How a novel tyrosine-heme cross-link fine-tunes the structure and functions of heme proteins: a direct comparitive study of L29H/F43Y myoglobin

Engineering neuroglobin nitrite reductase activity based on myoglobin models

Neuroglobin is a hemoprotein expressed in several nervous system cell lineages with yet unknown physiological functions. Neuroglobin presents a very similar structure to that of the related globins hemoglobin and myoglobin, but shows an hexacoordinate heme as compared to the pentacoordinated heme of myoglobin and hemoglobin. While several reactions of neuroglobin have been characterized in vitro, the relative importance of most of those reactions in vivo is yet undefined. Neuroglobin, like other heme proteins, can reduce nitrite to nitric oxide, providing a possible route to generate nitric oxide in vivo in low oxygen conditions. The reaction kinetics are highly dependent on the nature of the distal residue, and replacement of the distal histidine His64(E7) can increase the reaction rate constants by several orders of magnitude. However, mutation of other distal pocket positions such as Phe28(B10) or Val68(E11) has more limited impact on the rates. Computational analysis using myoglobin as template, guided by the structure of dedicated nitrite reductases like cytochrome cd1 nitrite reductase, has pointed out that combined mutations of the residues B10 and CD1 could increase the nitrite reductase activity of myoglobin, by mimicking the environment of the distal heme pocket in cytochrome cd1 nitrite reductase. As neuroglobin shows high sequence and structural homology with myoglobin, we hypothesized that such mutations (F28H and F42Y in neuroglobin) could also modify the nitrite reductase activity of neuroglobin. Here we study the effect of these mutations. Unfortunately, we do not observe in any case an increase in the nitrite reduction rates. Our results provide some further indications of nitrite reductase regulation in neuroglobin and highlight the minor but critical differences between the structure of penta- and hexacoordinate globins.

Phenoxazinone Synthase-like Activity of Rationally Designed Heme Enzymes Based on Myoglobin

The design of functional metalloenzymes is attractive for the biosynthesis of biologically important compounds, such as phenoxazinones and phenazines catalyzed by native phenoxazinone synthase (PHS). To design functional heme enzymes, we used myoglobin (Mb) as a model protein and introduced an artificial CXXC motif into the heme distal pocket by F46C and L49C mutations, which forms a de novo disulfide bond, as confirmed by the X-ray crystal structure. We further introduced a catalytic Tyr43 into the heme distal pocket and found that the F43Y/F46C/L49C Mb triple mutant and the previously designed F43Y/F46S Mb exhibit PHS-like activity (80-98% yields in 5-15 min), with the catalytic efficiency exceeding those of natural metalloenzymes, including o-aminophenol oxidase, laccase, and dye-decolorizing peroxidase. Moreover, we showed that the oxidative coupling product of 1,6-disulfonic-2,7-diaminophenazine is a potential pH indicator, with the orange-magenta color change at pH 4-5 (pK_a = 4.40). Therefore, this study indicates that functional heme enzymes can be rationally designed by structural modifications of Mb, exhibiting the functionality of the native PHS for green biosynthesis.

Engineering Human Neuroglobin into a Cytochrome c-Like Protein with a Single Thioether Bond in Non-native State

A double mutant of human H64M/V71C neuroglobin (Ngb) was engineered, which formed a single thioether bond as that in atypical cytochrome c, whereas the heme distal Met64 was oxidized to both sulfoxide (SO-Met) and sulfone (SO₂ -Met). By contrast, no Cys-heme cross-link was formed in V71C Ngb with His64/His96 coordination, as shown by the X-ray crystal structure, which indicates that an open distal site facilitates the activation of heme iron for structural modifications.

O2 Carrier Myoglobin Also Exhibits β-Lactamase Activity That Is Regulated by the Heme Coordination State

Heme proteins perform a variety of biological functions and also play significant roles in the field of bio-catalysis. The β-lactamase activity of heme proteins has rarely been reported. Herein, we found, for the first time, that myoglobin (Mb), an O₂ carrier, also exhibits novel β-lactamase activity by catalyzing the hydrolysis of ampicillin. The catalytic proficiency ((k_cat/K_M)/k_uncat) was determined to be 6.25 × 10¹⁰, which is much higher than the proficiency reported for designed metalloenzymes, although it is lower than that of natural β-lactamases. Moreover, we found that this activity could be regulated by an engineered disulfide bond, such as Cys46-Cys61 in F46C/L61C Mb or by the addition of imidazole to directly coordinate to the heme center. These results indicate that the heme active site is responsible for the β-lactamase activity of Mb. Therefore, the study suggests the potential of heme proteins acting as β-lactamases, which broadens the diversity of their catalytic functions.

Structural and functional regulations by a disulfide bond designed in myoglobin like human neuroglobin

An artificial disulfide bond (Cys46-Cys61) was designed in the heme distal site of myoglobin, which regulates the conformation of the heme distal His64 and the protein reactivity, as confirmed by X-ray crystallography, EPR, and kinetic UV-vis studies. This study shows the successful design of a disulfide bond with suitable positions in globins, conferring a structure and function like those of the native human neuroglobin.

Naturally Occurring I81N Mutation in Human Cytochrome c Regulates Both Inherent Peroxidase Activity and Interactions with Neuroglobin

Human cytochrome c (hCyt c) is a crucial heme protein and plays an indispensable role in energy conversion and intrinsic apoptosis pathways. The sequence and structure of Cyt c were evolutionarily conserved and only a few naturally occurring mutants were detected in humans. Among those variable sites, position 81 was proposed to act as a peroxidase switch in the initiation stages of apoptosis. In this study, we show that Ile81 not only suppresses the intrinsic peroxidase activity but also is essential for Cyt c to interact with neuroglobin (Ngb), a potential protein partner. The kinetic assays showed that the peroxidase activity of the naturally occurring variant I81N was enhanced up to threefold under pH 5. The local stability of the Ω-loop D (residues 70-85) in the I81N variant was decreased. Moreover, the Alphafold2 program predicted that Ile81 forms stable contact with human Ngb. Meanwhile, the Ile81 to Asn81 missense mutation abolishes the interaction interface, resulting in a ∼40-fold decrease in binding affinity. These observations provide an insight into the structure-function relationship of the conserved Ile81 in vertebrate Cyt c.

Dye Decoloring Peroxidase Structure, Catalytic Properties and Applications: Current Advancement and Futurity

Dye decoloring peroxidases (DyPs) were named after their high efficiency to decolorize and degrade a wide range of dyes. DyPs are a type of heme peroxidase and are quite different from known heme peroxidases in terms of amino acid sequences, protein structure, catalytic residues, and physical and chemical properties. DyPs oxidize polycyclic dyes and phenolic compounds. Thus they find high application potentials in dealing with environmental problems. The structure and catalytic characteristics of DyPs of different families from the amino acid sequence, protein structure, and enzymatic properties, and analyzes the high-efficiency degradation ability of some DyPs in dye and lignin degradation, which vary greatly among DyPs classes. In addition, application prospects of DyPs in biomedicine and other fields are also discussed briefly. At the same time, the research strategy based on genetic engineering and synthetic biology in improving the stability and catalytic activity of DyPs are summarized along with the important industrial applications of DyPs and associated challenges. Moreover, according to the current research findings, bringing DyPs to the industrial level may require improving the catalytic efficiency of DyP, increasing production, and enhancing alkali resistance and toxicity.

Biological and Bioinspired Inorganic N-N Bond-Forming Reactions

The metallobiochemistry underlying the formation of the inorganic N-N-bond-containing molecules nitrous oxide (N2O), dinitrogen (N2), and hydrazine (N2H4) is essential to the lifestyles of diverse organisms. Similar reactions hold promise as means to use N-based fuels as alternative carbon-free energy sources. This review discusses research efforts to understand the mechanisms underlying biological N-N bond formation in primary metabolism and how the associated reactions are tied to energy transduction and organismal survival. These efforts comprise studies of both natural and engineered metalloenzymes as well as synthetic model complexes.

Rational Design of Artificial Metalloproteins and Metalloenzymes with Metal Clusters

Metalloproteins and metalloenzymes play important roles in biological systems by using the limited metal ions, complexes, and clusters that are associated with the protein matrix. The design of artificial metalloproteins and metalloenzymes not only reveals the structure and function relationship of natural proteins, but also enables the synthesis of artificial proteins and enzymes with improved properties and functions. Acknowledging the progress in rational design from single to multiple active sites, this review focuses on recent achievements in the design of artificial metalloproteins and metalloenzymes with metal clusters, including zinc clusters, cadmium clusters, iron-sulfur clusters, and copper-sulfur clusters, as well as noble metal clusters and others. These metal clusters were designed in both native and de novo protein scaffolds for structural roles, electron transfer, or catalysis. Some synthetic metal clusters as functional models of native enzymes are also discussed. These achievements provide valuable insights for deep understanding of the natural proteins and enzymes, and practical clues for the further design of artificial enzymes with functions comparable or even beyond those of natural counterparts.

Formation and Reactivity of New Isoporphyrins: Implications for Understanding the Tyr-His Cross-Link Cofactor Biogenesis in Cytochrome c Oxidase

Cytochrome c oxidase (CcO) catalyzes the reduction of dioxygen to water utilizing a heterobinuclear active site composed of a heme moiety and a mononuclear copper center coordinated to three histidine residues, one of which is covalently cross-linked to a tyrosine residue via a post-translational modification (PTM). Although this tyrosine-histidine moiety has functional and structural importance, the pathway behind this net oxidative C-N bond coupling is still unknown. A novel route employing an iron(III) meso-substituted isoporphyrin derivative, isoelectronic with Cmpd-I ((Por^•+)Fe^IV═O), is for the first time proposed to be a key intermediate in the Tyr-His cofactor biogenesis. Newly synthesized iron(III) meso-substituted isoporphyrins were prepared with azide, cyanide, and substituted imidazole functionalities, by adding nucleophiles to an iron(III) π-dication species formed via addition of trifluoroacetic acid to F₈Cmpd-I (F₈ = (tetrakis(2,6-difluorophenyl)porphyrinate)). Isoporphyrin derivatives were characterized at cryogenic temperatures via ESI-MS and UV-vis, ²H NMR, and EPR spectroscopies. Addition of 1,3,5-trimethoxybenzene or 4-methoxyphenol to the imidazole-substituted isoporphyrin led to formation of the organic product containing the imidazole coupled to aromatic substrate via a new C-N bond, as detected via cryo-ESI-MS. Experimental evidence for the formation of an imidazole-substituted isoporphyrin and its promising reactivity to form the imidazole-phenol coupled product yields viability to the herein proposed pathway behind the PTM (i.e., biogenesis) leading to the key covalent Tyr-His cross-link in CcO.

Unique Tyr-heme double cross-links in F43Y/T67R myoglobin: an artificial enzyme with a peroxidase activity comparable to that of native peroxidases

The X-ray crystal structure of F43Y/T67R myoglobin revealed unique Tyr-heme double cross-links between Tyr43 and the heme 4-vinyl group, which represents a novel post-translational modification of heme proteins. Moreover, with the feature of a distal His-Arg pair, the designed artificial enzyme exhibited a peroxidase activity comparable to that of native peroxidases, such as the most efficient horseradish peroxidase.

Enhancement of protein stability by an additional disulfide bond designed in human neuroglobin

Human neuroglobin (Ngb) forms an intramolecular disulfide bond between Cys46 and Cys55, with a third Cys120 near the protein surface, which is a promising protein model for heme protein design. In order to protect the free Cys120 and to enhance the protein stability, we herein developed a strategy by designing an additional disulfide bond between Cys120 and Cys15 via A15C mutation. The design was supported by molecular modeling, and the formation of Cys15–Cys120 disulfide bond was confirmed experimentally by ESI-MS analysis. Molecular modeling, UV-Vis and CD spectroscopy showed that the additional disulfide bond caused minimal structural alterations of Ngb. Meanwhile, the disulfide bond of Cys15–Cys120 was found to enhance both Gdn·HCl-induced unfolding stability (increased by ∼0.64 M) and pH-induced unfolding stability (decreased by ∼0.69 pH unit), as compared to those of WT Ngb with a single native disulfide bond of Cys46–Cys55. Moreover, the half denaturation temperature (T_m) of A15C Ngb was determined to be higher than 100 °C. In addition, the disulfide bond of Cys15–Cys120 has slight effects on protein function, such as an increase in the rate of O₂ release by ∼1.4-fold. This study not only suggests a crucial role of the artificial disulfide in protein stabilization, but also lays the groundwork for further investigation of the structure and function of Ngb, as well as for the design of other functional heme proteins, based on the scaffold of A15C Ngb with an enhanced stability.

A disulfide bond of Cys120 and Cys15 was rationally designed in human neuroglobin (Ngb) by A15C mutation, which caused minimal structural alterations, whereas enhanced both chemical and pH stability, with a thermal stability higher than 100 °C.

Neuroglobin is capable of self-oxidation of methionine64 introduced at the heme axial position

Neuroglobin (Ngb), with its physiological role not fully understood, was found to be capable of self-oxidation of methionine64 introduced at the heme axial position (H64M Ngb), adopting a high-spin heme state and producing both methionine sulfoxide (SO-Met) and sulfone (SO2-Met), which represents the structure and function of cytochrome c in a non-native state.

Formation of Cys-heme cross-link in K42C myoglobin under reductive conditions with molecular oxygen

The structure and function of heme proteins are regulated by diverse post-translational modifications including heme-protein cross-links, with the underlying mechanisms not well understood. In this study, we introduced a Cys (K42C) close to the heme 4-vinyl group in sperm whale myoglobin (Mb) and solved its X-ray crystal structure. Interestingly, we found that K42C Mb can partially form a Cys-heme cross-link (termed K42C Mb-X) under dithiothreitol-induced reductive conditions in presence of O₂, as suggested by guanidine hydrochloride-induced unfolding and heme extraction studies. Mass spectrometry (MS) studies, together with trypsin digestion studies, further indicated that a thioether bond is formed between Cys42 and the heme 4-vinyl group with an additional mass of 16 Da, likely due to hydroxylation of the α‑carbon. We then proposed a plausible mechanism for the formation of the novel Cys-heme cross-link based on MS, kinetic UV-vis and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) studies. Moreover, the Cys-heme cross-link was shown to fine-tune the protein reactivity toward activation of H₂O₂. This study provides valuable insights into the post-translational modification of heme proteins, and also suggests that the Cys-heme cross-link can be induced to form in vitro, making it useful for design of new heme proteins with a non-dissociable heme and improved functions.

Green and efficient biosynthesis of indigo from indole by engineered myoglobins

Myoglobin (Mb) was redesigned to a green and efficient biocatalysts for the biosynthesis of indigo from indole, exhibiting improved yield, catalytic efficiency and chemoselectivity (as high as ∼80%).

Peroxidase Activity of a c-Type Cytochrome b5 in the Non-Native State is Comparable to that of Native Peroxidases

The design of artificial metalloenzymes has achieved tremendous progress, although few designs can achieve catalytic performances comparable to that of native enzymes. Moreover, the structure and function of artificial metalloenzymes in non‐native states has rarely been explored. Herein, we found that a c‐type cytochrome b₅ (Cyt b₅), N57C/S71C Cyt b₅, with heme covalently attached to the protein matrix through two Cys–heme linkages, adopts a non‐native state with an open heme site after guanidine hydrochloride (Gdn⋅HCl)‐induced unfolding, which facilitates H₂O₂ activation and substrate binding. Stopped‐flow kinetic studies further revealed that c‐type Cyt b₅ in the non‐native state exhibited impressive peroxidase activity comparable to that of native peroxidases, such as the most efficient horseradish peroxidase. This study presents an alternative approach to the design of functional artificial metalloenzymes by exploring enzymatic functions in non‐native states.

Rational design of artificial dye-decolorizing peroxidases using myoglobin by engineering Tyr/Trp in the heme center

Artificial dye-decolorizing peroxidases (DyPs) have been rationally designed using myoglobin (Mb) as a protein scaffold by engineering Tyr/Trp in the heme center, such as F43Y/F138 W Mb, which exhibited catalytic performance comparable to some native DyPs.

Distinct roles of a tyrosine-associated hydrogen-bond network in fine-tuning the structure and function of heme proteins: two cases designed for myoglobin

A hydrogen-bond (H-bond) network, specifically a Tyr-associated H-bond network, plays key roles in regulating the structure and function of proteins, as exemplified by abundant heme proteins in nature. To explore an approach for fine-tuning the structure and function of artificial heme proteins, we herein used myoglobin (Mb) as a model protein and introduced a Tyr residue in the secondary sphere of the heme active site at two different positions (107 and 138). We performed X-ray crystallography, UV-Vis spectroscopy, stopped-flow kinetics, and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) studies for the two single mutants, I107Y Mb and F138Y Mb, and compared to that of wild-type Mb under the same conditions. The results showed that both Tyr107 and Tyr138 form a distinct H-bond network involving water molecules and neighboring residues, which fine-tunes ligand binding to the heme iron and enhances the protein stability, respectively. Moreover, the Tyr107-associated H-bond network was shown to fine-tune both H2O2 binding and activation. With two cases demonstrated for Mb, this study suggests that the Tyr-associated H-bond network has distinct roles in regulating the protein structure, properties and functions, depending on its location in the protein scaffold. Therefore, it is possible to design a Tyr-associated H-bond network in general to create other artificial heme proteins with improved properties and functions.

Regulating the nitrite reductase activity of myoglobin by redesigning the heme active center

Heme proteins perform diverse functions in living systems, of which nitrite reductase (NIR) activity receives much attention recently. In this study, to better understand the structural elements responsible for the NIR activity, we used myoglobin (Mb) as a model heme protein and redesigned the heme active center, by introducing one or two distal histidines, and by creating a channel to the heme center with removal of the native distal His64 gate (His to Ala mutation). UV-Vis kinetic studies, combined with EPR studies, showed that a single distal histidine with a suitable position to the heme iron, i.e., His43, is crucial for nitrite (NO2(-)) to nitric oxide (NO) reduction. Moreover, creation of a water channel to the heme center significantly enhanced the NIR activity compared to the corresponding mutant without the channel. In addition, X-ray crystallographic studies of F43H/H64A Mb and its complexes with NO2(-) or NO revealed a unique hydrogen-bonding network in the heme active center, as well as unique substrate and product binding models, providing valuable structural information for the enhanced NIR activity. These findings enriched our understanding of the structure and NIR activity relationship of heme proteins. The approach of creating a channel in this study is also useful for rational design of other functional heme proteins.