected by the presence of positive charges, confirming the possibility of a proton coupled electron transfer. An extensive mapping of all residues involved in the electron transfer, between the Cu(A) center (donor) and the O(2) reduction site heme a(3)-Cu(B) (receptor), was obtained by selectively activating/deactivating different quantum regions. The method employed, called QM/MM e-pathway, allowed the identification of key residues along the possible electron transfer paths, consistent with experimental data. In particular, the role of arginines 481 and 482 appears crucial in the Cu(A)→heme a and in the heme a→heme a(3) electron transfer processes. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Allosteric cooperativity in respiratory proteins.

Structural biology of redox partner interactions in P450cam monooxygenase: a fresh look at an old system

The P450cam monooxygenase system consists of three separate proteins: the FAD-containing, NADH-dependent oxidoreductase (putidaredoxin reductase or Pdr), cytochrome P450cam and the 2Fe2S ferredoxin (putidaredoxin or Pdx), which transfers electrons from Pdr to P450cam. Over the past few years our lab has focused on the interaction between these redox components. It has been known for some time that Pdx can serve as an effector in addition to its electron shuttle role. The binding of Pdx to P450cam is thought to induce structural changes in the P450cam active site that couple electron transfer to substrate hydroxylation. The nature of these structural changes has remained unclear until a particular mutant of P450cam (Leu358Pro) was found to exhibit spectral perturbations similar to those observed in wild type P450cam bound to Pdx. The crystal structure of the L358P variant has provided some important insights on what might be happening when Pdx docks. In addition to these studies, many Pdx mutants have been analyzed to identify regions important for electron transfer. Somewhat surprisingly, we found that Pdx residues predicted to be at the P450cam-Pdx interface play different roles in the reduction of ferric P450cam and the ferrous P450-O(2) complex. More recently we have succeeded in obtaining the structure of a chemically cross-linked Pdr-Pdx complex. This fusion protein represents a valid model for the noncovalent Pdr-Pdx complex as it retains the redox activities of native Pdr and Pdx and supports monooxygenase reactions catalyzed by P450cam. The insights gained from these studies will be summarized in this review.

QM/MM methods: looking inside heme proteins biochemistry

Mixed quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics methods offer a valuable computational tool for understanding biochemical events. When combined with conformational sampling techniques, they allow for an exhaustive exploration of the enzymatic mechanism. Heme proteins are ubiquitous and essential for every organism. In this review we summarize our efforts towards the understanding of heme biochemistry. We present: 1) results on ligand migration on globins coupled to the ligand binding event, 2) results on the localization of the spin density in compound I of cytochromes and peroxidases, 3) novel methodologies for mapping the electron transfer pathways and 4) novel data on Tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase. For this enzyme our results strongly indicate that the distal oxygen will end up on the C3 indole carbon, whereas the proximal oxygen will end up in the C2 position. Interestingly, the process involves the formation of an epoxide and a heme ferryl intermediate. The overall energy profile indicates an energy barrier of approximately 18 kcal/mol and an exothermic driving force of almost 80 kcal/mol.