Recent studies implicate a strong association between elevated plasma branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) and insulin resistance (IR). However, a causal relationship and whether interrupted BCAA homeostasis can serve as a therapeutic target for diabetes remain to be established experimentally. In this study, unbiased integrative pathway analyses identified a unique genetic link between obesityassociated IR and BCAA catabolic gene expression at the pathway level in human and mouse populations. In genetically obese (ob/ob) mice, rate-limiting branched-chain a-keto acid (BCKA) dehydrogenase deficiency (i.e., BCAA and BCKA accumulation), a metabolic feature, accompanied the systemic suppression of BCAA catabolic genes. Restoring BCAA catabolic flux with a pharmacological inhibitor of BCKA dehydrogenase kinase (BCKDK) ( a suppressor of BCKA dehydrogenase) reduced the abundance of BCAA and BCKA and markedly attenuated IR in ob/ob mice. Similar outcomes were achieved by reducing protein (and thus BCAA) intake, whereas increasing BCAA intake did the opposite; this corroborates the pathogenic roles of BCAAs and BCKAs in IR in ob/ob mice. Like BCAAs, BCKAs also suppressed insulin signaling via activation of mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1. Finally, the small-molecule BCKDK inhibitor significantly attenuated IR in high-fat diet-induced obese mice. Collectively, these data demonstrate a pivotal causal role of a BCAA catabolic defect and elevated abundance of BCAAs and BCKAs in obesity-associated IR and provide proof-ofconcept evidence for the therapeutic validity of manipulating BCAA metabolism for treating diabetes.

We have used 57Fe nuclear resonance vibrational spectroscopy (NRVS) to study oxidized and reduced forms of the [4Fe-4S] cluster in the D14C variant ferredoxin from Pyrococcus furiosus (Pf D14C Fd). To assist the normal mode assignments, we recorded the NRVS of D14C ferredoxin samples with 36S substituted into the [4Fe-4S] cluster bridging sulfide positions, and a model compound without ligand side chains: (Ph4P)2[Fe4S4Cl4]. Several distinct regions of NRVS intensity are identified, ranging from `protein' and torsional modes below 100 cm−1, through bending and breathing modes near 150 cm−1, to strong bands from Fe-S stretching modes between 250 cm−1 and ~400 cm−1. The oxidized ferredoxin samples were also investigated by resonance Raman (RR) spectroscopy. We found good agreement between NRVS and RR frequencies, but because of different selection rules, the intensities vary dramatically between the two types of spectra. The 57Fe partial vibrational densities of states (PVDOS) for the oxidized samples were interpreted by normal mode analysis with optimization of Urey-Bradley force fields for local models of the [4Fe-4S] clusters. Full protein model calculations were also conducted using a supplemented CHARMM force field, and these calculations revealed low frequency modes that may be relevant to electron transfer with Pf Fd partners. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations complemented these empirical analyses, and DFT was used to estimate the reorganization energy associated with the [Fe4S4]2+/1+ redox cycle. Overall, the NRVS technique demonstrates great promise for the observation and quantitative interpretation of the dynamical properties of Fe-S proteins.

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) was used to study the photochemistry of CO-inhibited Azotobacter vinelandii nitrogenase using visible light at cryogenic temperatures. The FT-IR difference spectrum of photolyzed hi-CO at 4 K comprises negative bands at 1973 cm−1 and 1679 cm−1 together with positive bands at 1711 cm−1, 2135 and 2123 cm−1. The negative bands are assigned to a hi-CO state that comprises 2 metal-bound CO ligands, one terminally bound, and one bridged and/or protonated species. The positive band at 1711 cm−1 is assigned to a lo-CO product with a single bridged and/or protonated metal-CO group. We term these species ‘Hi-1’ and ‘Lo-1’ respectively. The high-energy bands are assigned to a liberated CO trapped in the protein pocket. Warming results in CO recombination, and the temperature dependence of the recombination rate yields an activation energy of 4 kJ mol−1. Two α-H195 variant enzymes yielded additional signals. Asparagine substitution, α-H195N, gives a spectrum containing 2 negative ‘Hi-2’ bands at 1936 and 1858 cm−1 with a positive ‘Lo-2’ band at 1780 cm−1, while glutamine substitution, α-H195Q, produces a complex spectrum that includes a third CO species, with negative ‘Hi-3’ bands at 1938 and 1911 cm−1 and a positive feature ‘Lo-3’ band at 1921 cm−1. These species can be assigned to a combination of terminal, bridged, and possibly protonated CO groups bound to the FeMo-cofactor active site. The proposed structures are discussed in terms of both CO inhibition and the mechanism nitrogenase catalysis. Given the intractability of observing nitrogenase intermediates by crystallographic methods, IR-monitored photolysis appears to be a promising and information-rich probe of nitrogenase structure and chemistry.

Complex [[(mu-SCH2)2N(4-NO2C6H4)]Fe2(CO)6] (4) was prepared by the reaction of the dianionic intermediate [(mu-S)2Fe2(CO)6](2-) and N,N-bis(chloromethyl)-4-nitroaniline as a biomimetic model of the active site of Fe-only hydrogenase. The reduction of 4 by Pd-C/H2 under a neutral condition afforded complex [[(mu-SCH2)2N(4-NH2C6H4)]Fe2(CO)6] (5) in 67 % yield. Both complexes were characterized by IR, 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy and MS spectrometry. The molecular structure of 4, as determined by X-ray analysis, has a butterfly 2Fe2S core and the aryl group on the bridged-N atom slants to the Fe(2) site. Cyclic voltammograms of 4 and 5 were studied to evaluate their redox properties. It was found that complex 4 catalyzed electrochemical proton reduction in the presence of acetic acid. A plausible mechanism of the electrocatalytic proton reduction is discussed.

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Protonation of [{(mu-SCH2)2N(C6H4-p-NO2)}{Fe(CO)2(PMe3)}2] in the presence of 4 equiv. of HOTf afforded two species, a micro-hydride diiron complex, the molecular structure of which was crystallographically characterized, and a micro-S-protonated species, which was readily deprotonated in the presence of pyridine.

The homodimeric type I reaction center in heliobacteria is arguably the simplest known pigment-protein complex capable of conducting (bacterio)chlorophyll-based conversion of light into chemical energy. Despite its structural simplicity, the thermodynamics of the electron transfer cofactors on the acceptor side have not been fully investigated. In this work, we measured the midpoint potential of the terminal [4Fe-4S](2+/1+) cluster (FX) in reaction centers from Heliobacterium modesticaldum. The FX cluster was titrated chemically and monitored by (i) the decrease in the level of stable P800 photobleaching by optical spectroscopy, (ii) the loss of the light-induced g ≈ 2 radical from P800(+•) following a single-turnover flash, (iii) the increase in the low-field resonance at 140 mT attributed to the S = (3)/2 ground spin state of FX(-), and (iv) the loss of the spin-correlated P800(+) FX(-) radical pair following a single-turnover flash. These four techniques led to similar estimations of the midpoint potential for FX of -502 ± 3 mV (n = 0.99), -496 ± 2 mV (n = 0.99), -517 ± 10 mV (n = 0.65), and -501 ± 4 mV (n = 0.84), respectively, with a consensus value of -504 ± 10 mV (converging to n = 1). Under conditions in which FX is reduced, the long-lived (∼15 ms) P800(+) FX(-) state is replaced by a rapidly recombining (∼15 ns) P800(+)A0(-) state, as shown by ultrafast optical experiments. There was no evidence of the presence of a P800(+) A1(-) spin-correlated radical pair by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) under these conditions. The midpoint potentials of the two [4Fe-4S](2+/1+) clusters in the low-molecular mass ferredoxins were found to be -480 ± 11 mV/-524 ± 13 mV for PshBI, -453 ± 6 mV/-527 ± 6 mV for PshBII, and -452 ± 5 mV/-533 ± 8 mV for HM1_2505 as determined by EPR spectroscopy. FX is therefore suitably poised to reduce one [4Fe-4S](2+/1+) cluster in these mobile electron carriers. Using the measured midpoint potential of FX and a quasi-equilibrium model of charge recombination, the midpoint potential of A0 was estimated to be -854 mV at room temperature. The midpoint potentials of A0 and FX are therefore 150-200 mV less reducing than their respective counterparts in Photosystem I of cyanobacteria and plants. This places the redox potential of the FX cluster in heliobacteria approximately equipotential to the highest-potential iron-sulfur cluster (FA) in Photosystem I, consistent with its assignment as the terminal electron acceptor.