Structural and spectroscopic models of the A-cluster of acetyl coenzyme a synthase/carbon monoxide dehydrogenase: Nature's Monsanto acetic acid catalyst

Acetyl coenzyme A synthase/carbon monoxide dehydrogenase (ACS/CODH) is a bifunctional enzyme present in a number of anaerobic bacteria. The enzyme catalyzes two separate reactions namely, the reduction of atmospheric CO₂ to CO (CODH activity at the C-cluster) and the synthesis of acetyl coenzyme A (ACS activity at the A-cluster) from CO, CH₃ from a corrinoid iron-sulfur protein, and the thiol coenzyme A. The structure(s) of the A-cluster of ACS/CODH from Moorella thermoacetica revealed an unprecedented structure with three different metallic subunits linked to each other through bridging Cys-S residues comprising the active site. In these structure(s) a Fe₄S₄ cubane is bridged via Cys-S to a bimetallic metal cluster. This bimetallic cluster contains a four-coordinate Ni, Cu, or Zn as the proximal metal (to the Fe₄S₄ cluster; designated M_p), which in turn is bridged through two Cys-S residues to a terminal square planar Ni(II) (Ni_d, distal to Fe₄S₄) ligated by two deprotonated carboxamido nitrogens from the peptide backbone. It is now established that Ni is required at the M_p site for the ACS activity. Over the past several years modeling efforts by several groups have provided clues towards understanding the intrinsic properties of the unique site in ACS. To date most studies have focused on dinuclear compounds that model the M_p-Ni_d subsite. Synthesis of such models have revealed that the Ni_p sites (a) are readily removed when mixed with 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) and (b) can be reduced to the Ni(I) and/or Ni(0) oxidation state (deduced by EPR or electrochemical studies) and bind CO in terminal fashion with ν_co value similar to the enzyme. In contrast, the presence of Cu(I) centers at these M_p sites do not bind CO and are not removable with phen supporting a non-catalytic role for Cu(I) at the M_p site in the enzyme. The Ni_d site (coordinated by carboxamido-N/thiolato-S) in these models are very stable in the +2 oxidation state and not readily removed upon treatment with phen suggesting that the source of ‘labile Ni’ and the NiFeC signal arises from the presence of Ni at the M_p site in ACS. This review includes the results and implications of the modeling studies reported so far.