The combination of UV/visible/NIR absorption, CD and variable-temperature magnetic circular dichroism (VTMCD), EPR, and X-ray absorption (XAS) spectroscopies has been used to investigate the electronic and structural properties of the oxidized and reduced forms of Pyrococcus furiosus superoxide reductase (SOR) as a function of pH and exogenous ligand binding. XAS shows that the mononuclear ferric center in the oxidized enzyme is very susceptible to photoreduction in the X-ray beam. This observation facilitates interpretation of ground- and excited-state electronic properties and the EXAFS results for the oxidized enzyme in terms of the published X-ray crystallographic data (Yeh, A. P.; Hu, Y.; Jenney, F. E.; Adams, M. W. W.; Rees, D. C. Biochemistry 2000, 39, 2499-2508). In the oxidized state, the mononuclear ferric active site has octahedral coordination with four equatorial histidyl ligands and axial cysteinate and monodentate glutamate ligands. Fe EXAFS are best fit by one Fe-S at 2.36 A and five Fe-N/O at an average distance of 2.12 A. The EPR-determined spin Hamiltonian parameters for the high-spin (S = (5)/(2)) ferric site in the resting enzyme, D = -0.50 +/- 0.05 cm(-1) and E/D = 0.06, are consistent with tetragonally compressed octahedral coordination geometry. UV/visible absorption and VTMCD studies facilitate resolution and assignment of pi His --> Fe(3+)(t(2g)) and (Cys)S(p) --> Fe(3+)(t(2g)) charge-transfer transitions, and the polarizations deduced from MCD saturation magnetization studies indicate that the zero-field splitting (compression) axis corresponds to one of the axes with trans-histidyl ligands. EPR and VTMCD studies provide evidence of azide, ferrocyanide, hydroxide, and cyanide binding via displacement of the glutamate ligand. For azide, ferrocyanide, and hydroxide, ligand binding occurs with retention of the high-spin (S = 5/2) ground state (E/D = 0.27 and D < 0 for azide and ferrocyanide; E/D = 0.25 and D = +1.1 +/- 0.2 cm(-1) for hydroxide), whereas cyanide binding results in a low-spin (S = 1/2) species (g = 2.29, 2.25, 1.94). The ground-state and charge-transfer/ligand-field excited-state properties of the low-spin cyanide-bound derivative are shown to be consistent with a tetragonally elongated octahedral coordination with the elongation axis corresponding to an axis with trans-histidyl ligands. In the reduced state, the ferrous site of SOR is shown to have square-pyramidal coordination geometry in frozen solution with four equatorial histidines and one axial cysteine on the basis of XAS and UV and NIR VTMCD studies. Fe EXAFS are best fit by one Fe-S at 2.37 A and four Fe-N/O at an average distance of 2.15 A. VTMCD reveals a high-spin (S = 2) ferrous site with (Cys)S(p) --> Fe(2+) charge-transfer transitions in the UV region and (5)T(2g) --> (5)E(g) ligand-field transitions in the NIR region at 12400 and <5000 cm(-1). The ligand-field bands indicate square-pyramidal coordination geometry with 10Dq < 8700 cm(-1) and a large excited-state splitting, Delta (5)E(g) > 7400 cm(-1). Analys...

O ver the past 4 yr, evidence has accumulated for a novel pathway for detoxification of reactive oxygen species that is specific for anaerobic and microaerophilic microorganisms (1-3). The key enzyme in this pathway is superoxide reductase (SOR), which catalyzes the reduction of superoxide to hydrogen peroxide (4), with rubredoxin as the probable physiological electron donor (2, 5). Although all SORs have a ␤-barrel domain containing a unique type of mononuclear Fe center that serves as the site for superoxide reduction (6, 7), some have an additional N-terminal domain that contains an intrinsic rubredoxin-like mononuclear Fe site, which is ligated by four cysteines in a distorted tetrahedral arrangement analogous to that found in desulforedoxin (6). These two classes are conveniently referred to as 1Fe-and 2Fe-SORs, but they are also known by their trivial names, neelaredoxins and desulfoferrodoxins, respectively.Spectroscopic and crystallographic studies of the 1Fe-SOR from Pyrococcus furiosus (7-9) and the 2Fe-SOR from Desulfovibrio desulfuricans (6, 10, 11) have shown that the mononuclear iron active site is ligated by four equatorial histidines (3 N and 1␦N) and one axial cysteinate in a square-pyramidal arrangement. The sixth coordination site appears to be occupied by a monodentate glutamate in the oxidized state but is vacant or occupied by a weakly coordinated water molecule in the reduced state, thereby providing a site for superoxide binding and reduction. These structural studies, combined with recent mutagenesis and pulse radiolysis kinetic results (12-16), have led to the proposal for the catalytic mechanism shown in Fig. 1 Characterization of enzymatic intermediates is required for both detailed understanding of the mechanism of SOR and addressing the key questions of how and why the SOR active site preferentially catalyzes reduction rather than dismutation of superoxide. However, these intermediates are short lived and difficult to study experimentally. Nitric oxide (NO) has been extensively used as a substrate analog of molecular oxygen to form stable nitrosyl derivatives that provide insight into oxygen transport and activation intermediates in many heme (18-21) and nonheme (22-29) iron enzymes. Hence, we report here the formation and spectroscopic characterization of a stable NO-bound derivative of the reduced 1Fe-SOR from P. furiosus using the combination of EPR, UV-visible absorption, and variable-temperature, variable-field magnetic CD (VTVH MCD), resonance Raman, and Fourier transform IR (FTIR) spectroscopies. The structural and electronic characterization of the NO adduct of SOR facilitates understanding of how the active site is tuned for oxidative addition of superoxide and release rather than intraligand cleavage of the peroxide product. Materials and MethodsBiochemical Techniques and Sample Preparation. Recombinant natural abundance and 34 S globally enriched P. furiosus SOR was This paper was submitted directly (Track II) to the PNAS office.Abbreviations: SOR, superoxide reductase; V...

The resonance Raman spectrum of oxidized wild-type P. furiosus SOR at pH 7.5 and 10.5 has been investigated using excitation wavelengths between 406 and 676 nm, and vibrational modes have been assigned on the basis of isotope shifts resulting from global replacements of (32)S with (34)S, (14)N with (15)N, (56)Fe with (54)Fe, and exchange into a H(2)(18)O buffer. The results are interpreted in terms of the crystallographically defined active-site structure involving a six-coordinate mononuclear Fe center with four equatorial histidine ligands and axial cysteine and monodentate glutamate ligands (Yeh, A. P., Hu, Y., Jenney, F. E., Adams, M. W. W., and Rees, D. C. (2000) Biochemistry 39, 2499-2508). Excitation into the intense (Cys)S(p(pi))-to-Fe(d(pi)) CT transition centered at 660 nm results in strong enhancement of modes at 298 cm(-1) and 323 cm(-1) that are assigned to extensively mixed cysteine S-C(beta)-C(alpha) bending and Fe-S(Cys) stretching modes, respectively. All other higher-energy vibrational modes are readily assigned to overtone or combination bands or to fundamentals corresponding to internal modes of the ligated cysteine. Weak enhancement of Fe-N(His) stretching modes is observed in the 200-250 cm(-1) region. The enhancement of internal cysteine modes and Fe-N(His) stretching modes are a consequence of a near-planar Fe-S-C(beta)-C(alpha)-N unit for the coordinated cysteine and significant (His)N(p(pi))-Fe(d(xy))-(Cys)S(p(pi)) orbital overlap, respectively, and have close parallels to type 1 copper proteins. By analogy with type 1 copper proteins, putative superexchange electron-transfer pathways to the mononuclear Fe active site are identified involving either the tyrosine and cysteine residues or the solvent-exposed deltaN histidine residue in a Y-C-X-X-H arrangement. Studies of wild-type at pH 10.5 and the E14A variant indicate that the resonance Raman spectrum is remarkably insensitive to changes in the ligand trans to cysteine and hence are inconclusive concerning the origin of the alkaline transition and the nature of sixth Fe ligand in the E14A variant.

Spectroscopic and electronic structure studies of the class I Escherichia coli ribonucleotide reductase (RNR) intermediate X and three computationally derived model complexes are presented, compared, and evaluated to determine the electronic and geometric structure of the FeIII-FeIV active site of intermediate X. Rapid freeze-quench (RFQ) EPR, absorption, and MCD were used to trap intermediate X in R2 wild-type (WT) and two variants, W48A and Y122F/Y356F. RFQ-EPR spin quantitation was used to determine the relative contributions of intermediate X and radicals present, while RFQ-MCD was used to specifically probe the FeIII/FeIV active site, which displayed three FeIV d-d transitions between 16,700 and 22,600 cm(-1), two FeIV d-d spin-flip transitions between 23,500 and 24,300 cm(-1), and five oxo to FeIV and FeIII charge transfer (CT) transitions between 25,000 and 32,000 cm(-1). The FeIV d-d transitions were perturbed in the two variants, confirming that all three d-d transitions derive from the d-pi manifold. Furthermore, the FeIV d-pi splittings in the WT are too large to correlate with a bis-mu-oxo structure. The assignment of the FeIV d-d transitions in WT intermediate X best correlates with a bridged mu-oxo/mu-hydroxo [FeIII(mu-O)(mu-OH)FeIV] structure. The mu-oxo/mu-hydroxo core structure provides an important sigma/pi superexchange pathway, which is not present in the bis-mu-oxo structure, to promote facile electron transfer from Y122 to the remote FeIV through the bent oxo bridge, thereby generating the tyrosyl radical for catalysis.

The electronic and vibrational properties of the [Fe(His)(4)(Cys)] site (Center II) responsible for catalysis of superoxide reduction in the two-iron superoxide reductase (2Fe-SOR) from Desulfovibrio vulgaris have been investigated using the combination of EPR, resonance Raman, UV/visible/near-IR absorption, CD, and VTMCD spectroscopies. Deconvolution of the spectral contributions of Center II from those of the [Fe(Cys)(4)] site (Center I) has been achieved by parallel investigations of the C13S variant, which does not contain Center I. The resonance Raman spectrum of ferric Center II has been assigned based on isotope shifts for (34)S and (15)N globally labeled proteins. As for the [Fe(His)(4)(Cys)] active site in 1Fe-SOR from Pyrococcus furiosus, the spectroscopic properties of ferric and ferrous Center II in D. vulgaris 2Fe-SOR are indicative of distorted octahedral and square-pyramidal coordination geometries, respectively. Differences in the properties of the ferric [Fe(His)(4)(Cys)] sites in 1Fe- and 2Fe-SORs are apparent in the rhombicity of the S=5/2 ground state ( E/ D=0.06 and 0.28 in 1Fe- and 2Fe-SORs, respectively), the energy of the CysS(-)(p(pi))-->Fe(3+)(d(pi)) CT transition (15150+/-150 cm(-1) and 15600+/-150 cm(-1) in 1Fe- and 2Fe-SORs, respectively) and in changes in the Fe-S stretching region of the resonance Raman spectrum indicative of a weaker Fe-S(Cys) bond in 2Fe-SORs. These differences are interpreted in terms of small structural perturbations in the Fe coordination sphere with changes in the Fe-S(Cys) bond strength resulting from differences in the peptide N-H.S(Cys) hydrogen bonding within a tetrapeptide bidentate "chelate". Observation of the characteristic intervalence charge transfer transition of a cyano-bridged [Fe(III)-NC-Fe(II)(CN)(5)] unit in the near-IR VTMCD spectra of ferricyanide-oxidized samples of both P. furiosus 1Fe-SOR and D. vulgaris 2Fe-SOR has confirmed the existence of novel ferrocyanide adducts of the ferric [Fe(His)(4)(Cys)] sites in both 1Fe- and 2Fe-SORs.

A [2Fe-2S] ferredoxin (Fd1) from the hyperthermophilic bacterium Aquifex aeolicus has been obtained by heterologous expression of the encoding gene in Escherichia coli. Sequence comparisons show that this protein belongs to the extended family of plant- and mammalian-type [2Fe-2S] ferredoxins but also indicate that it is not closely similar to either the plant-type or mammalian-type subfamilies. Instead, it appears to bear some similarity to novel members of this family, in particular the Isc-type ferredoxins involved in the assembly of iron-sulfur clusters in vivo. The two redox levels of the [2Fe-2S](2+/+) metal site of A. aeolicus ferredoxin have been studied by UV-visible, resonance Raman, EPR, variable temperature magnetic circular dichroism, and Mössbauer spectroscopies. A full-spin Hamiltonian analysis is given for the Mössbauer spectra. In aggregate, the spectroscopic data reveal differences with both the plant-type and mammalian-type ferredoxins, in keeping with the sequence comparisons. The midpoint potential of the [2Fe-2S](2+/+) couple, at -375 mV versus the normal hydrogen electrode, is more negative than those of mammalian-type ferredoxins and at the upper end of the range covered by plant-type ferredoxins. A. aeolicus ferredoxin contains two cysteines in addition to the four that are committed as ligands of the [2Fe-2S] cluster. These two residues have been shown by chemical modification and site-directed mutagenesis to form a disulfide bridge in the native protein. While that cystine unit plays a significant role in the exceptional thermostability of A. aeolicus ferredoxin (T(m) = 121 degrees C at pH 7 versus T(m) = 113 degrees C in a molecular variant where the disulfide bridge has been removed), it does not bear on the properties of the [2Fe-2S](2+/+) chromophore. This observation is consistent with the large distance (ca. 20 A) that is predicted to separate the iron-sulfur chromophore from the disulfide bridge.

It was recently proposed that anaerobic microorganisms contain a new pathway for detoxification of reactive oxygen species. This is centered around a novel mononuclear iron-containing enzyme, superoxide reductase (SOR), which catalyzes the reduction, rather than the dismutation, of superoxide to hydrogen peroxide. A surprisingly large amount of relevant data has accumulated in the two years or so since the proposal was made. Herein we address the questions: to what extent has the pathway been validated, and what fundamental issues have yet to be answered in considering the response of anaerobes to reactive oxygen species? The evidence for superoxide reduction by SOR is now overwhelming and comes from a variety of anaerobic and microaerophilic species. Moreover, the available spectroscopic and structural information provide a convincing case that the catalytic Fe site of SOR is structurally and electronically tuned to mediate superoxide reduction rather than oxidation. Kinetic analyses also support the original proposal of NAD(P)H, via rubredoxin and NAD(P)H:rubredoxin oxidoreductase, as the source of reductant. What is still to be determined is the fate of the peroxide generated by the SOR reaction. In particular, the role of otherwise well-characterized proteins like rubrerythrin, NADH peroxidase, and rubredoxin:oxygen oxidoreductase in "anaerobic" oxygen metabolism has yet to be established.

We have performed a systematic study of chemically possible peroxo-type intermediates occurring in the non-heme di-iron enzyme class Ia ribonucleotide reductase, using spectroscopically calibrated computational chemistry. Density functional computations of equilibrium structures, Fe-O and O-O stretch frequencies, Mossbauer isomer shifts, absorption spectra, J-coupling constants, electron affinities, and free energies of O(2) and proton or water binding are presented for a series of possible intermediates. The results enable structure-property correlations and a new rationale for the changes in carboxylate conformations occurring during the O(2) reaction of this class of non-heme iron enzymes. Our procedure identifies and characterizes various possible candidates for peroxo intermediates experimentally observed along the ribonucleotide reductase dioxygen activation reaction. The study explores how water or a proton can bind to the di-iron site of ribonucleotide reductase and facilitate changes that affect the electronic structure of the iron sites and activate the site for further reaction. Two potential reaction pathways are presented: one where water adds to Fe1 of the cis-mu-1,2 peroxo intermediate P causing opening of a bridging carboxylate to form intermediate P' that has an increased electron affinity and is activated for proton-coupled electron transfer to form the Fe(III)Fe(IV) intermediate X; and one that is more energetically favorable where the P to P' conversion involves addition of a proton to a terminal carboxylate ligand in the site which increases the electron affinity and triggers electron transfer to form X. Both pathways provide a mechanism for the activation of peroxy intermediates in binuclear non-heme iron enzymes for reactivity. The studies further show that water coordination can induce the conformational changes observed in crystal structures of the met state.