3moo
Crystal structure of the HmuO, heme oxygenase from Corynebacterium diphtheriae, in complex with azide-bound verdoheme
Structural highlights
FunctionPublication Abstract from PubMedThe least understood mechanism during heme degradation by the enzyme heme oxygenase (HO) is the third step of ring opening of verdoheme to biliverdin, a process which maintains iron homeostasis. In response to this mechanistic uncertainty, we launched a combined study of X-ray crystallography and theoretical QM/MM calculations, designed to elucidate the mechanism. The air-sensitive ferrous verdoheme complex of HmuO, a heme oxygenase from Corynebacterium diphtheriae, was crystallized under anaerobic conditions. Spectral analysis of the azide-bound verdoheme-HmuO complex crystals assures that the verdoheme group remains intact during the crystallization and X-ray diffraction measurement. The structure offers the first solid evidence for the presence of a water cluster in the distal pocket of this catalytically critical intermediate. The subsequent QM/MM calculations based on this crystal structure explore the reaction mechanisms starting from the FeOOH-verdoheme and FeHOOH-verdoheme complexes, which mimic, respectively, the O(2)- and H(2)O(2)-supported degradations. In both mechanisms, the rate-determining step is the initial O-O bond breaking step, which is either homolytic (for FeHOOH-verdoheme) or coupled to electron and proton transfers (in FeOOH-verdoheme). Additionally, the calculations indicate that the FeHOOH-verdoheme complex is more reactive than the FeOOH-verdoheme complex in accord with experimental findings. QM energies with embedded MM charges are close to and yield the same conclusions as full QM/MM energies. Finally, the calculations highlight the dominant influence of the distal water cluster which acts as a biocatalyst for the conversion of verdoheme to biliverdin in the two processes, by fixing the departing OH and directing it to the requisite site of attack, and by acting as a proton shuttle and a haven for the highly reactive OH(-) nucleophile. Enzymatic ring-opening mechanism of verdoheme by the heme oxygenase: a combined X-ray crystallography and QM/MM study.,Lai W, Chen H, Matsui T, Omori K, Unno M, Ikeda-Saito M, Shaik S J Am Chem Soc. 2010 Sep 22;132(37):12960-70. PMID:20806922[1] From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. See AlsoReferences
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