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The heme environment of lignin peroxidase (LiP) has been investigated by electronic absorption and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. Native LiP was a pentacoordinate, high-spin ferric iron with a high-spin absorption band at 634 nm and g values at 5.86 and 2.07 in the EPR spectrum. Upon thermal inactivation, calcium ions were released from the enzyme and the Soret absorption decreased and red-shifted about 2 nm, the high-spin absorption band at 634 nm disappeared, and a low-spin absorption band appeared at 532 nm. The EPR spectrum and the temperature dependence of electronic absorption spectra revealed that the heme iron of the thermally inactivated enzyme was a mixture of high- and low-spin states, which was further supported by the changes in the electronic absorption and EPR spectra when cyanide was added to the thermally inactivated enzyme. Addition of various imidazoles or CN- to thermally inactivated enzyme demonstrated that the low-spin heme iron of inactivated enzyme was hexacoordinate with a distal histidine as its sixth ligand, in contrast to the active enzyme, which was pentacoordinate and high-spin. Upon addition of calcium to recover the thermally inactivated LiP, the reactivated enzyme had absorptions at 408, 502, and 634 nm and g values at 5.86 and 2.07 in the EPR spectrum, which demonstrated that the heme iron of the reactivated enzyme was again high-spin and pentacoordinated.

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Lignin peroxidases (LiP) from the white-rot fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium oxidize veratryl alcohol (VA) by two electrons to veratryl aldehyde, although the VA cation radical (VA.+) is an intermediate [Khindaria, A., et al. (1995) Biochemistry 34, 6020-6025]. It was speculated, on the basis of kinetic evidence, that VA*+ can form a catalytic complex with LiP compound II. We have used low-temperature EPR to provide direct evidence for the formation of the complex. The EPR spectrum of VA*+ obtained at 4 K was explained by a model for coupling between the oxoferryl moiety of the heme (S = 1) and VA.+ (S = 1/2) similar to the model proposed for an oxyferryl and a porphyrin pi cation radical of horseradish peroxidase. The coupling constant suggested that VA.+ was equally ferro- and antiferromagnetically coupled to the oxoferryl moiety. The spectrum was simulated with g perpendicular only marginally greater than g parallel. This was surprising since the only other known organic radical coupled to the heme iron in a peroxidase is the tryptophan cation radical in cytochrome c peroxidase which exhibits a g tensor with g parallel greater than g perpendicular. Spin concentration analysis suggested that the 1 mol of VA*+ was coupled to the oxoferryl moiety per mole of enzyme. The VA.+ signal decayed with a first-order decay constant of 1.76 s-1, in close agreement with the earlier published decay constant of 1.85 s-1 from room-temperature EPR studies. The exchange coupling between VA.+ and the oxoferryl moiety strongly advocates calling this species (VA.+ and LiP compound II) a catalytic complex.

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