Hereditary coproporphyria is an autosomal dominant disorder resulting from the half-normal activity of coproporphyrinogen oxidase (CPO), a mitochondrial enzyme catalyzing the antepenultimate step in heme biosynthesis. The mechanism by which CPO catalyzes oxidative decarboxylation, in an extraordinary metaland cofactor-independent manner, is poorly understood. Here, we report the crystal structure of human CPO at 1.58-Å resolution. The structure reveals a previously uncharacterized tertiary topology comprising an unusually flat seven-stranded ␤-sheet sandwiched by ␣-helices. In the biologically active dimer (KD ‫؍‬ 5 ؋ 10 ؊7 M), one monomer rotates relative to the second by Ϸ40°to create an intersubunit interface in close proximity to two independent enzymatic sites. The unexpected finding of citrate at the active site allows us to assign Ser-244, His-258, Asn-260, Arg-262, Asp-282, and Arg-332 as residues mediating substrate recognition and decarboxylation. We favor a mechanism in which oxygen serves as the immediate electron acceptor, and a substrate radical or a carbanion with substantial radical character participates in catalysis. Although several mutations in the CPO gene have been described, the molecular basis for how these alterations diminish enzyme activity is unknown. We show that deletion of residues (392-418) encoded by exon six disrupts dimerization. Conversely, harderoporphyria-causing K404E mutation precludes a type I ␤-turn from retaining the substrate for the second decarboxylation cycle. Together, these findings resolve several questions regarding CPO catalysis and provide insights into hereditary coproporphyria.coproporphyrinogen oxidase ͉ oxidative decarboxylation ͉ mitochondria ͉ x-ray crystallography T he terminal three steps of heme biosynthesis occur within the mitochondria (1, 2). First, coproporphyrinogen III is converted to protoporphyrinogen IX in the intermembrane space (3, 4) by coproporphyrinogen oxidase (CPO) (5, 6). Thus, CPO contains an unusually long (110 residues) N-terminal targeting sequence, required for its import into the mitochondria (7,8). The substrate for CPO is generated in the cytosol (9) by uroporphyrinogen decarboxylase, and the precise mechanism by which it enters the mitochondria remains to be elucidated. Second, protoporphyrinogen oxidase mediates the six electron oxidation of protoporphyrinogen to protoporphyrin IX. This enzyme is localized to the cytoplasmic side of the inner mitochondrial membrane. Third, ferrochelatase inserts the ferrous iron to generate heme within the matrix of the mitochondria. Hence, the heme biosynthetic pathway is not only partitioned between mitochondria and cytosol, but the last three enzymes are compartmentalized within the mitochondria.Partial deficiency of CPO leads to hereditary coproporphyria (HCP), an acute hepatic porphyria inherited in an autosomal dominant fashion (10-12). The disease is characterized by abdominal pain, neuropsychiatric symptoms, and͞or cutaneous photosensitivity (13). If diagnosed early, HCP can be treat...

The porphyrias are group of mostly inherited disorders in which a specific spectrum of accumulated and excreted porphyrins and heme precursors are associated with characteristic clinical features. There are eight enzymes involved in the heme synthesis and defects in seven of them cause porphyria. Four of them are described as acute hepatic porphyrias, which share possible precipitation of acute attacks with symptoms engaging the nervous system. Acute intermittent porphyria (AIP), caused by partial deficiency of the porphobilinogen deaminase (PBGD), is the most frequent among hepatic porphyrias. Clinical expression is highly variable and ~ 90 % of AIP heterozygotes remain asymptomatic throughout life. During systematic genetic analysis of the AIP patients diagnosed in the Czech and Slovak Republics, we found a special case of AIP. In a 15-year-old boy with abdominal and subsequent neurological symptomatology, we identified de novo mutation 966insA within the PBGD gene leading to a stop codon after 36 completely different amino acids compared to the wt-sequence. To establish the effects of this mutation on the protein structure, we expressed mutant constructs with described mutation in E. coli and analyzed their biochemical and enzymatic properties. Moreover, computer-assisted protein structure prediction was performed.

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