EPR/ENDOR studies have been carried out on oxyferrous cytochrome P450cam one-electron cryoreduced by gamma-irradiation at 77 K in the absence of substrate and in the presence of a variety of substrates including its native hydroxylation substrate, camphor (a), and the alternate substrates, 5-methylenyl-camphor (b), 5,5-difluorocamphor (c), norcamphor (d), and adamantanone (e); the equivalent experiments have been performed on the T252A mutant complexed with a and b. The present study shows that the properties and reactivity of the oxyheme and of both the primary and the annealed intermediates are modulated by a bound substrate. This includes alterations in the properties of the heme center itself (g tensor; (14)N, (1)H, hyperfine couplings). It also includes dramatic changes in reactivity: the presence of any substrate increases the lifetime of hydroperoxoferri-P450cam (2) no less than ca. 20-fold. Among the substrates, b stands out as having an exceptionally strong influence on the properties and reactivity of the P450cam intermediates, especially in the T252A mutant. The intermediate, 2(T252A)-b, does not lose H(2)O(2), as occurs with 2(T252A)-a, but decays with formation of the epoxide of b. Thus, these observations show that substrate can modulate the properties of both the monoxygenase active-oxygen intermediates and the proton-delivery network that encompasses them.

A high population intermediate has been trapped on the nitrogenase active site FeMo cofactor during reduction of N2. In addition, intermediates have been trapped during reduction of CH3-N=NH by the alpha-195Gln variant and during reduction of H2N-NH2 by the alpha-70Ala/alpha-195Gln variant. Each of these trapped states shows an EPR signal arising from an S = 1/2 state of the FeMo cofactor. 15N ENDOR shows that each intermediate has a nitrogenous species bound to the FeMo cofactor, with a single type of N seen for each bound intermediate. The g tensors are unique to each intermediate, g(e) = [2.084, 1.993, 1.969], g(m) = [2.083, 2.021, 1.993], g(l) = [2.082, 2.015, 1.987], as are the 15N hyperfine couplings at g1, which suggests that three distinct stages of NN reduction may have been trapped. The 1H ENDOR spectra show that the N2 intermediate is at a distinct and earlier stage of reduction from the other two, so at least two stages of NN reduction have been trapped. Some possible structures of the hydrazine intermediate are presented.

A major challenge in understanding the mechanism of nitrogenase, the enzyme responsible for the biological fixation of N(2) to two ammonias, is to trap a nitrogenous substrate at the enzyme active site in a state that is amenable to further characterization. In the present work, a strategy is described that results in the trapping of the substrate hydrazine (H(2)N-NH(2)) as an adduct bound to the active site metal cluster of nitrogenase, and this bound adduct is characterized by EPR and ENDOR spectroscopies. Earlier work has been interpreted to indicate that nitrogenous (e.g., N(2) and hydrazine) as well as alkyne (e.g., acetylene) substrates can bind at a common FeS face of the FeMo-cofactor composed of Fe atoms 2, 3, 6, and 7. Substitution of alpha-70(Val) that resides over this FeS face by the smaller amino acid alanine was also previously shown to improve the affinity and reduction rate for hydrazine. We now show that when alpha-195(His), a putative proton donor near the active site, is substituted by glutamine in combination with substitution of alpha-70(Val) by alanine, and the resulting doubly substituted MoFe protein (alpha-70(Ala)/alpha-195(Gln)) is turned over with hydrazine as substrate, the FeMo-cofactor can be freeze-trapped in a S = (1)/(2) state in high yield ( approximately 70%). The presumed hydrazine-FeMo-cofactor adduct displays a rhombic EPR signal with g = [2.09, 2.01, 1.93]. The optimal pH for the population of this state was found to be 7.4. The EPR signal showed a Curie law temperature dependence similar to the resting state EPR signal. Mims pulsed ENDOR spectroscopy at 35 GHz using (15)N-labeled hydrazine reveals that the trapped intermediate incorporates a hydrazine-derived species bound to the FeMo-cofactor; in spectra taken at g(1) this species gives a single observed (15)N signal, A(g(1)) = 1.5 MHz.

Nitrogenase catalyzes the sequential addition of six electrons and six protons to a N 2 that is bound to the active site metal cluster FeMo-cofactor, yielding two ammonia molecules. The nature of the intermediates bound to FeMo-cofactor along this reduction pathway remains unknown, although it has been suggested that there are intermediates at the level of reduction of diazene (HN=NH, also called diimide) and hydrazine (H 2 N-NH 2 ). Through in situ generation of diazene during nitrogenase turnover, we show that diazene is a substrate for the wild-type nitrogenase and is reduced to NH 3 . Diazene reduction, like N 2 reduction, is inhibited by H 2 . This contrasts with the lack of H 2 inhibition when nitrogenase reduces hydrazine. These results support the existence of an intermediate early in the N 2 reduction pathway at the level of reduction of diazene. Freeze-quenching a MoFe protein variant with α-195 His substituted by Gln and α-70 Val substituted by Ala during steady-state turnover with diazene resulted in conversion of the S = 3/2 resting state FeMo-cofactor to a novel S = 1/2 state with g 1 = 2.09, g 2 = 2.01, and g 3 ~ 1.98. 15 N-and 1 H-ENDOR establish that this state consists of a diazene-derived [-NH x ] moiety bound to FeMo-cofactor. This moiety is indistinguishable from the hydrazine-derived [-NH x ] moiety bound to FeMo-cofactor when the same MoFe protein is trapped during turnover with hydrazine. These observations suggest that diazene joins the normal N 2 -reduction pathway, and that the diazene-and hydrazine-trapped turnover states represent the same intermediate in the normal reduction of N 2 by nitrogenase. The implications of these findings for the mechanism of N 2 reduction by nitrogenase are discussed. KeywordsFeMo-cofactor; EPR; ENDOR; Active Site; Substrate Nitrogenase is the enzyme responsible for catalyzing biological reduction of N 2 to two NH 3 , an essential reaction in the global biogeochemical nitrogen cycle (1-3). The minimum stoichiometry for the nitrogenase catalyzed reduction of N 2 involves delivery of 8e − and 8H + (eqn 1). † This work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (R01-GM59087 to LCS and DRD; HL13531 to BMH), the National Science Foundation (MCB-0316038 to BMH) and the United States Department of Agriculture Postdoctoral Fellowship program (2004-35318-14905 to BMB).*Address correspondence to these authors: LCS, phone (435) 797-3964, fax (435) email seefeldt@cc.usu.edu; DRD, phone (540) 231-5895, fax (540) email deandr@vt.edu; BMH, phone (847) (Figure 1).Relatively little is known at a molecular level about the nitrogenase N 2 -reduction mechanism beyond the fact that N 2 binds to and is reduced at one or more of the metal atoms of FeMocofactor ( Figure 1) Both the Chatt and Schrock cycles belong to one fundamental class of potential nitrogenase mechanismsin which the first three 'H-atoms' (e − /H + ) are sequentially added to a single N atom, in those instances the distal N of an end-on bound N 2 , followed by cleava...

Crystallographic studies of the hydrogenases (Hases) from Desulfovibrio gigas (Dg) and Desulfovibrio vulgaris Miyazaki (DvM) have revealed heterodinuclear nickel-iron active centers in both enzymes. The structures, which represent the as-isolated (unready) Ni-A (S = (1)/(2)) enzyme state, disclose a nonprotein ligand (labeled as X) bridging the two metals. The bridging atom was suggested to be an oxygenic (O(2)(-) or OH(-)) species in Dg Hase and an inorganic sulfide in DvM Hase. To determine the nature and chemical characteristics of the Ni-X-Fe bridging ligand in Dg Hase, we have performed 35 GHz CW (17)O ENDOR measurements on the Ni-A form of the enzyme, exchanged into H(2)(17)O, on the active Ni-C (S = (1)/(2)) form prepared by H(2)-reduction of Ni-A in H(2)(17)O, and also on Ni-A formed by reoxidation of Ni-C in H(2)(17)O. In the native state of the protein (Ni-A), the bridging ligand does not exchange with the H(2)(17)O solvent. However, after a reduction/reoxidation cycle (Ni-A --> Ni-C --> Ni-A), an (17)O label is introduced at the active site, as seen by ENDOR. Detailed analysis of a 2-D field-frequency plot of ENDOR spectra taken across the EPR envelope of Ni-A((17)O) shows that the incorporated (17)O has a roughly axial hyperfine tensor, A((17)O) approximately [5, 7, 20] MHz, discloses its orientation relative to the g tensor, and also yields an estimate of the quadrupole tensor. The substantial isotropic component (a(iso)((17)O) approximately 11 MHz) of the hyperfine interaction indicates that a solvent-derived (17)O is indeed a ligand to Ni and thus that the bridging ligand X in the Ni-A state of Dg Hase is indeed an oxygenic (O(2)(-) or OH(-)) species; comparison with earlier EPR results by others indicates that the same holds for Ni-B. The small (57)Fe hyperfine coupling seen previously for Ni-A (A((57)Fe) approximately 0.9 MHz) is now shown to persist in Ni-C, A((57)Fe) approximately 0.8 MHz. However, the (17)O signal is lost upon reductive activation to the Ni-C state; reoxidation to Ni-A leads to the reappearance of the signal. Consideration of the electronic structure of the EPR-active states of the dinuclear center leads us to suggest that the oxygenic bridge in Ni-A(B) is lost in Ni-C and is re-formed from solvent upon reoxidation to Ni-A. This implies that the reductive activation to Ni-C opens Ni/Fe coordination sites which may play a central role in the enzyme's activity.

Improved 1H ENDOR data from the S(EPR1) intermediate formed during turnover of the nitrogenase alpha-195Gln MoFe protein with C2(1,2)H2 in (1,2)H2O buffers, taken in context with the recent study of the intermediate formed from propargyl alcohol, indicate that S(EPR1) is a product complex, likely with C2H4 bound as a ferracycle to a single Fe of the FeMo-cofactor active site. 35 GHz CW and Mims pulsed 57Fe ENDOR of 57Fe-enriched S(EPR1) cofactor indicates that it exhibits the same valencies as those of the CO-bound cofactor of the lo-CO intermediate formed during turnover with CO, [Mo4+, Fe3+, Fe6(2+), S9(2-)(d43)](+1), reduced by m = 2 electrons relative to the resting-state cofactor. Consideration of 57Fe hyperfine coupling in S(EPR1) and lo-CO leads to a picture in which CO bridges two Fe of lo-CO, while the C2H4 of S(EPR1) binds to one of these. To correlate these and other intermediates with Lowe-Thorneley (LT) kinetic schemes for substrate reduction, we introduce the concept of an "electron inventory". It partitions the number of electrons a MoFe protein intermediate has accepted from the Fe protein (n) into the number transmitted to the substrate (s), the number that remain on the intermediate cofactor (m), and the additional number delivered to the cofactor from the P clusters (p): n = m + s - p (with p = 0 here). The cofactors of lo-CO and S(EPR1) both are reduced by m = 2 electrons, but the intermediates are not at the same LT reduction stage (E(n)): (n = 2; m = 2, s = 0) for lo-CO; (n = 4; s = 2, m = 2) for S(EPR1). This is the first proposed correlation of an LT E(n) kinetic state with a well-defined chemical state of the enzyme.

Methyldiazene (HN‫؍‬N-CH3

The active site of naphthalene 1,2-dioxygenase (NDO) contains a Rieske Fe-S cluster and a mononuclear non-heme iron, which are contributed by different alpha-subunits in the (alphabeta)(3) structure. The enzyme catalyzes cis-dihydroxylation of aromatic substrates, in addition to numerous other adventitious oxidation reactions. High-resolution Mims (2)H-ENDOR (electron nuclear double resonance) spectra have been recorded for the NO-ferrous center of NDO bound with the substrates d(8)-naphthalene, d(2)-naphthalene, d(8)-toluene, d(3)-toluene, and d(6)-benzene; samples were prepared in a D(2)O buffer to test for solvent-derived ligands; spectra were collected for enzymes with the Rieske diiron center in both its oxidized and reduced states. A sharp quartet ENDOR pattern from a nearby deuteron of the substrate in a major binding geometry (denoted as A) was detected for all perdeuterated substrates. Examination of the sample prepared with 1,4-di-deutero-naphthalene shows that the signal arises from D1. Analysis of two-dimensional (2-D) orientation-selective ENDOR patterns collected for this sample defined the location of the D1 deuteron, with respect to the g-frame of the iron center and the orientation of the C-D1 bond. Consideration of the orientations of naphthalene that are permitted within the constraints of these results, as supported by a novel approach to simulations of orientation-selective, 2-D ENDOR patterns for the perdeuterated naphthalene sample, which summed contributions from D1/D2/D8, disclose the geometry of the naphthalene and the Fe-NO fragment. The two deuterons of the reactive carbons, D1 and D2, are closest to the Fe atom (r(Fe)(-)(D1) approximately 4.3 A, r(Fe)(-)(D2) approximately 5.0 A), whereas D8 is farther away (r(Fe)(-)(D8) approximately 5.3 A). Perhaps more instructive, D1-N and D2-N distances to the O(2) surrogate, NO, are approximately 2.4 and approximately 3.3 A, respectively, whereas the D8-N distance is approximately 3.7 A. The data show that benzene and the aromatic ring of toluene also sit within the substrate-binding pocket adjacent to the mononuclear Fe atom. These rings occupy a position similar to that of the "proximal" ring of naphthalene, with the closest ring deuteron being located at a distance of approximately 4.3-4.4 A from the Fe atom and with the Fe-D vector being slightly off the Fe-N(O) direction. In particular, comparison of the data for d(8)-toluene and methyl-d(3)-toluene shows that the methyl group of toluene points away from the Fe atom, despite observations that the oxidation of toluene occurs at the methyl group during catalysis. The Rieske cluster is reduced during both steady-state and single-turnover catalysis; therefore, the effect of its oxidation state on the geometry of substrate binding was examined. The spectra from the NDO-naphthalene complex also revealed a second binding conformation (denoted as B), in which the substrate is located approximately 0.5 A farther from the Fe atom. The relative populations of A- and B-sites are allosterically changed w...