Crystal structure of a laccase from Melanocarpus albomyces with an intact trinuclear copper site

We have crystallized the ascomycete laccase from Melanocarpus albomyces with all four coppers present and determined the crystal structure at 2.4 A resolution. The enzyme is heavily glycosylated and consists of three cupredoxin-like domains, similar to those found in the Cu-depleted basidiomycete laccase from Coprinus cinereus. However, there are significant differences in the loops forming the substrate-binding pocket. In addition, the crystal structure of the M. albomyces laccase revealed elongated electron density between all three coppers in the trinuclear copper site, suggesting that an oxygen molecule binds with a novel geometry. This oxygen, required in the reaction, may enter the trinuclear site through the tunnel, which is open in the structure of the C. cinereus laccase. In contrast, the C-terminus on the M. albomyces laccase forms a plug that blocks this access.     

Crystal structure of a laccase from the fungus Trametes versicolor at 1.90-A resolution containing a full complement of coppers

Laccase is a polyphenol oxidase, which belongs to the family of blue multicopper oxidases. These enzymes catalyze the one-electron oxidation of four reducing-substrate molecules concomitant with the four-electron reduction of molecular oxygen to water. Laccases oxidize a broad range of substrates, preferably phenolic compounds. In the presence of mediators, fungal laccases exhibit an enlarged substrate range and are then able to oxidize compounds with a redox potential exceeding their own. Until now, only one crystal structure of a laccase in an inactive, type-2 copper-depleted form has been reported. We present here the first crystal structure of an active laccase containing a full complement of coppers, the complete polypeptide chain together with seven carbohydrate moieties. Despite the presence of all coppers in the new structure, the folds of the two laccases are quite similar. The coordination of the type-3 coppers, however, is distinctly different. The geometry of the trinuclear copper cluster in the Trametes versicolor laccase is similar to that found in the ascorbate oxidase and that of mammalian ceruloplasmin structures, suggesting a common reaction mechanism for the copper oxidation and the O(2) reduction. In contrast to most blue copper proteins, the type-1 copper in the T. versicolor laccase has no axial ligand and is only 3-fold coordinated. Previously, a modest elevation of the redox potential was attributed to the lack of an axial ligand. Based on the present structural data and sequence comparisons, a mechanism is presented to explain how laccases could tune their redox potential by as much as 200 mV.     

Probing the dioxygen route in Melanocarpus albomyces laccase with pressurized xenon gas

Laccases catalyze the oxidation of phenolic substrates and the concominant reduction of dioxygen to water. We used xenon as an oxygen probe in search of routes for the entry of dioxygen into the catalytic center. Two xenon-pressurized crystal structures of recombinant Melanocarpus albomyces laccase were determined, showing three hydrophobic Xe-binding sites located in domain C. The analysis of hydrophobic cavities in other laccase structures further suggested the preference of domain C for binding of hydrophobic species such as dioxygen, thus suggesting that the hydrophobic core of domain C could function as a channel through which dioxygen can enter the trinuclear copper center.     

Myrothecium verrucaria bilirubin oxidase and its mutants for potential copper ligands

Bilirubin oxidase (EC:1.3.3.5) purified from a culture medium of Myrothecium verrucaria MT-1 (authentic enzyme) catalyzes the oxidation of bilirubin to biliverdin in vitro and recombinant enzyme (wild type) was obtained by using an overexpression system of the bilirubin oxidase gene with Aspergillus oryzae harboring an expression vector. The absorption and ESR spectra showed that both bilirubin oxidases are multicopper oxidases containing type 1, type 2, and type 3 coppers similar to laccase, ascorbate oxidase, and ceruloplasmin. Site-directed mutagenesis has been performed for the possible ligands of each type of copper. In some mutants, Cys457 --> Val, Ala, His94 --> Val, and His134.136 --> Val, type 1 and type 2 copper centers were perturbed completely and the enzyme activity was completely lost. Differing from the holoenzyme, these mutants showed type 3 copper signals. However, the optical and magnetic properties characteristic of type 1 copper were retained even by mutating one of the type 1 copper ligands, i.e., a mutant, Met467 --> Gly, showed a weak but apparent enzyme activity. A double mutant His456.458 --> Val had only type 1 Cu, showing a blue band at 600 nm (epsilon = 1.6 x 10(3)) and an ESR signal with very narrow hyperfine splitting (A parallel = 7.2 x 10(-)3 cm-1). Since the type 2 and type 3 coppers are not present, the mutant did not show enzyme activity. These results strongly imply that the peculiar sequence in bilirubin oxidase, His456-Cys457-His458, forms an intramolecular electron-transfer pathway between the type 1 copper site and the trinuclear center composed of the type 2 and type 3 copper sites.     

Substrate and dioxygen binding to the endospore coat laccase from Bacillus subtilis

The CotA laccase from the endospore coat of Bacillus subtilis has been crystallized in the presence of the non-catalytic co-oxidant 2,2'-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonate) (ABTS), and the structure was determined using synchrotron radiation. The binding site for this adduct is well defined and indicates how ABTS, in conjunction with laccases, could act as an oxidative mediator toward non-phenolic moieties. In addition, a dioxygen moiety is clearly defined within the solvent channel oriented toward one of the T3 copper atoms in the trinuclear center.     

Spectroscopic and kinetic studies on the oxygen-centered radical formed during the four-electron reduction process of dioxygen by Rhus vernicifera laccase.

The oxygen-centered radical bound to the trinuclear copper center was detected as an intermediate during the reoxidation process of the reduced Rhus vernicifera laccase with dioxygen and characterized by using absorption, stopped-flow, and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopies and by super conducting quantum interface devices measurement. The intermediate bands appeared at 370 nm (epsilon approximately 1000), 420 nm (sh), and 670 nm (weak) within 15 ms, and were observable for approximately 2 min at pH 7.4 but for less than 5 s at pH 4.2. The first-order rate constant for the decay of the intermediate has been determined by stopped-flow spectroscopy, showing the isotope effect, k(H)/k(D) of 1.4 in D(2)O. The intermediate was found to decay mainly from the protonated form by analyzing pH dependences. The enthalpy and entropy of activation suggested that a considerable structure change takes place around the active site during the decay of the intermediate. The EPR spectra at cryogenic temperatures (<27 K) showed two broad signals with g approximately 1.8 and 1.6 depending on pH. We propose an oxygen-centered radical in magnetic interaction with the oxidized type III copper ions as the structure of the three-electron reduced form of dioxygen.     

Oxidation of reduced cucumber ascorbate oxidase

Reoxidation process of reduced cucumber ascorbate oxidase (1.10.3.3) with dioxygen was investigated in detail through absorption, circular dichroic (CD) and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra. One of the three type I coppers and the type II copper were reoxidized more rapidly than other type I coppers. The principal active site of ascorbate oxidase was considered to be comprised of one type I, one type II and a pair of type III coppers similarly to the active sites in laccase and ceruloplasmin. Remaining two type I and a pair of type III coppers were also disclosed to contribute to the oxidation of L-ascorbate.     

Crystal structure of a blue laccase from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Lentinus tigrinus</Emphasis>: evidences for intermediates in the molecular oxygen reductive splitting by multicopper oxidases

Background  

Laccases belong to multicopper oxidases, a widespread class of enzymes implicated in many oxidative functions in pathogenesis, immunogenesis and morphogenesis of organisms and in the metabolic turnover of complex organic substances. They catalyze the coupling between the four one-electron oxidations of a broad range of substrates with the four-electron reduction of dioxygen to water. These catalytic processes are made possible by the contemporaneous presence of at least four copper ion sites, classified according to their spectroscopic properties: one type 1 (T1) site where the electrons from the reducing substrates are accepted, one type 2 (T2), and a coupled binuclear type 3 pair (T3) which are assembled in a T2/T3 trinuclear cluster where the electrons are transferred to perform the O₂ reduction to H₂O.     

Point mutations at the type I Cu ligands, Cys457 and Met467, and at the putative proton donor, Asp105, in Myrothecium verrucaria bilirubin oxidase and reactions with dioxygen

The type I Cu site in the Cys457Ser mutant of Myrothecium verrucaria bilirubin oxidase was vacant, but the trinuclear center composed of a type II Cu and a pair of type III Cu's was fully occupied by three Cu ions. Cys457Ser could react with dioxygen, affording reaction intermediate I with absorption maxima at 340, 470, and 675 nm. This intermediate corresponds to that obtained from laccase, whose type I Cu is cupric and type II and III Cu's are cuprous [Zoppellaro, G., Sakurai, T., and Huang, H. (2001) J. Biochem. 129, 949-953] or whose type I Cu is substituted with Hg [Palmer, A. E., Lee, S. K., and Solomon, E. I. (2001) J. Am. Chem. Soc. 123, 6591-6599]. Another type I Cu mutant, Met467Gln, with modified spectroscopic properties and redox potential, afforded reaction intermediate II with absorption maxima at 355 and 450 nm. This intermediate corresponds to that obtained during the reaction of laccase [Sundaram, U. M., Zhang, H. H., Hedman, B., Hodgson, K. O., and Solomon, E. I. (1997) J. Am. Chem. Soc. 119, 12525-12540; Huang, H., Zoppellaro, G., and Sakurai, T. (1999) J. Biol. Chem. 274, 32718-32724]. According to a three-dimensional model of bilirubin oxidase, Asp105 is positioned near the trinuclear center. Asp105Glu and Asp105Ala exhibited 46 and 7.5% bilirubin oxidase activity compared to the wild-type enzyme, respectively, indicating that Asp105 conserved in all multi-copper oxidases donates a proton to reaction intermediates I and II. In addition, this amino acid might be involved in the formation of the trinuclear center and in the binding of dioxygen based on the difficulties in incorporating four Cu ions in Asp105Ala and Asp105Asn and their reactions with dioxygen.     

Four-electron Reduction of Dioxygen by a Multicopper Oxidase, CueO, and Roles of Asp112 and Glu506 Located Adjacent to the Trinuclear Copper Center

The mechanism of the four-electron reduction of dioxygen by a multicopper oxidase, CueO, was studied based on reactions of single and double mutants with Cys⁵⁰⁰, a type I copper ligand, and the noncoordinating Asp¹¹² and Glu⁵⁰⁶, which form hydrogen bonds with the trinuclear copper center directly and indirectly via a water molecule. The reaction of C500S containing a vacant type I copper center produced intermediate I in an EPR-silent peroxide-bound form. The formation of intermediate I from C500S/D112N was restricted due to a reduction in the affinity of the trinuclear copper center for dioxygen. The state of intermediate I was realized to be the resting form of C500S/E506Q and C500S of the truncated mutant Δα5–7CueO, in which the 50 amino acids covering the substrate-binding site were removed. Reactions of the recombinant CueO and E506Q afforded intermediate II, a fully oxidized form different from the resting one, with a very broad EPR signal, g < 2, detectable only at cryogenic temperatures and unsaturated with high power microwaves. The lifetime of intermediate II was prolonged by the mutation at Glu⁵⁰⁶ involved in the donation of protons. The structure of intermediates I and II and the mechanism of the four-electron reduction of dioxygen driven by Asp¹¹² and Glu⁵⁰⁶ are discussed.CueO is a multicopper oxidase involved in a copper efflux system of Escherichia coli (1–3). In contrast to other multicopper oxidases such as laccase and ascorbate oxidase (4), CueO exhibits strong activity toward cuprous ion but does not show activity toward most organic substrates such as 2,6-dimethoxyphenol, catechol, and guaiacol, except considerably low levels toward 2,2′-azinobis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS)² and p-phenylenediamine. This substrate specificity, unique to CueO, originates in the methionine-rich helical region covering the substrate-binding site (5–7). Nevertheless, CueO has the same catalytic copper centers as other multicopper oxidases: a type I copper that mediates electron transfer and a trinuclear copper center comprised of a type II copper and a pair of type III copper atoms, where dioxygen is reduced to two water molecules (5, 7). The type I copper is responsible for the intense charge transfer band at 610 nm due to Cys(S^-)_π → Cu²⁺ and the bands at 430, ∼500, and ∼750 nm due to the charge transfers His(N) → Cu²⁺ and Cys(S^-)_σ → Cu²⁺ and d-d transitions, respectively (4). The type III copper atoms bridged with a hydroxide ion afford an intense charge transfer band, OH^- → Cu²⁺ at ∼330 nm, whereas the type II copper does not give a conspicuous band in the visible region. The type I and II coppers give rise to EPR signals with the hyperfine splitting of small (6.7 milliteslas (mT)) and normal (18.5 mT) magnitudes, respectively, whereas the type III copper atoms are EPR-silent because of the strong anti-ferromagnetic interaction (7–9).Special attention has been paid to the four-electron reduction of dioxygen by multicopper and terminal oxidases because activated oxygen species such as superoxide, peroxide, etc. are not formed or, if formed, are effectively converted into water molecules without damage to protein molecules. Therefore, this four-electron reduction of dioxygen by multicopper oxidases has been expected to be applicable to biofuel cells (10–12). Two reaction intermediates have been detected during reactions of some multicopper oxidases. One of them, intermediate I, could be trapped by the following modified multicopper oxidases so as to interrupt the electron transfer from the type I copper: a plant laccase whose type I copper was substituted with mercury (13); a mixed valent laccase in which the type I copper was oxidized, but the trinuclear copper center was reduced (14); and a Cys → Ser mutant of bilirubin oxidase (15) and Fet3p (16) whose type I copper center became vacant. Although the trinuclear copper center must be fully reduced to produce intermediate I, it has been considered to be a two-electron reduced form and, therefore, also called the peroxide intermediate (13, 16). Another reaction intermediate, II, also called the native intermediate, has been detected at the final stage of a single turnover (15, 17–19). Four electrons have already been transferred to dioxygen in this intermediate, and accordingly, intermediate II is in a fully oxidized form to give the g < 2 EPR signal at cryogenic temperatures. Under catalytic conditions, intermediate II is not detected because of its prompt conversion to the fully reduced form for the next enzyme cycle without decaying to the resting form. Both intermediates have a half-life in the order of seconds to minutes, but information to directly show their structures has not been obtained yet. They afford analogous absorption bands at ∼330–350, 450–470, and 680 nm, of which the former two bands have been assigned to the charge transfer from a certain oxygen group to Cu²⁺ (σ and π transitions) and the latter to the d-d transitions of the trinuclear copper center in the cupric state. The d-d transitions of intermediate II are masked by strong absorption due to the oxidized type I copper (13–19).In the present study, we succeeded in trapping intermediates I and II from reactions of a recombinant form of CueO (rCueO) and mutants altered at Cys⁵⁰⁰, a ligand to the type I copper, and at Asp¹¹² and Glu⁵⁰⁶ located adjacent to the trinuclear copper center to modify the dioxygen reduction process. The Asp residue is conserved in every multicopper oxidase except for ceruloplasmin, which has Glu instead (Fig. 1). According to the x-ray crystal structures of rCueO (5) and the truncated mutant, Δα5–7CueO, missing the 50 amino acids covering the substrate-binding site (Fig. 2) (7, 20), Asp¹¹² forms a hydrogen bond with His⁴⁴⁸, a ligand to a type III copper, and indirectly with the water molecule coordinating the type II copper through an ordered water molecule. In a preliminary study on the Asp¹¹² mutants (21), we showed that this acidic amino acid functions in the binding of dioxygen at the trinuclear copper center and may also be involved in the donation of protons to the reaction intermediate(s). On the other hand, one to three acidic amino acids are present in the spacers to connect the copper ligands of multicopper oxidases, His-Cys-His-XXX-His-XXXX-Met-(Leu/Phe). Fig. 2 shows that Glu⁵⁰⁶ of CueO in this spacer is directly hydrogen-bonded with the His¹⁴³ ligand to one of the type III copper atoms and indirectly with the hydroxide ion bridged between the type III copper atoms through an ordered water molecule. Therefore, Glu⁵⁰⁶ is also speculated to play a crucial role in the reduction of dioxygen. We singly and doubly mutated Cys⁵⁰⁰, Asp¹¹², and Glu⁵⁰⁶ of CueO to trap intermediates I and II and to elucidate the mechanism behind the four-electron reduction of dioxygen.Open in a separate windowFIGURE 1.Homology of amino acid sequence around the copper binding sites of multicopper oxidase. The numbers 1, 2, and 3 represent the type I, II, and III copper ligands, respectively. BO, Myrothecium verrucaria bilirubin oxidase; RvLc, Rhus vernicifera laccase; CpAO, Cucurbita pepo ascorbate oxidase; TvLc, Trametes versicolor laccase; CcLc, Coprinus cinereus laccase; Fet3p, multicopper oxidase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae; CumA, multicopper oxidase from Pseudomonas putida; CotA, multicopper oxidase from Bacillus subtilis; SLAC, small laccase from Streptomyces coelicolor; hCp, human ceruloplasmin. The single asterisk represents the conserved acidic amino acid residue in all multicopper oxidases, and the double asterisk represents Glu⁵⁰⁶ in CueO, which forms a hydrogen bond with a His residue coordinating a type III copper and the hydroxide ion bridged between type III coppers.Open in a separate windowFIGURE 2.Structure around the active site of the truncated mutant of CueO (7). Type I, II, and III coppers are represented as spheres. Small spheres, oxygen atoms. The two networks of hydrogen bonds lead to the exterior of the protein molecule, forming the pathway to let protons in and water molecules out. Mutated amino acid residues, Cys⁵⁰⁰, Glu⁵⁰⁶, and Asp¹¹², and the networks of hydrogen bonds are indicated.     

Discrete roles of copper ions in chemical unfolding of human ceruloplasmin

Human ceruloplasmin (CP) is a multicopper oxidase essential for normal iron homeostasis. The protein has six beta-barrel domains with one type 1 copper in each of domains 2, 4, and 6; the remaining copper ions form a catalytic trinuclear cluster, one type 2 and two type 3 coppers, at the interface between domains 1 and 6. We have characterized urea-induced unfolding of holo- and apo-forms of CP by far-UV circular dichroism, intrinsic fluorescence, 8-anilinonaphthalene-1-sulfonic acid binding, visible absorption, copper content, and oxidase activity probes (pH 7, 23 degrees C). We find that holo-CP unfolds in a complex reaction with at least one intermediate. The formation of the intermediate correlates with decreased secondary structure, exposure of aromatics, loss of two coppers, and reduced oxidase activity; this step is reversible, indicating that the trinuclear cluster remains intact. Further additions of urea trigger complete protein unfolding and loss of all coppers. Attempts to refold this species result in an inactive apoprotein with molten-globule characteristics. The apo-form of CP also unfolds in a multistep reaction, albeit the intermediate appears at a slightly lower urea concentration. Again, correct refolding is possible from the intermediate but not the unfolded state. Our study demonstrates that in vitro equilibrium unfolding of CP involves intermediates and that the copper ions are removed in stages. When the catalytic site is finally destroyed, refolding is not possible at neutral pH. This implies a mechanistic role for the trinuclear metal cluster as a nucleation point, aligning domains 1 and 6, during CP folding in vivo.     

Crystal structure of a bacterial endospore coat component. A laccase with enhanced thermostability properties

Endospores produced by the Gram-positive soil bacterium Bacillus subtilis are shielded by a proteinaceous coat formed by over 30 structural components, which self-assemble into a lamellar inner coat and a thicker striated electrodense outer coat. The 65-kDa CotA protein is an abundant component of the outer coat layer. CotA is a highly thermostable laccase, assembly of which into the coat is required for spore resistance against hydrogen peroxide and UV light. Here, we report the structure of CotA at 1.7-A resolution, as determined by x-ray crystallography. This is the first structure of an endospore coat component, and also the first structure of a bacterial laccase. The overall fold of CotA comprises three cupredoxin-like domains and includes one mononuclear and one trinuclear copper center. This arrangement is similar to that of other multicopper oxidases and most similar to that of the copper tolerance protein CueO of Escherichia coli. However, the three cupredoxin domains in CotA are further linked by external interdomain loops, which increase the packing level of the structure. We propose that these interdomain loops contribute to the remarkable thermostability of the enzyme, but our results suggest that additional factors are likely to play a role. Comparisons with the structure of other monomeric multicopper oxidases containing four copper atoms suggest that CotA may accept the largest substrates of any known laccase. Moreover, and unlike other laccases, CotA appears to have a flexible lidlike region close to the substrate-binding site that may mediate substrate accessibility. The implications of these findings for the properties of CotA, its assembly and the properties of the bacterial spore coat structure are discussed.     

Mechanisms underlying dioxygen reduction in laccases. Structural and modelling studies focusing on proton transfer

Background  

Laccases are enzymes that couple the oxidation of substrates with the reduction of dioxygen to water. They are the simplest members of the multi-copper oxidases and contain at least two types of copper centres; a mononuclear T1 and a trinuclear that includes two T3 and one T2 copper ions. Substrate oxidation takes place at the mononuclear centre whereas reduction of oxygen to water occurs at the trinuclear centre.     

Iodide oxidation by a novel multicopper oxidase from the alphaproteobacterium strain Q-1

Alphaproteobacterium strain Q-1 is able to oxidize iodide (I(-)) to molecular iodine (I(2)) by an oxidase-like enzyme. One of the two isoforms of the iodide-oxidizing enzyme (IOE-II) produced by this strain was excised from a native polyacrylamide gel, eluted, and purified. IOE-II appeared as a single band (51 kDa) and showed significant in-gel iodide-oxidizing activity in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis without heat treatment. However, at least two bands with much higher molecular masses (150 and 230 kDa) were observed with heat treatment (95°C, 3 min). IOE-II was inhibited by NaN(3), KCN, EDTA, and a copper chelator, o-phenanthroline. In addition to iodide, IOE-II showed significant activities toward phenolic compounds such as syringaldazine, 2,6-dimethoxy phenol, and p-phenylenediamine. IOE-II contained copper atoms as prosthetic groups and had UV/VIS absorption peaks at 320 and 590 nm. Comparison of several internal amino acid sequences obtained from trypsin-digested IOE-II with a draft genome sequence of strain Q-1 revealed that the products of two open reading frames (IoxA and IoxC), with predicted molecular masses of 62 and 71 kDa, are involved in iodide oxidation. Furthermore, subsequent tandem mass spectrometric analysis repeatedly detected peptides from IoxA and IoxC with high sequence coverage (32 to 40%). IoxA showed homology with the family of multicopper oxidases and included four copper-binding regions that are highly conserved among various multicopper oxidases. These results suggest that IOE-II is a multicopper oxidase and that it may occur as a multimeric complex in which at least two proteins (IoxA and IoxC) are associated.     

The structure of Rigidoporus lignosus Laccase containing a full complement of copper ions, reveals an asymmetrical arrangement for the T3 copper pair

Laccase is a multicopper blue oxidase that couples the four-electron reduction of oxygen with the oxidation of a broad range of organic substrates, including phenols and arylamines. The enzyme is the object of intense biotechnological research, due to its employment in bioremediation of soils and water as well as in other biotechnological applications. We report here the cDNA and protein sequences, the post-translational modifications, the crystallization and X-ray structure determination of a laccase from the white-rot fungus Rigidoporus lignosus. The amino acid residues sequence deduced from cDNA clearly identified a pre-sequence of 21 residues representing the signal for extra-cellular localization. Mass spectrometry analysis performed on the salvage enzyme, confirmed the deduced sequence and precisely mapped two glycosylation sites at Asn337 and Asn435, determining the nature of the bound glycosidic moieties. The crystal structure was determined at 1.7A resolution from perfectly hemihedrally twinned crystals, by molecular replacement technique. While the overall structure closely resembled those reported for other fungal laccases, the analysis of the T2/T3 trinuclear cluster revealed an unprecedented coordination sphere for the T3 copper pair. No bridging oxygen ligand was present between the two T3 copper ions, which were no longer symmetrically coordinated. The observed structure could represent an intermediate along the process of four-electron reduction of oxygen to water taking place at the trinuclear copper cluster.     

Redox potentials of the blue copper sites of bilirubin oxidases

The redox potentials of the multicopper redox enzyme bilirubin oxidase (BOD) from two organisms were determined by mediated and direct spectroelectrochemistry. The potential of the T1 site of BOD from the fungus Myrothecium verrucaria was close to 670 mV, whereas that from Trachyderma tsunodae was >650 mV vs. NHE. For the first time, direct electron transfer was observed between gold electrodes and BODs. The redox potentials of the T2 sites of both BODs were near 390 mV vs. NHE, consistent with previous finding for laccase and suggesting that the redox potentials of the T2 copper sites of most blue multicopper oxidases are similar, about 400 mV.     

Crystal structure of the multicopper oxidase from the pathogenic bacterium Campylobacter jejuni CGUG11284: characterization of a metallo-oxidase

Multicopper oxidases are a multi-domain family of enzymes that are able to couple oxidation of substrates with reduction of dioxygen to water. These enzymes are capable of oxidizing a vast range of substrates, varying from aromatic to inorganic compounds such as metals. This metallo-oxidase activity observed in several members of this family has been linked to mechanisms of homeostasis in different organisms. Recently, a periplasmic multicopper oxidase, encoded by Campylobacter jejuni, has been characterised and associated with copper homeostasis and with the protection against oxidative stress as it may scavenge metallic ions into their less toxic form and also inhibit the formation of radical oxygen species. In order to contribute to the understanding of its functional role, the crystal structure of the recombinant McoC (Campylobacter jejuni CGUG11284) has been determined at 1.95 ? resolution and its structural and biochemical characterizations undertaken. The results obtained indicate that McoC has the characteristic fold of a laccase having, besides the catalytic centres, another putative binding site for metals. Indeed, its biochemical and enzymatic characterization shows that McoC is essentially a metallo-oxidase, showing low enzymatic efficiency towards phenolic substrates.     

Unfolding pathway of CotA-laccase and the role of copper on the prevention of refolding through aggregation of the unfolded state

Copper is a redox-active metal and the main player in electron transfer reactions occurring in multicopper oxidases. The role of copper in the unfolding pathway and refolding of the multicopper oxidase CotA laccase in vitro was solved using double-jump stopped-flow experiments. Unfolding of apo- and holo-CotA was described as a three-state process with accumulation of an intermediate in between the native and unfolded state. Copper stabilizes the native holo-CotA but also the intermediate state showing that copper is still bound to this state. Also, copper binds to unfolded holo-CotA in a non-native coordination promoting CotA aggregation and preventing refolding to the native structure. These results gather information on unfolding/folding pathways of multicopper oxidases and show that copper incorporation in vivo should be a tight controlled process as copper binding to the unfolded state under native conditions promotes protein aggregation.     

Spectroscopic characterization and O2 reactivity of the trinuclear Cu cluster of mutants of the multicopper oxidase Fet3p

Fet3p is a multicopper oxidase that uses four copper ions (one type 1, one type 2, and one type 3 binuclear site) to couple substrate oxidation to the reduction of O(2) to H(2)O. The type 1 Cu site shuttles electrons between the substrate and the type 2/type 3 Cu sites which form a trinuclear Cu cluster that is the active site for O(2) reduction. This study extends the spectroscopic and reactivity studies that have been conducted with type 1-substituted Hg (T1Hg) laccase to Fet3p and a mutant of Fet3p in which the trinuclear Cu cluster is perturbed. To examine the reaction between the trinuclear Cu cluster and O(2), the type 1 Cu Cys(484) was mutated to Ser, resulting in a type 1-depleted (T1D) form of the enzyme. Additional His to Gln mutations were made at the trinuclear cluster to further probe specific contributions to reactivity. One of these mutants (His(126)Gln) produces the first stable but perturbed trinuclear Cu cluster (T1DT3' Fet3p). Spectroscopic characterization (absorption, circular dichroism, magnetic circular dichroism, and electron paramagnetic resonance) of the resting trinuclear sites in T1D and T1DT3' Fet3p reveal that the His(126)Gln mutation changes the electronic structure of both the type 3 and type 2 Cu sites. The trinuclear clusters in T1D and T1DT3' Fet3p react with O(2) to produce peroxide intermediates analogous to that observed in T1Hg laccase. Spectroscopic data on the peroxide intermediates in the three forms provide further insight into the structure of this intermediate. In T1D Fet3p, the decay of this peroxide intermediate is pH-dependent, and the rate of decay is 10-fold higher at low pH. In T1DT3' Fet3p, the decay of the peroxide intermediate is pH-independent and is slow at all pH's. This change in the pH dependence provides new insight into the mechanism of intermediate decay involving reductive cleavage of the O-O bond.     

An investigation on reduction process of cucumber ascorbate oxidase

Reduction process of cucumber ascorbate oxidase with L-ascorbate was investigated in detail through absorption and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra under anaerobic condition. One of the three type I coppers (the type I copper which is oxidized rapidly (Sakurai, T. et al. (1985) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 131, 647-652)) and a pair of type III coppers only which contribute to the absorption at 330 nm were reduced faster than other two type I and the other pair of type III coppers, respectively. The principal active site of ascorbate oxidase was confirmed to be comprised of one type I, one type II and a pair of type III coppers. Type II copper seemed to be reduced after all type I and type III coppers have been reduced.