Structure and catalytic mechanism of horseradish peroxidase. Regiospecific meso alkylation of the prosthetic heme group by alkylhydrazines

Horseradish peroxidase is inactivated in a time-, H2O2-, and concentration-dependent manner by phenylethyl-, ethyl-, and methylhydrazine. The pseudo- first order kinetic constants for these inactivation reactions at pH 7 are: phenylethyl (KI = 115 microM, kinact = 1.5 min-1, partition ratio = 11), ethyl (KI = 145 microM, kinact = 0.08 min-1, partition ratio = 32), and methyl (KI = 3000 microM, kinact = 0.12 min-1, partition ratio = 80). At pH 5, the constants for the phenylethyl reaction change to KI = 1540 microM and kinact = 0.86 min-1. A transient absorbance at approximately 830 nm, suggestive of an isoporphyrin intermediate, is seen during these reactions. The prosthetic heme is converted by each of the three alkylhydrazines into the corresponding delta-meso-alkylated heme. Complete inactivation of the enzymes by methyl-, ethyl-, and phenylethylhydrazine is associated with alkylation of 60-70, 70, and 90%, respectively, of the prosthetic heme groups. The absence of N-alkylation and the high specificity for the delta-meso position, even with agents as small as methylhydrazine, strengthen the proposal that electron abstraction is mediated by the heme edge rather than the ferryl oxygen of horseradish peroxidase.     

Metabolism-based covalent bonding of the heme prosthetic group to its apoprotein during the reductive debromination of BrCCl3 by myoglobin

The reductive metabolism of BrCCl3 by ferrous myoglobin leads to the alteration of the prosthetic heme to form products that can be dissociated from the protein and to those that are irreversibly bound to the protein. The major dissociable or soluble heme metabolites have recently been characterized. In this study, the irreversibly bound heme product was characterized by Edman degradation, amino acid analysis, and electronic absorption and mass spectrometry of peptides derived from the altered protein. It was found that the prosthetic heme was modified by a CCl2 moiety derived from BrCCl3 and was covalently bound to histidine residue 93, the normal proximal ligand to the heme-iron. The data are consistent with a mechanism by which the trichloromethyl radical reacts with the heme to form an intermediate that either can alkylate the proximal histidine residue or form soluble metabolites. The covalent bonding of the heme prosthetic moiety to the apoprotein likely leads to a change in the tertiary structure of the protein that may be responsible for its altered catalytic activity as well as its enhanced susceptibility to proteolysis. Similar processes may account, at least in part, for the covalent alteration of the heme prosthetic group of other hemoproteins caused by xenobiotics and endogenous substrates.     

The catalytic site of manganese peroxidase. Regiospecific addition of sodium azide and alkylhydrazines to the heme group.

Manganese peroxidase (MnP), which normally oxidizes Mn2+ to Mn3+, is rapidly and completely inactivated in an H2O2-dependent reaction by 2 equivalents of sodium azide. The inactivation is paralleled by formation of the azidyl radical and high yield conversion of the prosthetic heme into a meso-azido adduct. The meso-azido enzyme is oxidized by H2O2 to a Compound II-like species with the Soret band red-shifted 2 nm relative to that of native Compound II. The time-dependent decrease in this Compound II-like spectrum (t1/2 = 2.3 h) indicates that the delta-meso azido heme is more rapidly degraded by H2O2 than the prosthetic heme of control enzyme (t1/2 = 4.8 h). MnP is also inactivated by phenyl-, methyl-, and ethylhydrazine. The phenylhydrazine reaction is too rapid for kinetic analysis, but KI = 402 microM and kinact = 0.22/min for the slower inactivation by methylhydrazine. Reaction with phenylhydrazine at pH 4.5 does not yield iron-phenyl, N-phenyl, or meso-phenyl heme adducts. Ethylhydrazine inactivates the enzyme both at pH 4.5 and 7.0, but only detectably produces delta-meso-ethyl-heme at pH 7.0. Reconstitution of apo-MnP with hemin or delta-meso-ethylheme yields enzyme with, respectively, 50 and 5% of the native activity. The delta-meso-alkyl group thus suppresses most of the catalytic activity of the enzyme even though a Compound II-like species is still formed with H2O2. Finally, Co2+ inhibits the enzyme competitively with respect to Mn2+ but does not inhibit its inactivation by azide or the alkylhydrazines. The results argue that substrates interact with the heme edge in the vicinity of the delta-meso-carbon. They also suggest that Mn2+ and Co2+ bind to a common site close to the delta-meso-carbon without blocking the approach of small molecules to the heme edge. An active site model is proposed that accommodates these results.     

Etiohemin as a prosthetic group of myoglobin

Sperm whale myoglobin was reconstituted with etioheme and the stoichiometric complex formation was confirmed. The proton NMR spectrum of the deoxy myoglobin exhibits an NH signal from the proximal histidine at 78.6 ppm, indicating heme incorporation into the heme pocket to form the Fe-N(His-F8) bond. The appearance of a single set of the heme-methyl NMR signals shows that etioheme without acid side-chains specifically interacts with the surrounding globin. The visible spectral data suggest retention of a normal iron coordination structure. The functional and NMR spectral properties of etioheme myoglobin are similar to those of mesoheme myoglobin, reflecting the absence of the electron-withdrawing heme vinyl groups.     

Inactivation of myoglobin by ortho-substituted arylhydrazines. Formation of prosthetic heme aryl-iron but not N-aryl adducts

Stable phenyl-iron complexes are known to form in the reactions of myoglobin, hemoglobin, and catalase with phenylhydrazine. The phenyl moiety in these complexes migrates from the iron to a nitrogen of the porphyrin upon denaturation of the hemoproteins. Complexes obtained from myoglobin and ortho-substituted phenylhydrazines, however, are much less stable, have distinct chromophores, and do not yield N-arylporphyrins. These abnormal properties imply that the complexes differ in structure (e.g., they are aryldiazenyl-rather than aryl-iron complexes) or that ortho substitution strongly alters the chemistry of aryl-iron complexes. The present NMR studies unambiguously demonstrate that ortho-substituted phenylhydrazines give normal aryl-iron complexes but that the aryl group in these complexes is conformationally locked and is unable to shift from iron to nitrogen.     

Ligand binding to heme proteins: II. Transitions in the heme pocket of myoglobin.

Phenomena occurring in the heme pocket after photolysis of carbonmonoxymyoglobin (MbCO) below about 100 K are investigated using temperature-derivative spectroscopy of the infrared absorption bands of CO. MbCO exists in three conformations (A substrates) that are distinguished by the stretch bands of the bound CO. We establish connections among the A substates and the substates of the photoproduct (B substates) using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy together with kinetic experiments on MbCO solution samples at different pH and on orthorhombic crystals. There is no one-to-one mapping between the A and B substates; in some cases, more than one B substate corresponds to a particular A substate. Rebinding is not simply a reversal of dissociation; transitions between B substates occur before rebinding. We measure the nonequilibrium populations of the B substates after photolysis below 25 K and determine the kinetics of B substate transitions leading to equilibrium. Transitions between B substates occur even at 4 K, whereas those between A substates have only been observed above about 160 K. The transitions between the B substates are nonexponential in time, providing evidence for a distribution of substates. The temperature dependence of the B substate transitions implies that they occur mainly by quantum-mechanical tunneling below 10 K. Taken together, the observations suggest that the transitions between the B substates within the same A substate reflect motions of the CO in the heme pocket and not conformational changes. Geminate rebinding of CO to Mb, monitored in the Soret band, depends on pH. Observation of geminate rebinding to the A substates in the infrared indicates that the pH dependence results from a population shift among the substates and not from a change of the rebinding to an individual A substate.     

Structure and function of the myoglobin containing octaethylhemin as a prosthetic group

Spectrophotometric titration of ferric octaethylporphyrin (OEP) with apomyoglobin revealed their 1:1 complex formation. Proton NMR spectrum of the OEP-reconstituted deoxymyoglobin exhibits an exchangeable peak from the proximal F8 histidine at 78.5 ppm, indicating the incorporation of iron OEP into the heme cavity to form the Fe-N(His-F8) bond. OEP metmyoglobin without external ligand has an iron-bound water that deprotonates above pH 7.8. Affinities of the aquometmyoglobin for several ionic ligands were comparable with those of native metmyoglobin. Deoxy OEP myoglobin at 25 degrees C reversibly binds oxygen with an affinity of P50 = 0.8 mm Hg, which is similar to that of native protein. These results indicate that iron OEP serves as a prosthetic group for myoglobin with normal function, despite the significant structural and electronic difference between OEP and protoporphyrin. The unexpected functional similarity between native and OEP myoglobins was interpreted in terms of a structural perturbation at the heme distal site caused by introduction of bulky OEP into the heme pocket.     

Thermodynamic properties of the heme prosthetic group in assimilatory nitrate reductase

The oxidation-reduction midpoint potential for the heme prosthetic group present in assimilatory nitrate reductase from Chlorella vulgaris has been determined by optical potentiometric titrations in the presence of dye mediators. At pH 7, the midpoint potential was determined to be -160 mV and corresponds to a reversible n = 1 redox process. The midpoint potential was unaltered by the use of NADH as reductant, unaffected by the presence of NAD+, cytochrome c, phosphate, cyanide, or alkaline pH. In addition, the redox potential of the heme was independent of modifications to the enzyme such as substitution of the molybdenum center with tungsten, or cleavage and separation of the enzyme into its flavin and heme/molybdenum domains. In contrast, the midpoint potential increased on decreasing the pH yielding a pH dependence of approximately 20 mV/pH unit within the range 5.5 to 7, suggesting the presence of a single, redox-associated, ionizable functional group on the protein with pKox = 5.8 and pKred = 6.1. At pH 7 and within the range 12 to 38 degrees C, the midpoint potential of the heme decreased by approximately 1 mV/degree. Values for delta S0 and delta H0 were calculated to be -25.6 e.u. and -4.0 kcal/mol.     

Resonance Raman characterization of the heme prosthetic group in eosinophil peroxidase

The resonance-enhanced Raman spectrum of eosinophil peroxidase (EPO) from horse and human eosinophils is reported. Based upon the spectral energies, distribution and depolarization ratios of the high-frequency skeletal modes and upon the presence of weak bands assignable to vinyl substituent groups, we conclude that the heme prosthetic group is high-spin, 6 coordinate protoporphyrin. The Raman spectrum reveals clear differences from lactoperoxidase (LPO), an enzyme which appears nearly structurally isomorphous by other physical techniques; the data indicate a stronger axial 6th ligand in EPO. Mechanistic implications are discussed in relation to LPO and myeloperoxidase, an enzyme present in neutrophils and monocytes which contains a unique functional active-site chlorin.     

Yeast cytochrome c peroxidase. Coordination and spin states of heme prosthetic group

Electronic absorption and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopic examinations revealed that a freshly prepared cytochrome c peroxidase (CCP) contains a penta-coordinated high spin ferric protoheme group. The penta-coordinated high spin state of fresh CCP is maintained in a remarkably wide range of pH (4-8). The freezing of fresh CCP induces the reversible coordination of an internal strong field ligand to the heme iron to form a hexa-coordinated low spin compound, which shows EPR extrema at gx = 2.70, gy = 2.20 and gz = 1.78. In the presence of glycerol the freezing-induced artifacts are eliminated and the fresh enzyme exhibits an EPR spectrum of rhombically distorted axial symmetry with EPR extrema at gx = 6.4, gy = 5.3, and gz = 1.97 at 10 K, characteristic of the penta-coordinated high spin enzyme. Upon aging CCP is converted to a hexa-coordinated high spin state due to the coordination of an internal weak field ligand to the heme iron. This conversion is accelerated at acidic pH values, and its reversibility varies from fully reversible to irreversible depending on the degree of enzyme aging. The aging-induced hexa-coordinated CCP is unreactive with hydrogen peroxide and exhibits an EPR spectrum of purely axial symmetry with extrema at g = 6 and g = 2 and an electronic absorption spectrum with an intensified Soret band at 408 nm (epsilon 408 nm = 120 mM-1 cm-1) and a blue-shifted charge-transfer band at 620 nm. Spectroscopic properties of different coordination and spin states of fresh and aged CCPs are compiled in order to formulate a generalized spectroscopic characterization of penta- and hexa-coordinated high spin ferric hemoproteins.     

A novel derivative of the prosthetic group heme d1: S-methylporphyrindione d1.

Several derivatives of heme d1 have been characterized by ultraviolet-visible, NMR, and mass spectrometry. Most arise from side reactions during the isolation of d1 from the enzyme. One, however, has now been shown to correspond to the replacement of a meso proton by an S-methyl group. Since the porphyrin is not exposed to S-methyl-containing reagents during its isolation, this raises hypotheses that it has its origin in vivo.     

Covalent alteration of the prosthetic heme of human hemoglobin by BrCCl3. Cross-linking of heme to cysteine residue 93.

Recent studies have shown that a protein-bound heme adduct formed from the reaction of BrCCl3 with myoglobin was due to bonding of the proximal histidine residue through the ring I vinyl of a heme-CCl2 moiety. The present study reveals that BrCCl3 also reacts with the heme of reduced human hemoglobin to form two protein-bound heme adducts. Edman degradation and mass spectrometry provided evidence that these protein-bound heme adducts were addition products in which heme-CCL2 or heme-CCl3 were bound to cysteine residue 93 of the beta-chain of hemoglobin. It appeared that the cysteine residue was bonded regiospecifically to the ring I vinyl group of the altered heme moiety, because the nonprotein-bound products of the reaction included the beta-carboxyvinyl and alpha-hydroxy-beta-trichloromethylethyl derivatives of the ring I vinyl moiety of heme. The absorption spectra of the protein-bound adducts in both the oxidized and reduced states were highly similar to those described for hemichromes, which are thought to be involved in the formation of Heinz bodies and subsequent red cell lysis.     

Identification of the titrating group in the heme cavity of myoglobin. Evidence for the heme-protein pi-pi interaction

The pH dependence of the proton NMR chemical shifts of met-cyano and deoxy forms of native and reconstituted myoglobins reflects a structural transition in the heme pocket modulated by a single proton with pK 5.1-5.6. Comparison of this pH dependence of sperm whale and elephant myoglobin and that of the former protein reconstituted with esterified hemin eliminates both the distal histidine as well as the heme propionates as the titrating residue. Reconstitution of sperm whale met-cyano myoglobin with hemin modified at the 2,4-positions leads to a systematic variation in the pK for the structural transition, thus indicating the presence of a coupling between the titrating group and the heme pi system. The results are consistent with histidine FG3 (His-FG3) being the titrating group, and a donor-acceptor pi-pi interaction between its imidazole and the heme is proposed.     

Utilization of myoglobin as a heme source by Haemophilus influenzae requires binding of myoglobin to haptoglobin

Haemophilus influenzae has an absolute growth requirement for heme. One potential in vivo source of heme is the protein myoglobin which is found at low levels in human serum. No tested H. influenzae strain was able to use myoglobin as a heme source. However, all strains were able to utilize the heme from myoglobin when myoglobin was complexed with haptoglobin. Utilization of the haptoglobin-myoglobin complex was shown to be mediated by the previously described hemoglobin/hemoglobin-haptoglobin-binding proteins of H. influenzae.     

Copper(II) protoporphyrin IX as a reporter group for the heme environment in myoglobin.

Copper(II) protoporphyrin IX has been introduced into apomyoglobin, and its utility as a reporter group of the heme environment has been examined. The Soret and visible absorption bands and electron spin resonance spectrum show that the Cu(II) is five coordinate, probably through coordination to the F-8 proximal histidine. The resonance Raman spectrum does not indicate any appreciable distortion from the solution conformation of copper(II) protoporphyrin IX dimethyl ester in CS2. The ultraviolet circular dichroism shows no alteration of the helical content of the globin from that of metmyoglobin. The circular dichroism of the porphyrin transitions suggests that the packing of the amino acid side chains around the porphyrin is different than that in the native metmyoglobin.     

Spectroscopic characterization of heme A reconstituted myoglobin.

The focus of this study was to examine the functional role of the unusual peripheral substitution of heme A. The effects of heme A stereochemistry on the reconstitution of the porphyrin have been examined in the heme A-apo-myoglobin complex using optical absorption and resonance Raman and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopies. The addition of one equivalent of heme A to apo-Mb produces a complex which displays spectroscopic signals consistent with a distribution of high- and low-spin heme chromophores. These results indicate that the incorporation of heme A into apo-Mb significantly perturbs the protein refolding.     

Asp-225 and glu-375 in autocatalytic attachment of the prosthetic heme group of lactoperoxidase.

The heme in lactoperoxidase is attached to the protein by ester bonds between the heme 1- and 5-methyl groups and Glu-375 and Asp-275, respectively. To investigate the cross-linking process, we have examined the D225E, E375D, and D225E/E375D mutants of bovine lactoperoxidase. The heme in the E375D mutant is only partially covalently bound, but exposure to H(2)O(2) results in complete covalent binding and a fully active protein. Digestion of this mutant shows that the heme is primarily bound through its 5-methyl group. Excess H(2)O(2) increases the proportion of the doubly linked species without augmenting enzyme activity. The D225E mutant has little covalently bound heme and a much lower activity, neither of which are significantly increased by the addition of heme and H(2)O(2). The heme is linked to this protein through a single bond to the 1-methyl group. The D225E/E375D mutant has no covalently bound heme and no activity. A small amount of iron 1-hydroxymethylprotoporphyrin IX is obtained from the wild-type enzyme along with the predominant dihydroxylated derivative. The results establish that a single covalent link suffices to achieve maximum catalytic activity and suggest that the 5-hydroxymethyl bond may form before the 1-hydroxymethyl bond.     

Dynamic analysis of efficient heme rotation in myoglobin by NMR spectroscopy.

Sperm whale myoglobin was reconstituted with 1,4,5,8-tetramethylhemin. The hyperfine-shifted proton NMR signals from the prosthetic group exhibit remarkable pattern changes around 15 degrees C, while the globin resonances are normal to obey the Curie law. The NMR anomaly specifically observed for the heme signals suggests a slow to rapid rotational transition of the hemin about the iron-histidine bond. The temperature-dependent pattern changes were quantitatively analyzed by a dynamic NMR method. Two sets of analyses with the heme-methyl and pyrrole-proton lines consistently afforded delta H not equal to = 16.3 kcal/mol, delta S not equal to = 14.0 e.u., delta G not equal to = 12.1 kcal/mol at 298 K, and a frequency of 90 degrees heme rotation 5600 s-1 at 20 degrees C. The relatively large activation entropy suggests that structural rearrangements at the direct heme vicinity are involved and that efficient heme rotation is accomplished by a number of fluctuative local heme-globin contacts within a conserved crevice structure.     

Spectroscopic properties of a mitochondrial cytochrome C with a single thioether bond to the heme prosthetic group

The yeast iso-1-cytochrome c variant Cys14Ser has been prepared in which one of the two thioether bonds by which the heme prosthetic group is normally bound to the protein has been eliminated. Comparison of the properties of this variant with those of the wild-type cytochrome provides insight into the role of this covalent attachment of the heme group to the apo-protein toward the functional properties of the wild-type cytochrome. Although NMR and EPR spectra indicate that the Cys14Ser variant ferricytochrome adopts the native conformation characteristic of the wild-type protein with His18 and Met80 coordinated to the heme iron (Met80 epsilon-CH -23.6 ppm; g(z), g(y), g(x), at 3.01, 2.29, approximately 1.3, respectively), the electronic spectrum of the variant does not exhibit the 695 nm CT band that is characteristic of native ferricytochromes c with these axial ligands. Chromatographic and spectropolarimetric comparison of the variant and wild-type ferricytochromes suggests that the structure of the variant is more disordered, particularly in the region of the sole tryptophanyl residue (Trp59). Upon reduction, the electronic spectrum of the variant exhibits a symmetrically broadened alpha-band that is shifted approximately 3 nm to the ultraviolet relative to its position in the spectrum in the wild-type protein. In the MCD spectrum, a band appears above 390 nm that is more intense than the Soret A-term which is also shifted to lower energy.