Ligand binding properties of myoglobin reconstituted with iron porphycene: unusual O2 binding selectivity against CO binding

Sperm whale myoglobin, an oxygen storage hemoprotein, was successfully reconstituted with the iron porphycene having two propionates, 2,7-diethyl-3,6,12,17-tetramethyl-13,16-bis(carboxyethyl)porphycenatoiron. The physicochemical properties and ligand bindings of the reconstituted myoglobin were investigated. The ferric reconstituted myoglobin shows the remarkable stability against acid denaturation and only a low-spin characteristic in its EPR spectrum. The Fe(III)/Fe(II) redox potential (-190 mV vs NHE) determined by the spectroelectrochemical measurements was much lower than that of the wild-type. These results can be attributed to the strong coordination of His93 to the porphycene iron, which is induced by the nature of the porphycene ring symmetry. The O2 affinity of the ferrous reconstituted myoglobin is 2600-fold higher than that of the wild-type, mainly due to the decrease in the O2 dissociation rate, whereas the CO affinity is not so significantly enhanced. As a result, the O2 affinity of the reconstituted myoglobin exceeds its CO affinity (M' = K(CO)/K(O2) < 1). The ligand binding studies on H64A mutants support the fact that the slow O2 dissociation of the reconstituted myoglobin is primarily caused by the stabilization of the Fe-O2 sigma-bonding. The IR spectra for the carbon monoxide (CO) complex of the reconstituted myoglobin suggest several structural and/or electrostatic conformations of the Fe-C-O bond, but this is not directly correlated with the CO dissociation rate. The high O2 affinity and the unique characteristics of the myoglobin with the iron porphycene indicate that reconstitution with a synthesized heme is a useful method not only to understand the physiological function of myoglobin but also to create a tailor-made function on the protein.     

Preparation and O2 binding study of myoglobin having a cobalt porphycene

Sperm whale myoglobin, an oxygen-storage hemoprotein, was reconstituted with 2,7-diethyl-3,6,12,17-tetramethyl-13,16-bis(carboxyethyl)porphycenatocobalt(II) in order to investigate the reactivities of a cobalt porphycene in a protein matrix. Similar to the previously reported finding for the myoglobin with the iron porphycene, the reconstituted myoglobin with the cobalt porphycene was also found to have an O2 affinity 2 orders of magnitude greater than that of the myoglobin possessing cobalt protoporphyrin IX. The EPR spectra of the deoxy and oxy myoglobins having the cobalt porphycene at 77 K also have features similar to those of the myoglobin with cobalt protoporphyrin IX. These spectra suggest that the porphycene cobalt in the deoxy form is coordinated by one nitrogenous ligand postulated to be the imidazole ring of His93, and that the bond configuration of CoII-O2 is regarded as the CoIII-Omicron2*- species.     

Blue myoglobin reconstituted with an iron porphycene shows extremely high oxygen affinity

Myoglobin will be a good scaffold for engineering a function into proteins. To modulate the physiological function of myoglobin, almost all approaches have been demonstrated by site-directed mutagenesis, however, there are few studies which show a significant improvement in the function. In contrast, we focused on the replacement of heme in the protein with an artificial prosthetic group. Recently, we prepared a novel myoglobin reconstituted with an iron porphycene as a structural isomer of mesoheme. The bluish colored reconstituted myoglobin is relatively stable and the deoxymyoglobin reversibly binds ligands. Interestingly, the O2 affinity of the reconstituted myoglobin, 1.1 x 109 M-1, is a significant 1,400-fold higher than that of the native myoglobin. Furthermore, the unfavorable autoxidation kinetics show 7-fold decrease in rate for the reconstituted myoglobin relative to the native myoglobin, indicating the stable oxy-form against autoxidation. The net results come from the slow dissociation of the O2 ligand in the reconstituted myoglobin, koff = 0.11 s-1, because of the formation of strong hydrogen bond between His64 and negatively charged dioxygen. The present study indicates that the replacement of native heme with an artificially created prosthetic group will give us a unique function into a hemoprotein.     

Iron hemiporphycene as a functional prosthetic group for myoglobin

The iron complex of hemiporphycene, a molecular hybrid of porphyrin with porphycene, was incorporated into the apomyoglobin pocket to examine ligand binding ability of the iron atom in the novel porphyrinoid. Apomyoglobin was successfully coupled with a stoichiometric amount of ferric hemiporphycene to afford the reconstituted myoglobin equipped with the iron coordination structure of native protein. Cyanide, imidazole, and fluoride coordinated to the ferric protein with affinities comparable with those for native myoglobin. The ferrous myoglobin was functionally active to bind O(2) and CO reversibly at pH 7.4 and 20 degrees C. The O(2) affinity is 12-fold higher than that of native myoglobin while the CO affinity is slightly lower, suggesting decreased discrimination between O(2) and CO in the heme pocket. The functional anomaly was interpreted to reflect increased sigma-bonding character in the Fe(II)-O(2) bond. In contrast with 6-coordinate native NO protein, the NO myoglobin containing ferrous hemiporphycene is in a mixed 5- and 6-coordinate state. This observation suggests that the in-plane configuration of the iron atom in hemiporphycene is destabilized by NO. Influence of the core deformation was also detected with both the infrared absorption for the ferrous CO derivative and electron paramagnetic resonance for ferric imidazole complex. Anomalies in the ferric and ferrous derivatives were ascribed to the modified iron-N(pyrrole) interactions in the asymmetric metallo core of hemiporphycene.     

Synthesis, characterization, and autoreduction of a highly electron-deficient porphycenatoiron(III) with trifluoromethyl substituents

The synthesis of the first fluorine-containing iron porphycenes, 2,7,12,17-tetraethyl-3,6,13,16-tetrakis(trifluoromethyl)porphycenatoiron(III) chloride [FePc(EtioCF(3))]Cl and its micro-oxo dimer [FePc(EtioCF(3))](2)O and their characterizations are reported. The crystal structure of [FePc(EtioCF(3))](2)O displays a severe saddled distortion of the porphycene framework due to the steric and electronic effects of the CF(3) substituents. The oxidation and reduction potentials for the micro-oxo dimer are significantly more positive compared to those observed for the reference micro-oxo dimer of the iron porphycenes and porphyrins having no electron-withdrawing substituent. Moreover, the (1)H and (19)F NMR spectra of [FePc(EtioCF(3))](2)O demonstrated that the micro-oxo dimer is readily converted into the monomeric ferrous complex in pyridine-d(5) through autoreduction for 1 day, although the reduction of the reference iron porphycenes and porphyrins are not observed in pyridine. These results indicate that the trifluoromethylated iron porphycene is a highly electron-deficient complex with a pyrrolic macrocycle ligand.     

Peroxo and ferryl intermediates detected by 1H NMR spectroscopy during the oxygenation of iron(II) porphycene

The iron(III) 2,7,12,17-tetra-n-propylporphycene (TPrPc)FeIIICl is reduced using aqueous sodium dithionite or zinc amalgam to produce (TPrPc)FeII. The 1H NMR spectrum of (TPrPc)FeII (293 K; delta (ppm): pyrrole, -37.52; meso, 71.56; alpha-CH2, 27.47; beta-CH2, 8.92; gamma-CH3, 5.55) can be accounted for by the planar unligated iron(II) porphycene with an S = 1 ground electronic state. Introduction of dioxygen into a toluene-d8 solution of (TPrPc)FeII at 203 K results in the formation of the (mu-peroxo)diiron(III) porphycene (TPrPc)FeIII-O-O-FeIII(TPrPc). The value of the chemical shift of the pyrrole resonances (17.99 ppm at 203 K) of this species and its distinct non-Curie behavior imply strong antiferromagnetic iron(III)-iron(III) coupling via a mu-peroxo bridge. The (TPrPc)FeIII-O-O-FeIII(TPrPc) intermediate is stable at 203 K, but it converts into the (mu-oxo)diiron complex (TPrPc)FeIII-O-FeIII(TPrPc) upon warming above 203 K. Reaction of (TPrPc)FeIII-O-O-FeIII(TPrPc) with a nitrogen bases (B: pyridine-d5, 1-methylimidazole) results in a homolytic cleavage of the mu-peroxo bridge to form the ferryl porphycene complex B(TPrPc)FeIVO (1H NMR (223 K), delta (ppm): pyrrole, -1.32; meso, 11.80). B(TPrPc)FeIVO reacts with triphenylphosphine at 223 K to yield triphenylphosphine oxide.     

Water substitution on iron centers: from 0D to 1D sandwich type polyoxotungstates

Four novel polyoxotungstates have been synthesized by reaction of the sandwich type compound [Fe (III) 4(H 2O) 10(B-beta-SbW 9O 33) 2] (6-) (noted Fe 4(H 2O) 10Sb 2W 18) with ethylenediamine (en) and/or oxalate (ox) ligands under various conditions. The one-dimensional (1D) compound [enH 2] 3[Fe (III) 4(H 2O) 8(SbW 9O 33) 2].20H 2O ( 1) is isolated at 130 degrees C and results from the elimination of two water molecules and the condensation of the polyoxotungstate precursor. The reaction of Fe 4(H 2O) 10Sb 2W 18 with oxalate ligands affords the molecular complex Na 14[Fe (III) 4(ox) 4(H 2O) 2(SbW 9O 33) 2].60H 2O ( 2) where two organic ligands substitute four water molecules, while the same reaction in the presence of en molecules at 130 degrees C leads to the formation of the functionalized 1D chain [enH 2] 7[Fe (III) 4(ox) 4(SbW 9O 33) 2].14H 2O ( 3) with protonated ethylenediamine counterions. Finally, at 160 degrees C a rearrangement of the Fe 4(H 2O) 10Sb 2W 18 polyoxotungstate is observed, and the sandwich type compound [enH 2] 5[Fe (II) 2Fe (II) 2(enH) 2(Fe (III)W 9O 34) 2].24H 2O ( 4) crystallizes. In 4, the heteroelement is a Fe (III) ion, and the water molecules on the two outer Fe (II) centers are bound to pendant monoprotonated en ligands. The four compounds have been characterized by IR spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and single crystal X-ray diffraction. A detailed study of the magnetic properties of the mixed-valent hexanuclear iron complex in 4 shows evidence of an S = 5 ground-state because of spin frustration effects. A quantification of the electronic parameters characterizing the ground state ( D = +1.12 cm (-1), E/ D = 0.15) confirms that polyoxotungstate ligands induce large magnetic anisotropy.     

Peroxidase activity of the hemeoctapeptide N-acetylmicroperoxidase-8

The pH dependence of the peroxidase activity (guaiacol assay) of the ferric hemeoctapeptide N-acetylmicroperoxidase-8 (N-AcMP8) was studied under conditions where formation of the Compound I analogue of the peroxidase enzymes is rate limiting. The pH profile of the reaction rate is consistent with a mechanism where both H2O2 and HO2- can displace H2O coordinated trans to neutral His but where the hydroxo complex of the hemepeptide (OH- trans to His) is kinetically inert. At pH > 11, where the proximal His ligand of Fe(III) ionizes to form a histidinate, the hydroxo complex (OH- trans to His-) becomes kinetically labile. A comparison of DeltaH(double dagger) and DeltaS(double dagger) values for the reaction of H2O2 and HO2-, obtained from the temperature dependence of the rate constants, with values for CN- and cysteine reported previously, shows that the activation parameters depend on the identity of the incoming ligand. This suggests that ligand substitution at Fe(III) in N-AcMP8 proceeds through an interchange mechanism.     

Functional evaluation of iron oxypyriporphyrin in protein heme pocket

The iron complex of oxypyriporphyrin, a porphyrinoid containing a keto-substituted pyridine, was coupled with apomyoglobin. The reconstituted ferric myoglobin was found to be five-coordinate without iron-bound water molecules. The anionic ligands such as CN (-) and N 3 (-) bound the myoglobin with high affinities, while neutral imidazole did not. The IR observation indicated that the azide complex was pure high-spin, although the corresponding native protein was in the spin-state equilibrium. The reduced myoglobin was five-coordinate but exhibited no measurable affinity for O 2. The affinity for CO was lowered down to 1/2400 as compared with native myoglobin. These anomalies were ascribed to the deformation in the iron coordination core after the replacement of one of the four pyrroles with a larger pyridine ring. The ligand binding analyses for the ferric and ferrous myoglobin suggest that the proximal histidine pulls the iron atom from the deformed core to reduce the interaction between the iron and exogenous ligands. Similarity of the reconstituted myoglobin with guanylate cyclase, a NO-responsive signaling hemoprotein, was pointed out.     

mer-[Fe III(bpca)(CN)3]-: a new low-spin iron(III) complex to build heterometallic ladder-like chains

The novel mononuclear complex PPh(4)-mer-[Fe(III)(bpca)(3)(CN)(3)].H(2)O (1) [PPh(4)(+) = tetraphenylphosphonium cation and bpca = bis(2-pyridylcarbonyl)amidate anion] and ladder-like chain compound [[Fe(III)(bpca)(micro-CN)(3)Mn(II)(H(2)O)(3)] [Fe(III)(bpca)(CN)(3)]].3H(2)O (2) have been prepared and characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis. Compound 1 is a low-spin iron(III) compound with three cyanide ligands in mer arrangement and a tridentate N-donor ligand building a distorted octahedral environment around the iron atom. Compound 2 is an ionic salt made up of cationic ladder-like chains [[Fe(III)(bpca)(micro-CN)(3)Mn(II)(H(2)O)(3)]](+) and uncoordinated anions [Fe(III)(bpca)(3)(CN)(3)](-). The magnetic properties of 2 correspond to those of a ferrimagnetic chain with significant intrachain antiferromagnetic coupling between the low-spin iron(III) centers and the high-spin manganese(II) cations. This compound exhibits ferrimagnetic ordering below 2.0 K.     

Reductive activation of dioxygen by a myoglobin reconstituted with a flavohemin

We successfully converted myoglobin, an oxygen-storage hemoprotein, into an oxygen-activating hemoprotein like cytochrome P450s by replacing the native hemin with the artificially created flavohemin. The reconstituted myoglobin, rMb(1), was chacterized by ESI-TOF-mass, UV-vis, and fluorescence spectra. The 1H NMR spectrum of cyanomet rMb(1) indicates that two hemin conformers are present in a ratio of 1:1. Upon the addition of NADH to the buffer solution of rMb(1) in the presence of SOD and catalase, the oxymyoglobin was rapidly formed. As compared with the formation of the oxygenated native myoglobin in the presence of 10-N-(acetylaminoethyl)isoalloxazine, the rate constant of the oxyheme formation in rMb(1) is 6 times larger. This is because the flavin covalently linked to the terminal heme propionate functions as an effective mediator of an electron transfer from NADH to the hemin in rMb(1). Furthermore, rMb(1) shows the deformylation activity, when 2-phenylpropionaldehyde (2-PPA) was employed as a substrate. This result indicates that the oxyheme is reductively activated to Fe(III)-peroxoanion (Fe(III)-O22-). The result in this report is the first example of the activation of dioxygen by myoglobin. This study shows the utility of the replacement of the native hemin with a chemically modified one for the functionalization of myoglobin.     

Five-coordinate iron(III) porphycenes: (1)H NMR, magnetic, and structural studies

Five-coordinate iron(III) 2,7,12,17-tetrapropylporphycene (TPrPc)Fe(III)X (X = C(6)H(5)O(-), Cl(-), Br(-), I(-), ClO(4)(-)) complexes have been investigated. The (1)H NMR spectra demonstrate downfield shifts for pyrrole resonances [(TPrPc)Fe(III)(C(6)H(5)O), 65.3 ppm; (TPrPc)Fe(III)Cl, 28.5 ppm] but large upfield ones for (TPrPc)Fe(III)Br (-7.8 ppm), (TPrPc)Fe(III)I (-49.4 ppm), and (TPrPc)Fe(III)ClO(4) (-77.1 ppm) (294 K, CD(2)Cl(2)). The pyrrole chemical shifts span the remarkable +70 to -80 ppm range. The variable-temperature (1)H NMR spectra of (TPrPc)Fe(III)X demonstrate anti-Curie behavior with a sign reversal for (TPrPc)Fe(III)Cl. These behaviors are consistent with the admixed S = 3/2, 5/2 ground electronic state with a dominating contribution of the S = 3/2 one. In terms of the chemical shift, (TPrPc)Fe(III)(ClO(4)) can be considered as an example of the purest S = 3/2 state in the investigated series. The extent of the S = 5/2 contribution in the admixed S = 3/2, 5/2 ground electronic state, as gradated solely the basis of the pyrrole proton paramagnetic shifts, is controlled by the strength of the axial ligand, following the magnetochemical series (Evans, D. R.; Reed, C. A. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2000, 122, 4660). Significantly iron(III) 2,7,12,17-tetrapropylporphycene, soluble in typical organic solvents, can be considered as a universal framework to classify the ligand strength in a magnetochemical series, consistently using the beta-H pyrrole paramagnetic shifts as a fundamental criterion. The structure of (TPrPc)Fe(III)Cl has been determined by X-ray crystallography. The iron is five-coordinate with bonds of nearly equal length to the four pyrrole nitrogen atoms (Fe-N in the range 1.983(5)-2.006(6) A). The iron lies 0.583(1) A out of the mean plane of the macrocycle and 0.502(5) A out of the mean N(4) plane. In the solid, pairs of molecules are positioned about the center of symmetry so there is face-to-face pi-pi contact. The mean plane separation is 3.38 A, and the lateral shift of the porphycene center along the Fe-N bond is 4.490 A. The distance from one porphycene center to the other is 5.62 A, and the iron-iron separation is 6.304(2) A.     

Unusual ligand discrimination by a myoglobin reconstituted with a hydrophobic domain-linked heme

New, reconstituted horse heart myoglobins possessing a hydrophobic domain at the terminal of the two heme propionate side chains were constructed. The O2 and CO bindings for the reconstituted deoxymyoglobins were examined in detail by laser flash photolysis and stopped-flow rapid mixing techniques. The artificially created domain worked as a barrier against exogenous ligand penetration into the heme pocket, whereas the bound O2 was stabilized in the reconstituted myoglobin as well as in the native one. In contrast, the CO dissociation rate for the reconstituted myoglobin increased by 20-fold compared to the native protein, suggesting that the incorporation of the hydrophobic domain onto the heme pocket perturbs the distal-site structure of the reconstituted myoglobin. As a result, the substantial ligand selectivity for the reconstituted myoglobin significantly increases in favor of O2 over CO with the M' value (= KCO/KO2) of 0.88, whereas, to the best of our knowledge, there is no myoglobin mutant in which the O2 affinity exceeds the CO one. The present work concludes that the O2 selectivity of myoglobin over CO is markedly improved by chemically modifying the heme propionates without any mutation of the amino acid residues in the distal site.     

Pd掺杂Fe催化剂上愈创木酚加氢脱氧理论研究

通过密度泛函理论(DFT)计算研究了愈创木酚在Fe(211)表面上的吸附活化行为和加氢脱氧(HDO)反应性能.讨论了Pd的掺杂和H_2O~*的参与对Fe催化剂活性和选择性的影响.计算结果表明,通过苯环水平吸附在催化剂表面的愈创木酚的稳定性高于仅通过羟基的垂直吸附构型,这有利于苯环, C_(Ar)-OCH_3键和O-CH_3键的活化.在Fe(211)表面上,愈创木酚通过脱甲基再加氢生成邻苯二酚在动力学上比通过脱甲氧基生成苯酚和通过脱羟基生成苯甲醚更有利. Pd掺杂对愈创木酚的吸附稳定性影响较小(0.05 eV),但增加了其加氢脱氧反应的活化能垒,抑制了C_(Ar)-OCH_3, O-CH_3和C_(Ar)-OH键的断裂以及随后加氢生成苯酚,邻苯二酚和苯甲醚的反应过程.在Fe(211)表面上, H_2O~*通过与-CH_3形成氢键作用(H-bonding机理)对反应产生影响,从而降低了愈创木酚脱甲基和脱甲氧基反应的活化能垒.在Fe(211)-1Pd表面上, H_2O~*通过H转移参与反应(H-shuttling机理),促进了愈创木酚向邻苯二酚和苯酚产物的转化,并提高了加氢脱氧反应对苯酚的选择性.     

Kinetics of the light-driven aqueous autoxidation of sulfur(IV) in the absence and presence of iron(II)

The photochemical autoxidation of aqueous, acidic sulfur(IV) solutions was studied in the absence and presence of iron(II) by a newly introduced technique using a diode-array spectrophotometer, in which the same light source is used to drive and detect the reaction. Based on detailed kinetic and stoichiometric data sets, a non-chain mechanism is proposed for the autoxidation of sulfur(IV). In this mechanism, excited hydrated sulfur dioxide, *H2O.SO2, first reacts with O2 to form peroxomonosulfate ion, HSO5-, which rapidly oxidizes another H2O.SO2 to give hydrogensulfate ion as a final product. In the presence of iron(II), the formation of iron(III) was detected, which can be interpreted through the simultaneous contribution of two additional pathways: some of the HSO5- formed oxidizes iron(II) instead of sulfur(iv), and *H2O.SO2 also reacts directly with iron(II) to yield iron(III). This mechanism provides a sufficient quantitative interpretation of all experimental observations.     

气相色谱法研究配位化合物的热稳定性 XX: 草酸铁(III)—硝酸钠在氢气中的固相氧化还原反应

以气相色谱为主要手段, 配合Mossbauer波谱、X射线衍射等方法研究了草酸铁(III)与硝酸钠在氢气氛中的固相反应, 实验结果表明: 240℃前两者不发生反应, 草酸铁(III)还原分解; 260-320℃固相间发生强烈氧化还原反应, 大量二氧化碳放出, 并伴有少量氧和一氧化氮, 380℃后, 生成的亚硝酸钠与未反应的硝酸钠在铁(III)化合物作用下, 提前分解, 同时铁(III)化合物转化成γ-Fe2O3.     

Notable deuterium effect on the electron transfer rate of myoglobin

The electron transfer reaction of wild-type myoglobin at an electrode was significantly facilitated in a D2O buffer as compared with that in an H2O buffer, with k(0)'(H2O)/k(0)'(D2O)= 0.13, while a minimal deuterium kinetic isotope effect on the myoglobin with modification at distal histidine (His-64) was observed.     

Quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical study of mechanisms of heme degradation by the enzyme heme oxygenase: the strategic function of the water cluster

Heme degradation by heme oxygenase (HO) enzymes is important in maintaining iron homeostasis and prevention of oxidative stress, etc. In response to mechanistic uncertainties, we performed quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical investigations of the heme hydroxylation by HO, in the native route and with the oxygen surrogate donor H2O2. It is demonstrated that H2O2 cannot be deprotonated to yield Fe(III)OOH, and hence the surrogate reaction starts from the FeHOOH complex. The calculations show that, when starting from either Fe(III)OOH or Fe(III)HOOH, the fully concerted mechanism involving O-O bond breakage and O-C(meso) bond formation is highly disfavored. The low-energy mechanism involves a nonsynchronous, effectively concerted pathway, in which the active species undergoes first O-O bond homolysis followed by a barrier-free (small with Fe(III)HOOH) hydroxyl radical attack on the meso position of the porphyrin. During the reaction of Fe(III)HOOH, formation of the Por+*FeIV=O species, compound I, competes with heme hydroxylation, thereby reducing the efficiency of the surrogate route. All these conclusions are in accord with experimental findings (Chu, G. C.; Katakura, K.; Zhang, X.; Yoshida, T.; Ikeda-Saito, M. J. Biol. Chem. 1999, 274, 21319). The study highlights the role of the water cluster in the distal pocket in creating "function" for the enzyme; this cluster affects the O-O cleavage and the O-Cmeso formation, but more so it is responsible for the orientation of the hydroxyl radical and for the observed alpha-meso regioselectivity of hydroxylation (Ortiz de Montellano, P. R. Acc. Chem. Res. 1998, 31, 543). Differences/similarities with P450 and HRP are discussed.     

Significance of the molecular shape of iron corrphycene in a protein pocket

The iron complex of a new type of corrphycene bearing two ethoxycarbonyl (-CO2C2H5) groups on the bipyrrole moiety was introduced into apomyoglobin. The reconstituted ferric myoglobin has a coordinating water molecule that deprotonates to hydroxide with a pK(a) value of 7.3 and exhibits 3-10-fold higher affinities for anionic ligands when compared with a counterpart myoglobin with the same substituents on the dipyrroethene moiety. In the ferrous state, the oxygen affinity of the new myoglobin was decreased to 1/410 of the native protein. The anomalies in the ligand binding, notably dependent on the side-chain location, were interpreted in terms of a characteristic core shape of corrphycene that produces the longer and shorter Fe-N(pyrrole) bonds. The spin-state equilibrium analysis of the ferric azide myoglobin containing the new iron corrphycene supported the nonequivalence of the Fe-N(pyrrole) bonds. These results demonstrate that the trapezoidal molecular shape of corrphycene exerts functional significance when the iron complex is placed in a protein pocket.     

Hybridization of modified-heme reconstitution and distal histidine mutation to functionalize sperm whale myoglobin

To modulate the physiological function of a hemoprotein, most approaches have been demonstrated by site-directed mutagenesis. Replacement of the native heme with an artificial prosthetic group is another way to modify a hemoprotein. However, an alternate method, mutation or heme reconstitution, does not always demonstrate sufficient improvement compared with the native heme enzyme. In the present study, to convert a simple oxygen storage hemoprotein, myoglobin, into an active peroxidase, we applied both methods at the same time. The native heme of myoglobin was replaced with a chemically modified heme 2 having two aromatic rings at the heme-propionate termini. The constructed myoglobins were examined for 2-methoxyphenol (guaiacol) oxidation in the presence of H2O2. Compared with native myoglobin, rMb(H64D.2) showed a 430-fold higher kcat/Km value, which is significantly higher than that of cytochrome c peroxidase and only 3-fold less than that of horseradish peroxidase. In addition, myoglobin-catalyzed degradation of bisphenol A was examined by HPLC analysis. The rMb(H64D.2) showed drastic acceleration (>35-fold) of bisphenol A degradation compared with the native myoglobin. In this system, a highly oxidized heme reactive species is smoothly generated and a substrate is effectively bound in the heme pocket, while native myoglobin only reversibly binds dioxygen. The present results indicate that the combination of a modified-heme reconstitution and an amino acid mutation should offer interesting perspectives toward developing a useful biomolecule catalyst from a hemoprotein.