Remarkable functional aspects of myoglobin induced by diazaheme prosthetic group

Tricarbonyl-Pyrazine-Molybdenum(0) Metal-Organic Frameworks for the Storage and Delivery of Biologically Active Carbon Monoxide

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have high potential as nanoplatforms for the storage and delivery of therapeutic gasotransmitters or gas-releasing molecules. The aim of the present study was to open an investigation into the viability of tricarbonyl-pyrazine-molybdenum(0) MOFs as carbon monoxide-releasing materials (CORMAs). A previous investigation found that the reaction of Mo(CO)₆ with excess pyrazine (pyz) in a sealed ampoule gave a mixture comprising a major triclinic phase with pyz-occupied hexagonal channels, formulated as fac-Mo(CO)₃(pyz)_3/2·1/2pyz (Mo-hex), and a minor dense cubic phase, formulated as fac-Mo(CO)₃(pyz)_3/2 (Mo-cub). In the present work, an open reflux method in toluene has been optimized for the large-scale synthesis of the pure Mo-cub phase. The crystalline solids Mo-hex and Mo-cub were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), FT-IR and FT-Raman spectroscopies, and ¹³C{¹H} cross-polarization (CP) magic-angle spinning (MAS) NMR spectroscopy. The release of CO from the MOFs was studied by the deoxy-myoglobin (deoxy-Mb)/carbonmonoxy-myoglobin (MbCO) UV-vis assay. Mo-hex and Mo-cub release CO upon contact with a physiological buffer in the dark, delivering 0.35 and 0.22 equiv (based on Mo), respectively, after 24 h, with half-lives of 3-4 h. Both materials display high photostability such that the CO-releasing kinetics is not affected by irradiation of the materials with UV light. These materials are attractive as potential CORMAs due to the slow release of a high CO payload. In the solid-state and under open air, Mo-cub underwent almost complete decarbonylation over a period of 4 days, corresponding to a theoretical CO release of 10 mmol per gram of material.

High photodynamic activities of water-soluble inclusion complexes of 5,15-diazaporphyrins in cyclodextrin

Inclusion complexes of 5,15-diazaporphyrin derivatives in trimethyl-β-cyclodextrin exhibited high photodynamic activity under visible-light irradiation at wavelengths greater than 620 nm.

Electron transfer and oxidase activities in reconstituted hemoproteins with chemically modified cofactors

Protoheme IX is a typical iron porphyrin cofactor, showing a variety of reactivities in many hemoproteins under the reaction environments provided by protein matrices. Chemical modification of the protoheme cofactor is expected to be a versatile strategy to design hemoproteins possessing unique functions. This review focuses on the conversion of a hemoprotein, mainly myoglobin (an oxygen-storage hemoprotein), into a protein having different functions from the original ones by replacement of the protoheme cofactor with synthetic cofactors. The myoglobin having anionic patches pended to the heme propionates effectively binds electron-accepting proteins or small cationic organic molecules on the protein surface, resulting in enhanced efficiency of the photoinduced electron transfers from the myoglobin to these electron acceptors. Furthermore, the peroxidase and peroxygenase activities are also enhanced due to the facile substrate accesses. The attachment of the chemically active moiety such as flavin at the heme terminal is also important to give P450-like function to the native myoglobin. The employment of a structural isomer of porphyrin as an artificial cofactor gives rise to remarkably high dioxygen affinity and peroxidase activity in myoglobin, and allows us to easily detect high-valent species of the porphyrin isomer in HRP. These examples provide a clear insight into hemoprotein modifications based on synthetic chemistry as well as genetic amino acid mutations.

Effect of peripheral trifluoromethyl groups in artificial iron porphycene cofactor on ligand binding properties of myoglobin

An iron porphycene, a structural isomer of iron porphyrin, with trifluoromethyl groups at the peripheral position of the framework was incorporated into sperm whale apomyoglobin. The prepared myoglobin shows the higher O(2) affinity than the native protein. However, the oxygen affinity of the reconstituted myoglobin is lower than that of the myoglobin having an iron porphycene without trifluoromethyl groups, which is mainly originated from the enhancement of the O(2) dissociation. The CO affinity of the myoglobin with the trifluoromethylated iron porphycene is similar to that observed for the reference protein having the iron porphycene without trifluoromethyl groups, although their C-O stretching frequencies are significantly different. The relationship between the electronic states of the porphycene ring and the ligand bindings is discussed.

Proton NMR study of myoglobin reconstituted with 3,7-diethyl-2,8-dimethyl iron porphyrin: Remarkable influence of peripheral substitution on heme rotation

The iron complex of 3,7-diethyl-2,8-dimethylporphyrin was incorporated into horse heart apomyoglobin to investigate the influence of peripheral substitution on artificial heme rotation. The hyperfine-shifted 1H NMR spectrum of the reconstituted deoxymyoglobin (rMb) revealed the proximal imidazole N-H resonance at 82.5 ppm to indicate the formation of the Fe--N (His93) bond. The pyrrole-protons of the hemin of myoglobin in the absence of external ligand appeared as four resonances between -10 and -18 ppm, indicating a mainly low-spin ferric hemin, with a ligated distal histidine (His64). This also indicates the lost of the symmetry of the hemin, according to an absence of free rotation of the prosthetic group. The 1H NMR spectrum of reconstituted rMbCO revealed a set of four pyrrole-protons and a set of four meso-protons. Accordingly, the prosthetic group without acid side chains interacts specifically with the surrounding globin showing a unique heme orientation in the 1H NMR time-scale, despite the presence of only four alkyl substituents on the porphine ring. This also suggests that two ethyl groups are large enough to avoid the free rotation movement of the heme.

Ligand binding properties of two kinds of reconstituted myoglobins with iron porphycene having propionates: Effect of β-pyrrolic position of two propionate side chains in porphycene framework

An iron porphycene containing two propionate side chains at the 12th and 17th beta-pyrrolic positions of the porphycene ring was synthesized and incorporated into sperm whale apomyoglobin in order to investigate the O(2) and CO binding properties of the reconstituted ferrous myoglobin. The protein showed a slower O(2) dissociation rate by 1/20, compared to the native myoglobin, whereas the CO dissociation rates were found to be almost the same. This tendency is similar to the result of a previous study on the reconstituted myoglobin with a porphycene having the propionates at the 13th and 16th beta-pyrrolic positions. However, the present myoglobin showed a faster O(2) dissociation than the previously studied myoglobin. This finding suggests that the position of the two propionates as well as the symmetry of the porphycene framework is an important factor for obtaining a stable oxygenated iron porphycene myoglobin.

Significance of the Molecular Shape of Iron Corrphycene in a Protein Pocket

The iron complex of a new type of corrphycene bearing two ethoxycarbonyl (-CO2C2H5) groups on the bipyrrole moiety was introduced into apomyoglobin. The reconstituted ferric myoglobin has a coordinating water molecule that deprotonates to hydroxide with a pK(a) value of 7.3 and exhibits 3-10-fold higher affinities for anionic ligands when compared with a counterpart myoglobin with the same substituents on the dipyrroethene moiety. In the ferrous state, the oxygen affinity of the new myoglobin was decreased to 1/410 of the native protein. The anomalies in the ligand binding, notably dependent on the side-chain location, were interpreted in terms of a characteristic core shape of corrphycene that produces the longer and shorter Fe-N(pyrrole) bonds. The spin-state equilibrium analysis of the ferric azide myoglobin containing the new iron corrphycene supported the nonequivalence of the Fe-N(pyrrole) bonds. These results demonstrate that the trapezoidal molecular shape of corrphycene exerts functional significance when the iron complex is placed in a protein pocket.

On the O2 binding of Fe–porphyrin, Fe–porphycene, and Fe–corrphycene complexes

Based on our previous study for the O2 binding of the Fe-Por complex, this study investigates the O2 binding mechanism in the Fe-porphyrin isomers, Fe-porphycene (FePc), and Fe-corrphycene (FeCor) complexes. By calculating the potential energy surface of the O2 binding, the present study explains the reason for the dramatic increase of O2 affinities observed in the FePc complex. In the case of FeCor-O2, the O2 binding process includes the intersystem crossing from a triplet to singlet state, as in the FePor-O2 complex. However, FePc-O2 uses only a singlet surface. This is because the ground state of the FePc complex in the deoxy state is a triplet state, while those of FePor and FeCor are a quintet state. Such difference originates from character of the SOMO. We estimated an equilibrium constant for the O2 binding that reasonably reproduced the trend observed in the experiments.

On the reversible O2 binding of the Fe–porphyrin complex

Electronic mechanism of the reversible O(2) binding by heme was studied by using Density Functional Theory calculations. The ground state of oxyheme was calculated to be open singlet state [Fe(S =1/2) + O(2)(S = 1/2)]. The potential energy surface for singlet state is associative, while that for triplet state is dissociative. Because the ground state of the O(2)+ deoxyheme system is triplet in the dissociation limit [Fe(S = 2) + O(2)(S = 1)], the O(2) binding process requires relativistic spin-orbit interaction to accomplish the intersystem crossing from triplet to singlet states. Owing to the singlet-triplet crossing, the activation energies for both O(2) binding and dissociation become moderate, and hence reversible. We also found that the deviation of the Fe atom from the porphyrin plane is also important reaction coordinate for O(2) binding. The potential surface is associative/dissociative when the Fe atom locates in-plane/out-of-plane.

Preparation and O2 Binding Study of Myoglobin Having a Cobalt Porphycene

Sperm whale myoglobin, an oxygen-storage hemoprotein, was reconstituted with 2,7-diethyl-3,6,12,17-tetramethyl-13,16-bis(carboxyethyl)porphycenatocobalt(II) in order to investigate the reactivities of a cobalt porphycene in a protein matrix. Similar to the previously reported finding for the myoglobin with the iron porphycene, the reconstituted myoglobin with the cobalt porphycene was also found to have an O2 affinity 2 orders of magnitude greater than that of the myoglobin possessing cobalt protoporphyrin IX. The EPR spectra of the deoxy and oxy myoglobins having the cobalt porphycene at 77 K also have features similar to those of the myoglobin with cobalt protoporphyrin IX. These spectra suggest that the porphycene cobalt in the deoxy form is coordinated by one nitrogenous ligand postulated to be the imidazole ring of His93, and that the bond configuration of CoII-O2 is regarded as the CoIII-Omicron2*- species.

Ligand binding properties of myoglobin reconstituted with iron porphycene: unusual O2 binding selectivity against CO binding

Sperm whale myoglobin, an oxygen storage hemoprotein, was successfully reconstituted with the iron porphycene having two propionates, 2,7-diethyl-3,6,12,17-tetramethyl-13,16-bis(carboxyethyl)porphycenatoiron. The physicochemical properties and ligand bindings of the reconstituted myoglobin were investigated. The ferric reconstituted myoglobin shows the remarkable stability against acid denaturation and only a low-spin characteristic in its EPR spectrum. The Fe(III)/Fe(II) redox potential (-190 mV vs NHE) determined by the spectroelectrochemical measurements was much lower than that of the wild-type. These results can be attributed to the strong coordination of His93 to the porphycene iron, which is induced by the nature of the porphycene ring symmetry. The O2 affinity of the ferrous reconstituted myoglobin is 2600-fold higher than that of the wild-type, mainly due to the decrease in the O2 dissociation rate, whereas the CO affinity is not so significantly enhanced. As a result, the O2 affinity of the reconstituted myoglobin exceeds its CO affinity (M' = K(CO)/K(O2) < 1). The ligand binding studies on H64A mutants support the fact that the slow O2 dissociation of the reconstituted myoglobin is primarily caused by the stabilization of the Fe-O2 sigma-bonding. The IR spectra for the carbon monoxide (CO) complex of the reconstituted myoglobin suggest several structural and/or electrostatic conformations of the Fe-C-O bond, but this is not directly correlated with the CO dissociation rate. The high O2 affinity and the unique characteristics of the myoglobin with the iron porphycene indicate that reconstitution with a synthesized heme is a useful method not only to understand the physiological function of myoglobin but also to create a tailor-made function on the protein.

Blue myoglobin reconstituted with an iron porphycene shows extremely high oxygen affinity

Myoglobin will be a good scaffold for engineering a function into proteins. To modulate the physiological function of myoglobin, almost all approaches have been demonstrated by site-directed mutagenesis, however, there are few studies which show a significant improvement in the function. In contrast, we focused on the replacement of heme in the protein with an artificial prosthetic group. Recently, we prepared a novel myoglobin reconstituted with an iron porphycene as a structural isomer of mesoheme. The bluish colored reconstituted myoglobin is relatively stable and the deoxymyoglobin reversibly binds ligands. Interestingly, the O2 affinity of the reconstituted myoglobin, 1.1 x 109 M-1, is a significant 1,400-fold higher than that of the native myoglobin. Furthermore, the unfavorable autoxidation kinetics show 7-fold decrease in rate for the reconstituted myoglobin relative to the native myoglobin, indicating the stable oxy-form against autoxidation. The net results come from the slow dissociation of the O2 ligand in the reconstituted myoglobin, koff = 0.11 s-1, because of the formation of strong hydrogen bond between His64 and negatively charged dioxygen. The present study indicates that the replacement of native heme with an artificially created prosthetic group will give us a unique function into a hemoprotein.

The regulation of surface charged residues on the properties of cytochrome b5

To understand the roles of negatively surface charged residues, the cytochrome b5 (Cyt b5) E48A/D60A mutant was constructed. UV-visible and CD spectra confirmed that the mutation did not cause overall structural changes of the protein. The mutant presents an unexpected high stability toward the thermal and denaturant compared with the wild type Cyt b5, which shows that these surface charged residues can influence the interactions between the heme b group and the polypeptide chain. Functional properties were clarified through the electron transfer reactions between Cyt b5 and Cyt c. The driving force of the electron transfer reactions is conservative. Although the association constant of Cyt b5 E48A/D60A with Cyt c is much lower than that of the wild type Cyt b5, their electron transfer rate constants do not differ significantly. The results show that these surface charged residues play important roles in regulating both the stability and functional properties of Cyt b5.