In hydrogenases and many other redox enzymes, the buried active site is connected to the solvent by a molecular channel whose structure may determine the enzyme's selectivity with respect to substrate and inhibitors. The role of these channels has been addressed using crystallography and molecular dynamics, but kinetic data are scarce. Using protein film voltammetry, we determined and then compared the rates of inhibition by CO and O2 in ten NiFe hydrogenase mutants and two FeFe hydrogenases. We found that the rate of inhibition by CO is a good proxy of the rate of diffusion of O2 toward the active site. Modifying amino acids whose side chains point inside the tunnel can slow this rate by orders of magnitude. We quantitatively define the relations between diffusion, the Michaelis constant for H2 and rates of inhibition, and we demonstrate that certain enzymes are slowly inactivated by O2 because access to the active site is slow.

FeFe hydrogenases are the most efficient H2 producing enzymes, but inactivation by O2 is an obstacle to using them in biotechnological devices. Here we combine electrochemistry, site-directed mutagenesis, molecular dynamics and quantum chemical calculations to uncover the molecular mechanism of O2 diffusion within the enzyme and its reactions at the active site. We find that the partial reversibility of the reaction with O2 results from the four-electron reduction of O2 to water. The third electron/proton transfer step is the bottleneck for water production, competing with formation of the highly reactive OH radical and hydroxylated cysteine, consistent with recent crystallographic evidence. The rapid delivery of electrons and protons to the active site is therefore crucial to prevent the accumulation of these aggressive species at prolonged O2 exposure. These findings should provide important clues for the design of hydrogenase mutants with increased resistance to oxidative damage.