The crystal structures of the copper enzyme phenylethylamine oxidase from the Gram-positive bacterium Arthrobacter globiformis (AGAO) have been determined and refined for three forms of the enzyme: the holoenzyme in its active form (at 2.2 A resolution), the holoenzyme in an inactive form (at 2.8 A resolution), and the apoenzyme (at 2.2 A resolution). The holoenzyme has a topaquinone (TPQ) cofactor formed from the apoenzyme by the post-translational modification of a tyrosine residue in the presence of Cu2+. Significant differences between the three forms of AGAO are limited to the active site. The polypeptide fold is closely similar to those of the amine oxidases from Escherichia coli [Parsons, M. R., et al. (1995) Structure 3, 1171-1184] and pea seedlings [Kumar, V., et al. (1996) Structure 4, 943-955]. In the active form of holo-AGAO, the active-site Cu atom is coordinated by three His residues and two water molecules in an approximately square-pyramidal arrangement. In the inactive form, the Cu atom is coordinated by the same three His residues and by the phenolic oxygen of the TPQ, the geometry being quasi-trigonal-pyramidal. There is evidence of disorder in the crystals of both forms of holo-AGAO. As a result, only the position of the aromatic group of the TPQ cofactor, but not its orientation about the Cbeta-Cgamma bond, is determined unequivocally. In apo-AGAO, electron density consistent with an unmodified Tyr occurs at a position close to that of the TPQ in the inactive holo-AGAO. This observation has implications for the biogenesis of TPQ. Two features which have not been described previously in amine oxidase structures are a channel from the molecular surface to the active site and a solvent-filled cavity at the major interface between the two subunits of the dimer.

There is considerable structural homology between PSAO and ECAO. A combination of evidence from both structures indicates that the TPQ side chain is sufficiently flexible to permit the aromatic grouf to rotate about the Cbeta-Cgamma bond, and to move between bonding and non-bonding positions with respect to the Cu atom. Conformational flexibility is also required at the surface of the molecule to allow the substrates access to the active site, which is inaccessible to solvent, as expected for an enzyme that uses radical chemistry.

A previously unknown redox cofactor has been identified in the active site of lysyl oxidase from the bovine aorta. Edman sequencing, mass spectrometry, ultraviolet-visible spectra, and resonance Raman studies showed that this cofactor is a quinone. Its structure is derived from the crosslinking of the epsilon-amino group of a peptidyl lysine with the modified side chain of a tyrosyl residue, and it has been designated lysine tyrosylquinone. This quinone appears to be the only example of a mammalian cofactor formed from the crosslinking of two amino acid side chains. This discovery expands the range of known quino-cofactor structures and has implications for the mechanism of their biogenesis.

The role of copper in copper-containing amine oxidases has long been a source of debate and uncertainty. Numerous electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) experiments, including rapid freeze-quench studies, have failed to detect changes in the copper oxidation state in the presence of substrate amines. One suggestion that copper reduction might occur, has never been confirmed. Copper amine oxidases contain another cofactor, recently identified as 6-hydroxydopa quinone (topa quinone), which is reduced by substrates. Copper has been implicated in the reoxidation of the substrate-reduced enzyme, but the failure to detect any copper redox change has led to proposals that Cu(II) acts as a Lewis acid, that it has an indirect role in catalysis, or that it serves a structural role. We present evidence for the generation of a Cu(I)-semiquinone state by substrate reduction of several amine oxidases under anaerobic conditions, and suggest that the Cu(I)-semiquinone may be the catalytic intermediate that reacts directly with oxygen.

The iron-regulated surface proteins IsdA, IsdB, and IsdC and transporter IsdDEF of Staphylococcus aureus are involved in heme acquisition. To establish an experimental model of heme acquisition by this system, we have investigated hemin transfer between the various couples of human methemoglobin (metHb), IsdA, IsdB, IsdC, and IsdE by spectroscopic and kinetic analyses. The efficiencies of hemin transfer from hemin-containing donors (holo-protein) to different hemin-free acceptors (apo-protein) were examined, and the rates of the transfer reactions were compared with that of indirect loss of hemin from the relevant donor to H64Y/V68F apomyoglobin. The efficiencies, spectral changes, and kinetics of the transfer reactions demonstrate that: 1) metHb directly transfers hemin to apo-IsdB, but not to apo-IsdA, apo-IsdC, and apo-IsdE; 2) holo-IsdB directly transfers hemin to apo-IsdA and apo-IsdC, but not to apo-IsdE; 3) apo-IsdE directly acquires hemin from holo-IsdC, but not from holo-IsdB and holo-IsdA; and 4) IsdB and IsdC enhance hemin transfer from metHb to apo-IsdC and from holo-IsdB to apo-IsdE, respectively. Taken together with our recent finding that holo-IsdA directly transfers its hemin to apo-IsdC, these results provide direct experimental evidence for a model in which IsdB acquires hemin from metHb and transfers it directly or through IsdA to IsdC. Hemin is then relayed to IsdE, the lipoprotein component of the IsdDEF transporter.

Low-temperature absorption and room temperature circular dichroism and magnetic circular dichroism spectral studies of the blue copper proteins Rhus vernicifera stellacyanin, bean plastocyanin, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa azurin have been made. Low-energy bands attributable to d-d transitions in a flattened tetrahedral (£>2

The iron-regulated surface determinants (Isd) of Staphylococcus aureus, including surface proteins IsdA, IsdB, IsdC, and IsdH and ATP-binding cassette transporter IsdDEF, constitute the machinery for acquiring heme as a preferred iron source. Here we report hemin transfer from hemin-containing IsdA (holo-IsdA) to hemin-free IsdC (apo-IsdC). The reaction has an equilibrium constant of 10 ؎ 5 at 22°C in favor of holo-IsdC formation. During the reaction, holo-IsdA binds to apo-IsdC and then transfers the cofactor to apo-IsdC with a rate constant of 54.3 ؎ 1.8 s ؊1 at 25°C. The transfer rate is >70,000 times greater than the rate of simple hemin dissociation from holoIsdA into solvent (k transfer ‫؍‬ 54.3 s ؊1 versus k ؊hemin ‫؍‬ 0.00076 s ؊1 ). The standard free energy change, ⌬G 0 , is ؊27 kJ/mol for the formation of the holo-IsdA-apo-IsdC complex. IsdC has a higher affinity for hemin than IsdA. These results indicate that the IsdA-to-IsdC hemin transfer is through the activated holoIsdA-apo-IsdC complex and is driven by the higher affinity of apo-IsdC for the cofactor. These findings demonstrate for the first time in the Isd system that heme transfer is rapid, direct, and affinity-driven from IsdA to IsdC. These results also provide the first example of heme transfer from one surface protein to another surface protein in Gram-positive bacteria and, perhaps most importantly, indicate that the mechanism of activated heme transfer, which we previously demonstrated between the streptococcal proteins Shp and HtsA, may apply in general to all bacterial heme transport systems.

Human kidney diamine oxidase has been overexpressed as a secreted enzyme under the control of a metallothionein promoter in Drosophila S2 cell culture. This represents the first heterologous overexpression and purification of a catalytically active, recombinant mammalian copper-containing amine oxidase. A rapid and highly efficient purification protocol using chromatography on heparin affinity, hydroxyapatite, and gel filtration media allows for the recovery of large quantities of the recombinant enzyme, which is judged to be greater than 98% homogenous by SDS/PAGE. The availability of large quantities of highly purified enzyme makes it now possible to investigate the spectroscopic, mechanistic, functional, and structural properties of this human enzyme at the molecular level. Visible absorption, circular dichroism, electron paramagnetic resonance, and resonance Raman spectroscopic results are presented. The recombinant enzyme contains the cofactors 2,4,5-trihydroxyphenylalaninequinone and copper at stoichiometries of up to 1.1 and 1.5 mol per mol homodimer, respectively. In addition, tightly bound and stoichiometric calcium ions were identified and proposed to occupy a second metal-binding site. The apparent molecular weight of the recombinant protein, determined by analytical ultracentrifugation, suggests 20-26% glycosylation by weight. Detailed kinetic studies indicate the preferred substrates (k(cat)/K(M)) of human diamine oxidase are, in order, histamine, 1-methylhistamine, and putrescine, with K(M) values of 2.8, 3.4, and 20 microM, respectively. These results, demonstrating the substrate preference for histamine and 1-methylhistamine, were unanticipated given the available literature. The pH dependence of k(cat) for putrescine oxidation gives two apparent p K(a) values at 6.0 and 8.2. Tissue-specific expression of the human diamine oxidase gene was investigated using an mRNA array. The relevance of this work to earlier work and the suggested physiological roles of the human enzyme are discussed.