Crystal structure of higher plant heme oxygenase-1 and its mechanism of interaction with ferredoxin

Heme oxygenase (HO) converts heme to carbon monoxide, biliverdin, and free iron, products that are essential in cellular redox signaling and iron recycling. In higher plants, HO is also involved in the biosynthesis of photoreceptor pigment precursors. Despite many common enzymatic reactions, the amino acid sequence identity between plant-type and other HOs is exceptionally low (∼19.5%), and amino acids that are catalytically important in mammalian HO are not conserved in plant-type HOs. Structural characterization of plant-type HO is limited to spectroscopic characterization by electron spin resonance, and it remains unclear how the structure of plant-type HO differs from that of other HOs. Here, we have solved the crystal structure of Glycine max (soybean) HO-1 (GmHO-1) at a resolution of 1.06 Å and carried out the isothermal titration calorimetry measurements and NMR spectroscopic studies of its interaction with ferredoxin, the plant-specific electron donor. The high-resolution X-ray structure of GmHO-1 reveals several novel structural components: an additional irregularly structured region, a new water tunnel from the active site to the surface, and a hydrogen-bonding network unique to plant-type HOs. Structurally important features in other HOs, such as His ligation to the bound heme, are conserved in GmHO-1. Based on combined data from X-ray crystallography, isothermal titration calorimetry, and NMR measurements, we propose the evolutionary fine-tuning of plant-type HOs for ferredoxin dependency in order to allow adaptation to dynamic pH changes on the stroma side of the thylakoid membrane in chloroplast without losing enzymatic activity under conditions of fluctuating light.

A heterodimeric cytochrome c complex with a very low redox potential from an anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing enrichment culture

A dimeric cytochrome c with an apparent molecular mass of 25 kDa was isolated from an anammox bacterium, strain KSU-1, in a relatively large quantity. This protein was named the NaxLS complex. The spectrum of the oxidized form exhibited a peculiar Soret peak at 419 nm. The reduction of NaxLS was not complete even with the addition of excess dithionite, but was complete with titanium (III) citrate, indicating that the NaxLS complex has a very low redox potential. The genes encoding the two subunits, naxL and naxS, are adjacent on the genome. The deduced amino-acid sequences of the genes showed high identities with those of two genes encoding 'unknown proteins' in the genome of Candidatus Kuenenia stuttgartiensis, but had lower identities with other c-type heme proteins. The electron paramagnetic resonance spectra of NaxLS exhibited low-spin signals of two heme species in the range between g=2.6 and g=1.8, which strongly suggested an unusual His/Cys coordination. This unique coordination might account for the low redox potential of the hemes in NaxLS. NaxLS might participate in the transfer of low redox potential electrons in the intracellular anammoxosome compartment or the cytoplasm.

Biochemical and spectroscopic properties of cyanide-insensitive quinol oxidase from Gluconobacter oxydans

Cyanide-insensitive quinol oxidase (CioAB), a relative of cytochrome bd, has no spectroscopic features of hemes b(595) and d in the wild-type bacteria and is difficult to purify for detailed characterization. Here we studied enzymatic and spectroscopic properties of CioAB from the acetic acid bacterium Gluconobacter oxydans. Gluconobacter oxydans CioAB showed the K(m) value for ubiquinol-1 comparable to that of Escherichia coli cytochrome bd but it was more resistant to KCN and quinone-analogue inhibitors except piericidin A and LL-Z1272gamma. We obtained the spectroscopic evidence for the presence of hemes b(595) and d. Heme b(595) showed the alpha peak at 587 nm in the reduced state and a rhombic high-spin signal at g = 6.3 and 5.5 in the air-oxidized state. Heme d showed the alpha peak at 626 and 644 nm in the reduced and air-oxidized state, respectively, and an axial high-spin signal at g = 6.0 and low-spin signals at g = 2.63, 2.37 and 2.32. We found also a broad low-spin signal at g = 3.2, attributable to heme b(558). Further, we identified the presence of heme D by mass spectrometry. In conclusion, CioAB binds all three ham species present in cytochrome bd quinol oxidase.

Variation of the oxidation state of verdoheme in the heme oxygenase reaction

Heme oxygenase (HO) converts hemin to biliverdin, CO, and iron applying molecular oxygen and electrons. During successive HO reactions, two intermediates, alpha-hydroxyhemin and verdoheme, have been generated. Here, oxidation state of the verdoheme-HO complexes is controversial. To clarify this, the heme conversion by soybean and rat HO isoform-1 (GmHO-1 and rHO-1, respectively) was compared both under physiological conditions, with oxygen and NADPH coupled with ferredoxin reductase/ferredoxin for GmHO-1 or with cytochrome P450 reductase for rHO-1, and under a non-physiological condition with hydrogen peroxide. EPR measurements on the hemin-GmHO-1 reaction with oxygen detected a low-spin ferric intermediate, which was undetectable in the rHO-1 reaction, suggesting the verdoheme in the six-coordinate ferric state in GmHO-1. Optical absorption measurements on this reaction indicated that the heme degradation was extremely retarded at verdoheme though this reaction was not inhibited under high-CO concentrations, unlike the rHO-1 reaction. On the contrary, the Gm and rHO-1 reactions with hydrogen peroxide both provided ferric low-spin intermediates though their yields were different. The optical absorption spectra suggested that the ferric and ferrous verdoheme coexisted in reaction mixtures and were slowly converted to the ferric biliverdin complex. Consequently, in the physiological oxygen reactions, the verdoheme is found to be stabilized in the ferric state in GmHO-1 probably guided by protein distal residues and in the ferrous state in rHO-1, whereas in the hydrogen peroxide reactions, hydrogen peroxide or hydroxide coordination stabilizes the ferric state of verdoheme in both HOs.

Menaquinone as well as ubiquinone as a bound quinone crucial for catalytic activity and intramolecular electron transfer in Escherichia coli membrane-bound glucose dehydrogenase

Escherichia coli membrane-bound glucose dehydrogenase (mGDH), which is one of quinoproteins containing pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) as a coenzyme, is a good model for elucidating the function of bound quinone inside primary dehydrogenases in respiratory chains. Enzymatic analysis of purified mGDH from cells defective in synthesis of ubiquinone (UQ) and/or menaquinone (MQ) revealed that Q-free mGDH has very low levels of activity of glucose dehydrogenase and UQ2 reductase compared with those of UQ-bearing mGDH, and both activities were significantly increased by reconstitution with UQ1. On the other hand, MQ-bearing mGDH retains both catalytic abilities at the same levels as those of UQ-bearing mGDH. A radiolytically generated hydrated electron reacted with the bound MQ to form a semiquinone anion radical with an absorption maximum at 400 nm. Subsequently, decay of the absorbance at 400 nm was accompanied by an increase in the absorbance at 380 nm with a first order rate constant of 5.7 x 10(3) s(-1). This indicated that an intramolecular electron transfer from the bound MQ to the PQQ occurred. EPR analysis revealed that characteristics of the semiquinone radical of bound MQ are similar to those of the semiquinone radical of bound UQ and indicated an electron flow from PQQ to MQ as in the case of UQ. Taken together, the results suggest that MQ is incorporated into the same pocket as that for UQ to perform a function almost equivalent to that of UQ and that bound quinone is involved at least partially in the catalytic reaction and primarily in the intramolecular electron transfer of mGDH.

Function of a bound ubiquinone in Escherichia coli quinoprotein glucose dehydrogenase

Membrane-bound glucose dehydrogenase (mGDH) is a single integral protein in the respiratory chain in Escherichia coli which oxidizes D-glucose and feeds electrons to ubiquinol oxidase via bulk ubiquinone (UQ). mGDH contains a bound UQ, CoQ8, for its intramolecular electron transfer in addition to pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) as a coenzyme. Pulse radiolysis analysis revealed that the bound UQ exists very close to PQQ at a distance of 11-13 angstroms. Studies on mGDH mutants with substitutions for amino acid residues around PQQ showed that Asp-466 and Lys-493, which are crucial for catalytic activity, interact with bound UQ. Based on these findings, we propose that the bound UQ is involved in the catalytic reaction in addition to the intramolecular electron transfer in mGDH.

Spectroscopic characterization of a higher plant heme oxygenase isoform-1 from Glycine max (soybean)--coordination structure of the heme complex and catabolism of heme

Heme oxygenase converts heme into biliverdin, CO, and free iron. In plants, as well as in cyanobacteria, heme oxygenase plays a particular role in the biosynthesis of photoreceptive pigments, such as phytochromobilins and phycobilins, supplying biliverdin IX(alpha) as a direct synthetic resource. In this study, a higher plant heme oxygenase, GmHO-1, of Glycine max (soybean), was prepared to evaluate the molecular features of its heme complex, the enzymatic activity, and the mechanism of heme conversion. The similarity in the amino acid sequence between GmHO-1 and heme oxygenases from other biological species is low, and GmHO-1 binds heme with 1 : 1 stoichiometry at His30; this position does not correspond to the proximal histidine of other heme oxygenases in their sequence alignments. The heme bound to GmHO-1, in the ferric high-spin state, exhibits an acid-base transition and is converted to biliverdin IX(alpha) in the presence of NADPH/ferredoxin reductase/ferredoxin, or ascorbate. During the heme conversion, an intermediate with an absorption maximum different from that of typical verdoheme-heme oxygenase or CO-verdoheme-heme oxygenase complexes was observed and was extracted as a bis-imidazole complex; it was identified as verdoheme. A myoglobin mutant, H64L, with high CO affinity trapped CO produced during the heme degradation. Thus, the mechanism of heme degradation by GmHO-1 appears to be similar to that of known heme oxygenases, despite the low sequence homology. The heme conversion by GmHO-1 is as fast as that by SynHO-1 in the presence of NADPH/ferredoxin reductase/ferredoxin, thereby suggesting that the latter is the physiologic electron-donating system.

Evidence for the hydrophobic cavity of heme oxygenase-1 to be a CO-trapping site

Carbon monoxide (CO) is produced during the heme catabolism by heme oxygenase. In brain or blood vessels, CO functions as a neurotransmitter or an endothelial-derived relaxing factor. To verify whether crystallographically proposed CO-trapping sites of rat and cyanobacterial heme oxygenase-1 really work, heme catabolism by heme oxygenase-1 from rat and cyanobacterial Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 has been scrutinized in the presence of 2-propanol. If 2-propanol occupies the trapping sites, formation of CO-bound verdoheme should be enhanced. Although effects of 2-propanol on the rat heme oxygenase-1 reaction were obscure, the reaction of cyanobacterial enzyme in the presence of NADPH/ferredoxin reductase/ferredoxin was apparently affected. Relative amount of CO-verdoheme versus CO-free verdoheme detected by optical absorption spectra increased as the equivalent of 2-propanol increased, thereby supporting indirectly that the hydrophobic cavity in cyanobacterial enzyme traps CO to reduce CO inhibition of verdoheme degradation.

O(2)- and H(2)O(2)-dependent verdoheme degradation by heme oxygenase: reaction mechanisms and potential physiological roles of the dual pathway degradation

Heme oxygenase (HO) catalyzes the catabolism of heme to biliverdin, CO, and a free iron through three successive oxygenation steps. The third oxygenation, oxidative degradation of verdoheme to biliverdin, has been the least understood step despite its importance in regulating HO activity. We have examined in detail the degradation of a synthetic verdoheme IXalpha complexed with rat HO-1. Our findings include: 1) HO degrades verdoheme through a dual pathway using either O(2) or H(2)O(2); 2) the verdoheme reactivity with O(2) is the lowest among the three O(2) reactions in the HO catalysis, and the newly found H(2)O(2) pathway is approximately 40-fold faster than the O(2)-dependent verdoheme degradation; 3) both reactions are initiated by the binding of O(2) or H(2)O(2) to allow the first direct observation of degradation intermediates of verdoheme; and 4) Asp(140) in HO-1 is critical for the verdoheme degradation regardless of the oxygen source. On the basis of these findings, we propose that the HO enzyme activates O(2) and H(2)O(2) on the verdoheme iron with the aid of a nearby water molecule linked with Asp(140). These mechanisms are similar to the well established mechanism of the first oxygenation, meso-hydroxylation of heme, and thus, HO can utilize a common architecture to promote the first and third oxygenation steps of the heme catabolism. In addition, our results infer the possible involvement of the H(2)O(2)-dependent verdoheme degradation in vivo, and potential roles of the dual pathway reaction of HO against oxidative stress are proposed.

Crystal structure of dimeric heme oxygenase-2 from Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 in complex with heme

Phycobiliproteins, light-harvesting proteins in cyanobacteria, red algae, and cryptophytes, contain phycobilin pigments. Phycobilins are synthesized from biliverdin, which is produced by the oxidative cleavage of the heme porphyrin ring catalyzed by heme oxygenase (HO). Two paralogs of ho (ho1 and ho2) have been identified in the genome of the cyanobacterium, Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. The recombinant proteins of both paralogs (Syn HO-1 and Syn HO-2) possess in vitro heme degradation activity. We have determined the crystal structures of Syn HO-2 in complex with heme (heme-Syn HO-2) and its reduced and NO bound forms. The heme-Syn HO-2 crystal was a nonmerohedral twin, and detwinned diffraction data were used to refine the structure. Although heme-Syn HO-2 shares common folding with other HOs, the C-terminal segment is ordered and turns back to the heme-binding side. Gel-filtration chromatography analysis and molecular packing in the crystal indicate that heme-Syn HO-2 forms a homodimer, in which the C-terminal ordered segments interact with each other. Because Syn HO-2 is a monomer in the apo state, the dimeric interaction may aid in the selection of the reducing partner but likely does not interfere with heme binding. The heme iron is coordinated by a water molecule in the ferric form, but the distal water is absent in the ferrous form. In all of the Syn HO-2 structures, several water molecules form a hydrogen-bond network at the distal hemepocket, which is involved in HO activity. Upon NO binding, the side-chain conformation of Tyr 156 changes. Tyr 156 is located at the hydrophobic cluster, which interrupts the possible H(+) pathway from the molecular surface to the hemepocket. Thus, Tyr 156 may function as a H(+) shuttle by changing conformation.

Electron transfer ability from NADH to menaquinone and from NADPH to oxygen of type II NADH dehydrogenase of Corynebacterium glutamicum

Type II NADH dehydrogenase of Corynebacterium glutamicum (NDH-2) was purified from an ndh overexpressing strain. Purification conferred 6-fold higher specific activity of NADH:ubiquinone-1 oxidoreductase with a 3.5-fold higher recovery than that previously reported (K. Matsushita et al., 2000). UV-visible and fluorescence analyses of the purified enzyme showed that NDH-2 of C. glutamicum contained non-covalently bound FAD but not covalently bound FMN. This enzyme had an ability to catalyze electron transfer from NADH and NADPH to oxygen as well as various artificial quinone analogs at neutral and acidic pHs respectively. The reduction of native quinone of C. glutamicum, menaquinone-2, with this enzyme was observed only with NADH, whereas electron transfer to oxygen was observed more intensively with NADPH. This study provides evidence that C. glutamicum NDH-2 is a source of the reactive oxygen species, superoxide and hydrogen peroxide, concomitant with NADH and NADPH oxidation, but especially with NADPH oxidation. Together with this unique character of NADPH oxidation, phylogenetic analysis of NDH-2 from various organisms suggests that NDH-2 of C. glutamicum is more closely related to yeast or fungal enzymes than to other prokaryotic enzymes.

Protein expressed by the ho2 gene of the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 is a true heme oxygenase. Properties of the heme and enzyme complex

Two isoforms of a heme oxygenase gene, ho1 and ho2, with 51% identity in amino acid sequence have been identified in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. Isoform-1, Syn HO-1, has been characterized, while isoform-2, Syn HO-2, has not. In this study, a full-length ho2 gene was cloned using synthetic DNA and Syn HO-2 was demonstrated to be highly expressed in Escherichia coli as a soluble, catalytically active protein. Like Syn HO-1, the purified Syn HO-2 bound hemin stoichiometrically to form a heme-enzyme complex and degraded heme to biliverdin IXalpha, CO and iron in the presence of reducing systems such as NADPH/ferredoxin reductase/ferredoxin and sodium ascorbate. The activity of Syn HO-2 was found to be comparable to that of Syn HO-1 by measuring the amount of bilirubin formed. In the reaction with hydrogen peroxide, Syn HO-2 converted heme to verdoheme. This shows that during the conversion of hemin to alpha-meso-hydroxyhemin, hydroperoxo species is the activated oxygen species as in other heme oxygenase reactions. The absorption spectrum of the hemin-Syn HO-2 complex at neutral pH showed a Soret band at 412 nm and two peaks at 540 nm and 575 nm, features observed in the hemin-Syn HO-1 complex at alkaline pH, suggesting that the major species of iron(III) heme iron at neutral pH is a hexa-coordinate low spin species. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) revealed that the iron(III) complex was in dynamic equilibrium between low spin and high spin states, which might be caused by the hydrogen bonding interaction between the distal water ligand and distal helix components. These observations suggest that the structure of the heme pocket of the Syn HO-2 is different from that of Syn HO-1.

Crystal structure of heme oxygenase-1 from cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 in complex with heme

Heme oxygenase (HO) catalyzes the oxidative degradation of heme utilizing molecular oxygen and reducing equivalents. In photosynthetic organisms, HO functions in the biosynthesis of such open-chain tetrapyrroles as phyto-chromobilin and phycobilins, which are involved in the signal transduction for light responses and light harvesting for photosynthesis, respectively. We have determined the first crystal structure of a HO-1 from a photosynthetic organism, Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 (Syn HO-1), in complex with heme at 2.5 A resolution. Heme-Syn HO-1 shares a common folding with other heme-HOs. Although the heme pocket of heme-Syn HO-1 is, for the most part, similar to that of mammalian HO-1, they differ in such features as the flexibility of the distal helix and hydrophobicity. In addition, 2-propanol derived from the crystallization solution occupied the hydrophobic cavity, which is proposed to be a CO trapping site in rat HO-1 that suppresses product inhibition. Although Syn HO-1 and mammalian HO-1 are similar in overall structure and amino acid sequence (57% similarity vs. human HO-1), their molecular surfaces differ in charge distribution. The surfaces of the heme binding sides are both positively charged, but this patch of Syn HO-1 is narrow compared to that of mammalian HO-1. This feature is suited to the selective binding of ferredoxin, the physiological redox partner of Syn HO-1; the molecular size of ferredoxin is approximately 10 kDa whereas the size of NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase, a reducing partner of mammalian HO-1, is approximately 77 kDa. A docking model of heme-Syn HO-1 and ferredoxin suggests indirect electron transfer from an iron-sulfur cluster in ferredoxin to the heme iron of heme-Syn HO-1.

Unique features of recombinant heme oxygenase of Drosophila melanogaster compared with those of other heme oxygenases studied

We cloned a cDNA for a Drosophila melanogaster homologue of mammalian heme oxygenase (HO) and constructed a bacterial expression system of a truncated, soluble form of D. melanogaster HO (DmDeltaHO). The purified DmDeltaHO degraded hemin to biliverdin, CO and iron in the presence of reducing systems such as NADPH/cytochrome P450 reductase and sodium ascorbate, although the reaction rate was slower than that of mammalian HOs. Some properties of DmHO, however, are quite different from other known HOs. Thus DmDeltaHO bound hemin stoichiometrically to form a hemin-enzyme complex like other HOs, but this complex did not show an absorption spectrum of hexa-coordinated heme protein. The absorption spectrum of the ferric complex was not influenced by changing the pH of the solution. Interestingly, an EPR study revealed that the iron of heme was not involved in binding heme to the enzyme. Hydrogen peroxide failed to convert it into verdoheme. A spectrum of the ferrous-CO form of verdoheme was not detected during the reaction from hemin under oxygen and CO. Degradation of hemin catalyzed by DmDeltaHO yielded three isomers of biliverdin, of which biliverdin IXalpha and two other isomers (IXbeta and IXdelta) accounted for 75% and 25%, respectively. Taken together, we conclude that, although DmHO acts as a real HO in D. melanogaster, its active-site structure is quite different from those of other known HOs.

Occurrence of a bound ubiquinone and its function in Escherichia coli membrane-bound quinoprotein glucose dehydrogenase

The membrane-bound pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ)-containing quinoprotein glucose dehydrogenase (mGDH) in Escherichia coli functions by catalyzing glucose oxidation in the periplasm and by transferring electrons directly to ubiquinone (UQ) in the respiratory chain. To clarify the intramolecular electron transfer of mGDH, quantitation and identification of UQ were performed, indicating that purified mGDH contains a tightly bound UQ(8) in its molecule. A significant increase in the EPR signal was observed following glucose addition in mGDH reconstituted with PQQ and Mg(2+), suggesting that bound UQ(8) accepts a single electron from PQQH(2) to generate semiquinone radicals. No such increase in the EPR signal was observed in UQ(8)-free mGDH under the same conditions. Moreover, a UQ(2) reductase assay with a UQ-related inhibitor (C49) revealed different inhibition kinetics between the wild-type mGDH and UQ(8)-free mGDH. From these findings, we propose that the native mGDH bears two ubiquinone-binding sites, one (Q(I)) for bound UQ(8) in its molecule and the other (Q(II)) for UQ(8) in the ubiquinone pool, and that the bound UQ(8) in the Q(I) site acts as a single electron mediator in the intramolecular electron transfer in mGDH.

Escherichia coli PQQ-containing quinoprotein glucose dehydrogenase: its structure comparison with other quinoproteins

Membrane-bound glucose dehydrogenase (mGDH) in Escherichia coli is one of the pivotal pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ)-containing quinoproteins coupled with the respiratory chain in the periplasmic oxidation of alcohols and sugars in Gram-negative bacteria. We compared mGDH with other PQQ-dependent quinoproteins in molecular structure and attempted to trace their evolutionary process. We also review the role of residues crucial for the catalytic reaction or for interacting with PQQ and discuss the functions of two distinct domains, radical formation in PQQ, and the presumed existence of bound quinone in mGDH.

Expression and characterization of cyanobacterium heme oxygenase, a key enzyme in the phycobilin synthesis. Properties of the heme complex of recombinant active enzyme

An efficient bacterial expression system of cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 heme oxygenase gene, ho-1, has been constructed, using a synthetic gene. A soluble protein was expressed at high levels and was highly purified, for the first time. The protein binds equimolar free hemin to catabolize the bound hemin to ferric-biliverdin IX alpha in the presence of oxygen and reducing equivalents, showing the heme oxygenase activity. During the reaction, verdoheme intermediate is formed with the evolution of carbon monoxide. Though both ascorbate and NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase serve as an electron donor, the heme catabolism assisted by ascorbate is considerably slow and the reaction with NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase is greatly retarded after the oxy-heme complex formation. The optical absorption spectra of the heme-enzyme complexes are similar to those of the known heme oxygenase complexes but have some distinct features, exhibiting the Soret band slightly blue-shifted and relatively strong CT bands of the high-spin component in the ferric form spectrum. The heme-enzyme complex shows the acid-base transition, where two alkaline species are generated. EPR of the nitrosyl heme complex has established the nitrogenous proximal ligand, presumably histidine 17 and the obtained EPR parameters are discriminated from those of the rat heme oxygenase-1 complex. The spectroscopic characters as well as the catabolic activities strongly suggest that, in spite of very high conservation of the primary structure, the heme pocket structure of Synechocystis heme oxygenase isoform-1 is different from that of rat heme oxygenase isoform-1, rather resembling that of bacterial heme oxygenase, H mu O.

Ischemic injury to mitochondrial electron transport in the aging heart: damage to the iron-sulfur protein subunit of electron transport complex III

The aging heart sustains greater injury during ischemia and reperfusion compared to adult hearts. Aging decreases oxidative function in interfibrillar mitochondria (IFM) that reside among the myofibers, while subsarcolemmal mitochondria (SSM), located beneath the plasma membrane, remain unaltered. Aging decreases complex III activity selectively in IFM via alteration of the cytochrome c binding site. With 25 min of global ischemia, complex III activity decreases in SSM and further decreases in IFM in the aging heart. Ischemia leads to a marked decrease in the electron paramagnetic resonance signal of the iron-sulfur protein (ISP) in both SSM and IFM, despite a preserved content of ISP peptide. Thus, ischemia results in a functional decrease in the iron-sulfur center in ISP without subunit peptide loss. In the aging heart, at the onset of reperfusion, IFM contain two tandem defects in the path of electron flow through complex III, providing a likely mechanism for enhanced oxidant production and reperfusion damage.

Aging decreases electron transport complex III activity in heart interfibrillar mitochondria by alteration of the cytochrome c binding site

Aging alters cardiac physiology and structure and enhances damage during ischemia and reperfusion. Aging selectively decreases the rate of oxidative phosphorylation in the interfibrillar population of cardiac mitochondria (IFM) located among the myofibers, whereas subsarcolemmal mitochondria (SSM) located beneath the plasma membrane remain unaffected. Aging decreased the rate of oxidative phosphorylation using durohydroquinone, an electron donor to complex III, in IFM only. Complex III activity was decreased in IFM, but not SSM. Aging did not alter the content of catalytic centers of complex III (cytochromes b and c(1)and iron-sulfur protein). Complex III activity measured at physiologic ionic strength in IFM from aging hearts was decreased by 49% compared to IFM from adults, whereas activity measured at low ionic strength was unchanged, localizing the aging defect to the cytochrome c binding site of complex III. Subunits VIII and X of the cytochrome c binding site were present in complex III with the aging defect, indicating that loss of subunits did not occur. Study of aging damage to complex III will help clarify the contribution of altered electron transport in IFM to increased oxidant production during aging, formation of the aging cardiac phenotype, and the relationship of aging defects to increased damage following ischemia.

Mechanism of heme degradation by heme oxygenase

Heme oxygenase catalyzes the three step-wise oxidation of hemin to alpha-biliverdin, via alpha-meso-hydroxyhemin, verdoheme, and ferric iron-biliverdin complex. This enzyme is a simple protein which does not have any prosthetic groups. However, heme and its two metabolites, alpha-meso-hydroxyhemin and verdoheme, combine with the enzyme and activate oxygen during the heme oxygenase reaction. In the conversion of hemin to alpha-meso-hydroxyhemin, the active species of oxygen is Fe-OOH, which self-hydroxylates heme to form alpha-meso-hydroxyhemin. This step determines the alpha-specificity of the reaction. For the formation of verdoheme and liberation of CO from alpha-meso-hydroxyhemin, oxygen and one reducing equivalent are both required. However, the ferrous iron of the alpha-meso-hydroxyheme is not involved in the oxygen activation and unactivated oxygen is reacted on the 'activated' heme edge of the porphyrin ring. For the conversion of verdoheme to the ferric iron-biliverdin complex, both oxygen and reducing agents are necessary, although the precise mechanism has not been clear. The reduction of iron is required for the release of iron from the ferric iron-biliverdin complex to complete total heme oxygenase reaction.

Molecular oxygen oxidizes the porphyrin ring of the ferric alpha-hydroxyheme in heme oxygenase in the absence of reducing equivalent

Heme oxygenase catalyzes the regiospecific oxidative degradation of iron protoporphyrin IX (heme) to biliverdin, CO and Fe, utilizing molecular oxygen and electrons donated from the NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase. The catalytic conversion of heme proceeds through two known heme derivatives, alpha-hydroxyheme and verdoheme. In order to assess the requirement of reducing equivalents in the second stage of heme degradation, from alpha-hydroxyheme to verdoheme, we have prepared the alpha-hydroxyheme complex with rat heme oxygenase isoform-1 and examined its reactivity with molecular oxygen in the absence of added electrons. Upon reaction with oxygen, the majority of the alpha-hydroxyheme in heme oxygenase is altered to a species which exhibits an optical absorption spectrum with a broad Soret band, along with the minority which is converted to verdoheme. The major product species, which is electron paramagnetic resonace-silent, can be recovered to the original alpha-hydroxyheme by addition of sodium dithionite. We have also found that oxidation of the alpha-hydroxyheme-heme oxygenase complex by ferricyanide or iridium(IV) chloride yields a species which exhibits an optical absorption spectrum and reactivity similar to those of the main product of the oxygen reaction. We infer that the oxygen reaction with the ferric alpha-hydroxyheme-heme oxygenase complex forms a ferric-porphyrin cation radical. We conclude that in the absence of reducing agents, the oxygen molecule functions mainly as an oxidant for the porphyrin ring and has no role in the oxygenation of alpha-hydroxyheme. This result corroborates our previous conclusion that the catalytic conversion of alpha-hydroxyheme to verdoheme by heme oxygenase requires one reducing equivalent along with molecular oxygen.

The C331A mutant of neuronal nitric-oxide synthase is defective in arginine binding

It has been proposed that Cys99 of human endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) is responsible for tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) binding. To examine this possibility rigorously, we expressed rat neuronal NOS (nNOS) in Escherichia coli, with the homologous Cys331 to Ala mutation, and characterized structural and functional attributes of the purified, mutated enzyme. C331A-nNOS, as isolated, was catalytically incompetent. Upon prolonged incubation with L-arginine (L-Arg), not only BH4 binding but also catalytic activity could be restored. In contrast to wild-type nNOS (WT-nNOS), which exhibits an absorbance maximum at 407 nm that shifts immediately upon L-arginine addition to a high spin form, the C331A-nNOS mutant, as isolated, exhibited an absorbance maximum at 420 nm. C331A-nNOS, as isolated, did not bind detectable levels of either [3H]Nomega-nitro-L-arginine or [3H]BH4, but [3H]BH4 binding was reinstated after extended incubation with excess L-arginine. On the other hand, C331A-nNOS and WT-NOS were identical with regard to imidazole binding affinity, CaM binding affinity, and rates of cytochrome c and 2, 6-dichlorophenolindophenol reduction. EPR spectroscopy revealed conversion of low to high spin heme after extended incubation with high concentrations of L-arginine (0.1-10 mM). The estimated Kd for L-arginine binding to C331A-nNOS was two orders of magnitude greater than WT-nNOS (>100 microM versus 2-3 microM). Here we propose that Cys331 plays an important role in stabilizing L-arginine binding to nNOS. Our findings suggest that the primary dysfunction in the C331A mutant of nNOS, as isolated, is disruption of the BH4-substrate binding interactions as broadcast from this mutated cysteine residue. Prolonged incubation with L-arginine appears to cause remodeling of the mutant protein to a form similar to that of WT-nNOS, allowing for normalized BH4 binding and nitric oxide synthetic activity.

The oxygen and carbon monoxide reactions of heme oxygenase

The O2 and CO reactions with the heme, alpha-hydroxyheme, and verdoheme complexes of heme oxygenase have been studied. The heme complexes of heme oxygenase isoforms-1 and -2 have similar O2 and CO binding properties. The O2 affinities are very high, KO2 = 30-80 microM-1, which is 30-90-fold greater than those of mammalian myoglobins. The O2 association rate constants are similar to those for myoglobins (kO2' = 7-20 microM-1 s-1), whereas the O2 dissociation rates are remarkably slow (kO2 = 0.25 s-1), implying the presence of very favorable interactions between bound O2 and protein residues in the heme pocket. The CO affinities estimated for both isoforms are only 1-6-fold higher than the corresponding O2 affinities. Thus, heme oxygenase discriminates much more strongly against CO binding than either myoglobin or hemoglobin. The CO binding reactions with the ferrous alpha-hydroxyheme complex are similar to those of the protoheme complex, and hydroxylation at the alpha-meso position does not appear to affect the reactivity of the iron atom. In contrast, the CO affinities of the verdoheme complexes are >10,000 times weaker than those of the heme complexes because of a 100-fold slower association rate constant (kCO' approximately 0. 004 microM-1 s-1) and a 300-fold greater dissociation rate constant (kCO approximately 3 s-1) compared with the corresponding rate constants of the protoheme and alpha-hydroxyheme complexes. The positive charge on the verdoporphyrin ring causes a large decrease in reactivity of the iron.

Substrate binding-induced changes in the EPR spectra of the ferrous nitric oxide complexes of neuronal nitric oxide synthase

A versatile diatomic physiological messenger, nitric oxide (NO), is biosynthesized by a group of flavo-heme enzymes, the nitric oxide synthases. We have examined the active site of the neuronal isoform by EPR spectroscopy of the ferrous nitric oxide complex. The nitric oxide complex of the substrate-free enzyme exhibits a cytochrome P450-type EPR spectrum typical of a hexacoordinate NO-heme complex with a non-nitrogenous proximal axial heme ligand. The NO complex of the substrate-free enzyme is rather unstable and spontaneously converts to a cytochrome P420 type pentacoordinate denatured form. Binding of L-arginine (l-Arg) enhances the stability of the hexacoordinate NO form. The EPR spectrum of the NO adduct of the enzyme-substrate complex has an increased g-anisotropy and well-resolved hyperfine couplings due to the 14N of nitric oxide. Significant perturbations in the NO EPR spectrum were observed upon Nomega-monomethyl-L-Arg and Nomega-hydroxy-L-Arg binding. The perturbations in the EPR spectrum indicate that L-Arg and its derivatives bind on the distal site of the heme in very close proximity to the bound NO to cause alterations in the heme-NO coordination structure. Interactions between the bound NO and the substrate or its analogues appear to affect the Fe-NO geometry, resulting in the observed spectral changes. We infer that analogous interactions with oxygen might be involved in the hydroxylation events during enzyme catalysis of nitric oxide synthase.

Histidine-132 does not stabilize a distal water ligand and is not an important residue for the enzyme activity in heme oxygenase-1

Heme oxygenase is a key enzyme in the oxygen-dependent heme catabolism pathway. In order to clarify the role of highly conserved His132 in heme oxygenase isoform-1, we have prepared 30 kDa truncated rat heme oxygenase mutants in which His132 has been replaced by Ala, Gly, and Ser. The expressed recombinant mutant proteins were isolated in inclusion bodies and were recovered from the lysis pellet by dissolution in urea followed by dialysis. The solubilized fraction obtained, however, was composed of a mixture of a functional enzyme and an inactive fraction. The inactive fraction was removed by Sephadex G-75 gel filtration column chromatography, as it eluted out of the column at the void volume. The gel filtration-purified heme oxygenase mutants have spectroscopic and enzymatic properties identical to those of wild type. The hemin complex of the H132A mutant exhibits a transition between a high-spin acid form and a low-spin alkaline form with a pKa value of 7.6 identical to that in the wild-type complex. These results demonstrate that His132 in heme oxygenase does not link to the coordinated water molecule and is not an essential residue for the enzyme activity. These results are in accordance with our previous preliminary results [Ito-Maki, M., Ishikawa, K., Mansfield Matera, K., Sato, M., Ikeda-Saito, M., & Yoshida, T. (1995) Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 317, 253-258] but contradict a recent report that His132 is the distal base linked to the coordinated water molecule and an important residue for enzyme catalysis [Wilks, A., Ortiz de Montellano, P. R., Sun, J., & Loehr, T. M. (1996) Biochemistry 35, 930-936]. Prolonged storage of the solubilized fraction from the inclusion bodies of the mutants, H132S in particular, results in an increase in the void volume fraction with a concomitant decrease of the 30 kDa fraction. We infer that His132 plays a structural role in stabilization of the heme oxygenase protein.

Electron paramagnetic resonance studies of highly anisotropic low-spin states of ferrimyoglobin derivatives

The effects of addition of nitrogenous bases, which gave low-spin ferric porphyrin complexes with highly anisotropic g values, were investigated for ferrimyoglobin by low-temperature EPR measurements. Concomitant denaturation of myoglobin upon addition of the exogenous bases was also of interest. By addition of pyridine-type bases under regulated pH, Mb(Fe3+) complexes showing EPR spectra with highly anisotropic g values were formed. These complexes have the electronic states close to the spin-crossover point but not so close as that of the ferric porphyrin highly anisotropic low-spin (HALS) complexes previously reported. Several types of low-spin species, LSi, LSa and LSb, were produced by the denaturation of myoglobin caused by addition of some exogenous ligands. The LSi was assigned to a complex with histidine-E7 coordinated on the sixth position and LSa to the one with OH- and histidine-F8[Im0].