CYP121, the cytochrome P450 enzyme in that catalyzes a single intramolecular C-C cross-linking reaction in the biosynthesis of mycocyclosin, is crucial for the viability of this pathogen. This C-C coupling reaction represents an expansion of the activities carried out by P450 enzymes distinct from oxygen insertion. Although the traditional mechanism for P450 enzymes has been well studied, it is unclear whether CYP121 follows the general P450 mechanism or uses a different catalytic strategy for generating an iron-bound oxidant. To gain mechanistic insight into the CYP121-catalyzed reaction, we tested the peroxide shunt pathway by using rapid kinetic techniques to monitor the enzyme activity with its substrate dicyclotyrosine (cYY) and observed the formation of the cross-linked product mycocyclosin by LC-MS. In stopped-flow experiments, we observed that cYY binding to CYP121 proceeds in a two-step process, and EPR spectroscopy indicates that the binding induces active site reorganization and uniformity. Using rapid freeze-quenching EPR, we observed the formation of a high-spin intermediate upon the addition of peracetic acid to the enzyme-substrate complex. This intermediate exhibits a high-spin ( = 5/2) signal with g values of 2.00, 5.77, and 6.87. Likewise, iodosylbenzene could also produce mycocyclosin, implicating compound I as the initial oxidizing species. Moreover, we also demonstrated that CYP121 performs a standard peroxidase type of reaction by observing substrate-based radicals. On the basis of these results, we propose plausible free radical-based mechanisms for the C-C bond coupling reaction.

Hydrocarbon oxidations by bio-inspired nonheme iron catalysts and H2O2 have been proposed to involve an Fe(III)-OOH intermediate that decays via a water-assisted mechanism to form an Fe(V)(O)(OH) oxidant. Herein we report kinetic evidence for this pathway in the oxidation of 1-octene catalyzed by [Fe(II)(TPA)(NCCH3)](2+) (1, TPA = tris(2-pyridylmethyl)amine). The (TPA)Fe(III)(OOH) intermediate 2 can be observed at -40 °C and is found to undergo first-order decay, which is accelerated by water. Interestingly, the decay rate of 2 is comparable to that of product formation, indicating that the decay of 2 results in olefin oxidation. Furthermore, the Eyring activation parameters for the decay of 2 and product formation are identical, and both processes are associated with an H2O/D2O KIE of 2.5. Taken together with previous (18)O-labeling data, these results point to a water-assisted heterolytic O-O bond cleavage of 2 as the rate-limiting step in olefin oxidation.

Homoprotocatechuate (HPCA) 2,3-dioxygenase from Brevibacterium fuscum (Fe-HPCD) has an Fe(II) center in its active site that can be replaced with Mn(II) or Co(II). While Mn-HPCD exhibits steady state kinetic parameters comparable to those of Fe-HPCD, Co-HPCD behaves somewhat differently exhibiting a significantly higher KMO2 and kcat. The high activity of Co-HPCD is surprising, given that cobalt has the highest standard M(III/II) redox potential of the three metals. Comparison of the X-ray crystal structures of the resting and substrate-bound forms of Fe-, Mn-, and Co-HPCD shows that metal-substitution has no effect on the local ligand environment, the conformational integrity of the active site, or the overall protein structure, suggesting that the protein structure does not differentially tune the potential of the metal center. Analysis of the steady state kinetics of Co-HPCD suggests that the Co(II) center alters the relative rate constants for the interconversion of intermediates in the catalytic cycle but still allows the dioxygenase reaction to proceed efficiently. When compared with the kinetic data for Fe- and Mn-HPCD, these results show that dioxygenase catalysis can proceed at high rates over a wide range of metal redox potentials. This is consistent with the proposed mechanism in which the metal mediates electron transfer between the catechol substrate and O2 to form the postulated [M(II)(semiquinone)superoxo] reactive species. These kinetic differences and the spectroscopic properties of Co-HPCD provide new tools with which to explore the unique O2 activation mechanism associated with the extradiol dioxygenase family.

The first example for an O2 adduct of an active Co-substituted oxygenase is observed in the extradiol ring cleavage of the electron-poor substrate 4-nitrocatechol (4NC) by Co(II)-homoprotocatechuate 2,3-dioxygenase (Co-HPCD). Upon O2 binding to the high-spin Co(II) (S = 3/2) enzyme-substrate complex, an S = 1/2 EPR signal is observed exhibiting 59Co hyperfine splitting (A = 24 G) typical of a low-spin Co(III)-superoxide complex. Both formation and decay of the new intermediate are very slow in comparison to the analogous steps for turnover of 4NC by native high-spin Fe(II)-HPCD, which is likely to remain high-spin upon O2 binding. A similar, but effectively stable, S = 1/2 intermediate is formed by the inactive [H200N-Co-HPCD(4NC)] variant. The observations presented shed light on the key roles played by the substrate, the second-sphere His200 residue, and the spin state of the metal center in facilitating O2 binding and activation.

Extradiol catechol ring-cleaving dioxygenases function by binding both the organic substrate and O2 at a divalent metal center in the active site. They have proven to be a particularly versatile group of enzymes with which to study the O2 activation process. Here, recent studies of homoprotocatechuate 2,3-dioxygenase (HPCD) are summarized with the objective of showing how Nature can utilize the enzyme structure and the properties of the metal and the substrate to select among many possible chemical paths to achieve both specificity and efficiency. Possible intermediates in the mechanism have been trapped by swapping active site metals, introducing active site amino acid substituted variants, and using substrates with different electron donating capacities. While each of these intermediates could form part of a viable reaction pathway, kinetic measurements significantly limit the likely candidates. Structural, kinetic, spectroscopic and computational analysis of the various intermediates shed light on how catalytic efficiency can be achieved.