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Crystal structures of wild-type p-hydroxybenzoate hydroxylase complexed with 4-aminobenzoate,2,4-dihydroxybenzoate, and 2-hydroxy-4-aminobenzoate and of the Tyr222Ala mutant complexed with 2-hydroxy-4-aminobenzoate. Evidence for a proton channel and a new binding mode of the flavin ring.

The crystal structures of wild-type p-hydroxybenzoate hydroxylase from Pseudomonas fluorescens, complexed with the substrate analogues 4-aminobenzoate, 2,4-dihydroxybenzoate, and 2-hydroxy-4-aminobenzoate have been determined at 2.3-, 2.5-, and 2.8-A resolution, respectively. In addition, the crystal structure of a Tyr222Ala mutant, complexed with 2-hydroxy-4-aminobenzoate, has been determined at 2.7-A resolution. The structures have been refined to R factors between 14.5% and 15.8% for data between 8.0 A and the high-resolution limit. The differences between these complexes and the wild-type enzyme-substrate complex are all concentrated in the active site region. Binding of substrate analogues bearing a 4-amino group (4-aminobenzoate and 2-hydroxy-4-aminobenzoate) leads to binding of a water molecule next to the active site Tyr385. As a result, a continuous hydrogen-bonding network is present between the 4-amino group of the substrate analogue and the side chain of His72. It is likely that this hydrogen-bonding network is transiently present during normal catalysis, where it may or may not function as a proton channel assisting the deprotonation of the 4-hydroxyl group of the normal substrate upon binding to the active site. Binding of substrate analogues bearing a hydroxyl group at the 2-position (2,4-dihydroxybenzoate and 2-hydroxy-4-aminobenzoate) leads to displacement of the flavin ring from the active site. The flavin is no longer in the active site (the "in" conformation) but is in the cleft leading to the active site instead (the "out" conformation). It is proposed that movement of the FAD out of the active site may provide an entrance for the substrate to enter the active site and an exit for the product to leave.

4-Aminobenzoic Acid↗

Mechanistic studies with general acyl-CoA dehydrogenase and butyryl-CoA dehydrogenase: evidence for the transfer of the beta-hydrogen to the flavin N(5)-position as a hydride.

Butyryl-CoA dehydrogenase from Megasphera elsdenii catalyzes the exchange of the alpha- and beta-hydrogens of substrate with solvent [Gomes, B., Fendrich, G., & Abeles, R. H. (1981) Biochemistry 20, 1481-1490]. The stoichiometry of this exchange was determined by using 3H2O label as 1.94 +/- 0.1 per substrate molecule. The rate of 3H label incorporation into substrate under anaerobic conditions is monophasic, indicating that both the alpha- and beta-hydrogens exchange at the same rate. The exchange in 2H2O leads to incorporation of one 2H each into the alpha- and the beta-positions of butyryl-CoA, as determined by companion 1H NMR experiments and confirmed by mass spectroscopic analysis. In contrast, with general acyl-CoA dehydrogenase from pig kidney, only exchange of the alpha-hydrogen was found. The beta-hydrogen is the one that is transferred (reversibly) to the flavin 5-position during substrate dehydrogenation. This was demonstrated by reacting 5-3H- and 5-2H-reduced 5-deaza-FAD-general acyl-CoA dehydrogenase with crotonyl-CoA. Only one face of the reduced flavin analogue is capable of transferring hydrogen to substrate. The rate of this reaction is 11.1 s-1 for 5-deaza-FAD-enzyme and 2.2 s-1 for [5-2H]deaza-FAD-enzyme, yielding an isotope effect of 5. These values compare with a rate of 2.6 s-1 for the reaction of native reduced enzyme with crotonyl-CoA. The two reduced enzymes (normal vs. 5-deaza-FAD-enzyme) thus react at similar rates, indicating a similar mechanism.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Acyl Coenzyme A↗

DNA repair catalyzed by Escherichia coli DNA photolyase containing only reduced flavin: elimination of the enzyme's second chromophore by reduction with sodium borohydride.

DNA photolyase from Escherichia coli contains FAD plus a partially characterized, second chromophore. In vivo, the flavin is fully reduced (FADH2), but oxidation to a stable, blue radical (FADH.) occurs during enzyme isolation. The second chromophore is irreversibly reduced by reaction of the enzyme with sodium borohydride or by photoreduction in the presence of dithiothreitol. A similar reaction occurs with the protein-free chromophore and sodium cyanoborohydride. Reduction of the second chromophore is accompanied by a complete loss of the chromophore's visible absorption and fluorescence but does not significantly affect catalytic activity. The results show that the enzyme can repair dimers by a pathway involving only FADH2. Enzyme-bound FADH2 is fluorescent and exhibits emission (505 nm) and absorption (360 nm) maxima similar to that expected for a 1,5-dihydroflavin derivative. It is proposed that dimer cleavage via the second chromophore independent pathway involves electron donation from excited FADH2 to pyrimidine dimer. Pyrimidine dimer radicals are unstable and spontaneously monomerize. Unmodified second chromophore can also act as a sensitizer in a pathway that requires FADH2. This pathway may be similar to that proposed for the second chromophore independent reaction except that excited FADH2 would be produced via energy transfer from the excited second chromophore. The fluorescence observed for enzyme-bound, unmodified second chromophore is quenched by FADH. and increases 6-fold when the latter is reduced, but the absorption spectrum (lambda max = 390 nm epsilon 390 = 12.7 x 10(3) M-1 cm-1) is independent of the redox state of the flavin.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Borohydrides↗

Resonance Raman spectra for flavin derivatives modified in the 8 position.

Spontaneous resonance Raman or resonance-enhanced AC-coupled inverse Raman spectra were obtained for 8-mercaptoriboflavin, 8-(dimethylamino) riboflavin, 8-hydroxyriboflavin, and 8-aminoriboflavin all free in solution. These Raman spectra were all similar to one another and markedly different from that of riboflavin. In addition, the Raman spectra of 8-mercaptoflavin bound to the apoproteins of old yellow enzyme, glucose oxidase, and L-lactate oxidase were determined. The Raman spectra of these protein-bound flavins were distinctly different from both those of the above 8-substituted riboflavins and that of riboflavin. An argument is presented in favor of assigning a quinonoid electronic structure to these protein-bound flavins.

Flavins↗

Resonance Raman spectra of flavin derivatives containing chemical modifications in positions 7 and 8 of the isoalloxazine ring.

The resonance Raman spectra of riboflavin, 7,8-dichlororiboflavin, 8-chlororiboflavin, 8-bromoriboflavin, 8-(methylmercapto)riboflavin, 7-chlorolumiflavin, 8-norlumiflavin, 7,8-norlumiflavin, and 3-CH2COOH-lumiflavin were measured in complex with riboflavin binding protein, which was used as a fluorescence quenching agent. Shifts in the positions of Raman bands in the vicinity of 1250, 1405, 1550, and 1585 cm-1 were observed in the spectra of many of these flavin derivatives. Comparable shifts were found in the IR spectra (solid KBr) of the uncomplexed flavins. The perturbed bands have been previously assigned to reasonably localized stretching modes in the isoalloxazine system, which are well removed from the 7 and 8 positions. Thus, a direct effect on these bands due to modification of the substitutents at positions 7 and 8 is precluded. These observations have led us to conclude that these Raman bands are associated with highly delocalized aromatic framework vibrations.

Carrier Proteins↗

Isolation and properties of bacterial luciferase-oxygenated flavin intermediate complexed with long-chain alcohols.

Nonsubstrate long-chain aliphatic alcohols, carboxylic acids, and their methyl esters were found to complex reversibly with and stabilize an oxygenated flavin-luciferase intermediate, with alcohols being more effective in stabilizing the intermediate. Dissociation constants for the binding of alcohols to luciferase intermediate are in the order of K8 greater than K10 greater than K12 congruent to K14 where the subscripts represent the numbers of carbon atoms of various alcohols. Thermodynamic activation parameters for the decay of oxygenated flavin-luciferase intermediate complexed with alcohols or aldehydes were determined, and similarities were noted between alcohol and aldehyde complexes. Luciferase intermediate complexes formed with 1-decanol and 1-tetradecanol were isolated at 0 degrees C in neutral phosphate buffer, and both showed absorption properties characteristic of 4a-substituted dihydroflavins. The 1-tetradecanol-intermediate species contained one favin per luciferase molecule. Initially this complex was weakly fluorescent, but upon exposure to 370-nm light it was transformed to a highly fluorescent species. The latter shows a fluorescence excitation peak at 370 nm, and its fluorescence emission (lambda max 505 nm) and quantum yield (0.17) closely correspond to that of bioluminescence in vitro. Both the weakly and the highly fluorescent species exhibit full bioluminescence activities when reacted with decanal.

Alcohols↗

Differential effects of 8-anilino-1-naphthalenesulfonate upon binding of oxidized and reduced flavines by bacterial luciferase.

Upon binding to bacterial luciferase, both the absorption and the fluorescence excitatiom maxima of 8-anilino-1-naphthalensulfonate (ANS) shift from 353 to 370 nm while the fluorescence emission optimum shifts from 540 to 480 nm, and the fluorescence quantum yield increases from 0.003 to 0.39, indicating that the environment of the ANS binding site is hydrophobic. ANS binds to luciferase with dissociation constants of 1.9 X 10(-5) and 2.3 X 10(-5) M at 5 and 23 degrees, repsectively. As with both oxidized flavine mononucleotide (FMN) and reduced flavine mononucleotide (FMNH2), ANS also binds to luciferase with a stoichiometry of 1 site per dimeric luciferase molecule. ANS acts as a luciferase inhibitor, competitive with FMNH2, with an inhibitor constant of 2.3 X 10(-5) M at 23 degrees. However, the binding of ANS does not significantly displace FMN from binding to luciferase. Interactions of FMN and FMNH2 with luciferase are thus differentially regulated by the ANS binding.

Anilino Naphthalenesulfonates↗

Expression and characterization of ferredoxin and flavin adenine dinucleotide binding domains of the reductase component of soluble methane monooxygenase from Methylococcus capsulatus (Bath).

Soluble methane monooxygenase (sMMO) from Methylococcus capsulatus (Bath) catalyzes the selective oxidation of methane to methanol, the first step in the primary catabolic pathway of methanotrophic bacteria. A reductase (MMOR) mediates electron transfer from NADH through its FAD and [2Fe-2S] cofactors to the dinuclear non-heme iron sites housed in a hydroxylase (MMOH). The structurally distinct [2Fe-2S], FAD, and NADH binding domains of MMOR facilitated division of the protein into its functional ferredoxin (MMOR-Fd) and FAD/NADH (MMOR-FAD) component domains. The 10.9 kDa MMOR-Fd (MMOR residues 1-98) and 27.6 kDa MMOR-FAD (MMOR residues 99-348) were expressed and purified from recombinant Escherichia coli systems. The Fd and FAD domains have absorbance spectral features identical to those of the [2Fe-2S] and flavin components, respectively, of MMOR. Redox potentials, determined by reductive titrations that included indicator dyes, for the [2Fe-2S] and FAD cofactors in the domains are as follows: -205.2 +/- 1.3 mV for [2Fe-2S](ox/red), -172.4 +/- 2.0 mV for FAD(ox/sq), and -266.4 +/- 3.5 mV for FAD(sq/hq). Kinetic and spectral properties of intermediates observed in the reaction of oxidized MMOR-FAD (FAD(ox)) with NADH at 4 degrees C were established with stopped-flow UV-visible spectroscopy. Analysis of the influence of pH on MMOR-FAD optical spectra, redox potentials, and NADH reaction kinetics afforded pK(a) values for the semiquinone (FAD(sq)) and hydroquinone (FAD(hq)) MMOR-FAD species and two protonatable groups near the flavin cofactor. Electron transfer from MMOR-FAD(hq) to oxidized MMOR-Fd is extremely slow (k = 1500 M(-1) s(-1) at 25 degrees C, compared to 90 s(-1) at 4 degrees C for internal electron transfer between cofactors in MMOR), indicating that cofactor proximity is essential for efficient interdomain electron transfer.

Binding Sites↗

Spectroscopic and mutational analysis of the blue-light photoreceptor AppA: a novel photocycle involving flavin stacking with an aromatic amino acid.

The flavoprotein AppA is a blue-light photoreceptor that functions as an antirepressor of photosynthesis gene expression in the purple bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides. Heterologous expression studies show that FAD binds to a 156 amino acid N-terminal domain of AppA and that this domain is itself photoactive. A pulse of white light causes FAD absorption to be red shifted in a biphasic process with a fast phase occurring in <1 micros and a slow phase occurring at approximately 5 ms. The absorbance shift was spontaneously restored over a 30 min period, also in a biphasic process as assayed by fluorescence quenching and electronic absorption analyses. Site-directed replacement of Tyr21 with Leu or Phe abolished the photochemical reaction implicating involvement of Tyr21 in the photocycle. Nuclear magnetic resonance analysis of wild-type and mutant proteins also indicates that Tyr21 forms pi-pi stacking interactions with the isoalloxazine ring of FAD. We propose that photochemical excitation of the flavin results in strengthening of a hydrogen bond between the flavin and Tyr 21 leading to a stable local conformational change in AppA.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Coordinated production and utilization of FADH2 by NAD(P)H-flavin oxidoreductase and 4-hydroxyphenylacetate 3-monooxygenase.

4-Hydroxyphenylacetate (4HPA) 3-monooxygenase (HpaB) is a reduced flavin adenine dinucleotide (FADH(2)) utilizing monooxygenase. Its cosubstrate, FADH(2), is supplied by HpaC, an NAD(P)H-flavin oxidoreductase. Because HpaB is the first enzyme for 4HPA metabolism, FADH(2) production and utilization become a major metabolic event when Escherichia coli W grows on 4HPA. An important question is how FADH(2) is produced and used, as FADH(2) is unstable in the presence of free O(2). One solution is metabolic channeling by forming a transitory HpaB-HpaC complex. However, our in vivo and in vitro data failed to support the interaction. Further investigation pointed to an alternative scheme for HpaB to sequester FADH(2). The intracellular HpaB concentration was about 122 microM in 4HPA-growing cells, much higher than the total intracellular FAD concentration, and HpaB had a high affinity for FADH(2) (K(d) of 70 nM), suggesting that most FADH(2) is bound to HpaB in vivo. The HpaB-bound FADH(2) was either used to rapidly oxidize 4HPA or slowly oxidized by O(2) to FAD and H(2)O(2) in the absence of 4HPA. Thus, HpaB's high intracellular concentration, its high affinity for FADH(2), its property of protecting bound FADH(2) in the absence of 4HPA, and its ability to rapidly use FADH(2) to oxidize 4HPA when 4HPA is available can coordinate FADH(2) production and utilization by HpaB and HpaC in vivo. This type of coordination, in responding to demand, for production and utilization of labile metabolites has not been reported to date.

Cloning, Molecular↗

The structure of the S127P mutant of cytochrome b5 reductase that causes methemoglobinemia shows the AMP moiety of the flavin occupying the substrate binding site.

Methemoglobinemia, the first hereditary disease to be identified that involved an enzyme deficiency, has been ascribed to mutations in the enzyme cytochrome b(5) reductase. A variety of defects in either the erythrocytic or microsomal forms of the enzyme have been identified that give rise to the type I or type II variant of the disease, respectively. The positions of the methemoglobinemia-causing mutations are scattered throughout the protein sequence, but the majority of the nontruncated mutants that produce type II symptoms occur close to the flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) cofactor binding site. While X-ray structures have been determined for the soluble, flavin-containing diaphorase domains of the rat and pig enzymes, no X-ray or NMR structure has been described for the human enzyme or any of the methemoglobinemia variants. S127P, a mutant that causes type II methemoglobinemia, was the first to be positively identified and have its spectroscopic and kinetic properties characterized that revealed altered nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide hydride (NADH) substrate binding behavior. To understand these changes at a structural level, we have determined the structure of the S127P mutant of rat cytochrome b(5) reductase to 1.8 A resolution, providing the first structural snapshot of a cytochrome b(5) reductase mutant that causes methemoglobinemia. The high-resolution structure revealed that the adenosine diphosphate (ADP) moiety of the FAD prosthetic group is displaced into the corresponding ADP binding site of the physiological substrate, NADH, thus acting as a substrate inhibitor which is consistent with both the spectroscopic and kinetic data.

Adenosine Monophosphate↗

Mechanistic studies of a flavin-dependent thymidylate synthase.

The ThyA gene that encodes for thymidylate synthase (TS) is absent in the genomes of a large number of bacteria, including several human pathogens. Many of these bacteria also lack the genes for dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) and thymidine kinase and are totally dependent on an alternative enzyme for thymidylate synthesis. Thy1 encodes flavin-dependent TS (FDTS, previously denoted as TSCP) and shares no sequence homology with classical TS genes. Mechanistic studies of a FDTS from Thermotoga maritima (TM0449) are presented here. Several isotopic labeling experiments reveal details of the catalyzed reaction, and a chemical mechanism that is consistent with the experimental data is proposed. The reaction proceeds via a ping-pong mechanism where nicotinamide binding and release precedes the oxidative half-reaction. The enzyme is primarily pro-R specific with regard to the nicotinamide (NADPH), the oxidation of which is the rate-limiting step of the whole catalytic cascade. An enzyme-bound flavin is reduced with an isotope effect of 25 (consistent with H-tunneling) and exchanges protons with the solvent prior to the reduction of an intermediate methylene. A quantitative assay was developed, and the kinetic parameters were measured. A significant NADPH substrate inhibition and large K(M) rationalized the slow activity reported for this enzyme in the past. These and other findings are compared with classical TS (ThyA) catalysis in terms of kinetic and molecular mechanisms. The differences between the FDTS proposed mechanism and that of the classical TS are striking and invoke the notion that mechanism-based drugs will selectively inhibit FDTS and will not have much effect on human (and other eukaryotes) TS. Since TS activity is essential to DNA replication, the unique mechanism of FDTS makes it an attractive target for antibiotic drug development.

Catalysis↗

6-S-cysteinyl flavin mononucleotide-containing histamine dehydrogenase from Nocardioides simplex: molecular cloning, sequencing, overexpression, and characterization of redox centers of enzyme.

Histamine dehydrogenase from Nocardioides simplex is a homodimeric enzyme and catalyzes oxidative deamination of histamine. The gene encoding this enzyme has been sequenced and cloned by polymerase chain reactions and overexpressed in Escherichia coli. The sequence of the complete open reading frame, 2073 bp coding for a protein of 690 amino acids, was determined on both strands. The amino acid sequence of histamine dehydrogenase is closely related to those of trimethylamine dehydrogenase and dimethylamine dehydrogenase containing an unusual covalently bound flavin mononucleotide, 6-S-cysteinyl-flavin mononucleotide, and one 4Fe-4S cluster as redox active cofactors in each subunit of the homodimer. The presence of the identical redox cofactors in histamine dehydrogenase has been confirmed by sequence alignment analysis, mass spectral analysis, UV-vis and EPR spectroscopy, and chemical analysis of iron and acid-labile sulfur. These results suggest that the structure of histamine dehydrogenase in the vicinity of the two redox centers is almost identical to that of trimethylamine dehydrogenase as a whole. The structure modeling study, however, demonstrated that a putative substrate-binding cavity in histamine dehydrogenase is quite distinct from that of trimethylamine dehydrogenase.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Flavins inhibit human cytomegalovirus UL80 protease via disulfide bond formation.

Among the most potent inhibitors of human cytomegalovirus protease identified by random screening of a chemical library was 1,4-dihydro-7,8-dimethyl 6H-pyrimido[1,2-b]-1,2,4,5-tetrazin-6-one (1) (PTH2). The oxidized form (2), PT, which is present in solutions of PTH2, was shown to be the actual inhibitory species which irreversibly inactivates the protease; recycling of PTH2 by dissolved oxygen results in complete inhibition of the protease at substoichiometric amounts of compound. No evidence for a covalent adduct between the protease and the inhibitor was obtained, and protease activity was restored by incubation of the inactivated enzyme with the reducing agent bismercaptoethyl sulfone, suggesting that disulfide bond formation was responsible for the observed inhibition. The five cysteines of the protease are normally in the reduced state; analysis of tryptic peptides from inhibited protease indicated that disulfide bonds Cys84-Cys87 and Cys138-Cys161 were formed. Using site-directed mutagenesis, the disulfide pair induced between Cys138 and Cys161 disulfide is dependent upon interaction of PT with the protease and does not form spontaneously, unlike that of the Cys84-Cys87 pair which can form in the absence of inhibitor. The inhibitor's redox chemistry is analogous to that of flavin, and, in fact, flavin inhibits the protease by the same mechanism, causing formation of a disulfide bond between Cys138 and Cys161. That the cysteines are dispensable, but can regulate protease activity by formation of a unique disulfide pair, suggests a plausible mechanism for control of proteolysis during the viral life cycle.

Base Sequence↗

Probing the chemistries of the substrate and flavin ring system of p-hydroxybenzoate hydroxylase by raman difference spectroscopy.

Details of the substrate, p-hydroxybenzoate, and substrate analog, p-aminobenzoate, binding to p-hydroxybenzoate hydroxylase have been elicited by Raman difference spectroscopy. Deep red (752 nm) excitation was used to avoid interference from a fluorescence background. The Raman data provide information on changes in the ligand upon binding as well as changes in the flavin ring system of the enzyme in the enzyme-substrate complex. For p-aminobenzoate, its three most intense Raman features, due to a phenyl mode (1607 cm-1) and carboxylate stretching (1383 cm-1) and scissoring (863 cm-1) motions, are little perturbed upon binding and show no changes in the pH range 6.5-8.5. However, changes in a number of spectral features associated with isoalloxazine modes in this pH range are evidence for a protonation/deprotonation event occurring in or near the active site. A feature in the difference spectrum of the complex at 1700 cm-1 is assigned to the stretch of the 4C&dbd;O group of the isoalloxazine; the relatively narrow profile of this feature is due to the ring being held in a rigid network of hydrogen bonds as demonstrated by the X-ray-derived structure [Schreuder, H. A., Prick, P. A. J., Wierenga, R. K., Vriend, G., Wilson, K. S., Hol, W. G. J., & Drenth, J. (1989) J. Mol. Biol. 208, 679-696]. The absence of a corresponding negative band in the spectrum near 1725 cm-1 shows that in the enzyme, in the absence of ligand, the 4C&dbd;O peak is "washed out" by a fluctuating series of hydrogen bonds to water molecules which penetrate to the flavin ring, resulting in a broad C&dbd;O stretching feature which escapes detection in the difference spectrum. For p-hydroxybenzoate, upon complexation, the -COO- symmetric stretch shifts 10 cm-1, which is ascribed to the formation of the salt bridge to the guanidinium of Arg 214, seen in the X-ray structure. This is in contrast with the results for the complex involving the p-amino analog where no shift in the carboxylate mode is detected and demonstrates an advantage of using vibrational spectroscopy as a fine probe of active site interactions, since the X-ray structures for the p-amino and p-hydroxy analog complexes indicate that the structures in the -COO- group guanidinium regions are the same. The Raman difference data for the substrate complex in the 1700 cm-1 region closely resemble those for the p-amino analog, indicating that in both cases the 4C&dbd;O group is participating in a rigid hydrogen bonding network in the complexes with ligand but is in a more dynamic hydrogen bonding environment involving water molecules in the unliganded enzyme. In order to measure the pKa of the -OH group in bound p-hydroxybenzoate, the substrate was labeled with 18O in both -COO- oxygen atoms. By subtracting the Raman spectrum of the complex with labeled substrate from that with unlabeled substrate, a simple difference spectrum was obtained with features involving the -COO- group alone. These features were used to measure the pKa of the ring hydroxyl group which was found to be 8.3. The value determined from absorption spectroscopy is 7.4, and possible reasons for the discrepancy are discussed. Both methods are in accord, however, in that they show that the pKa of the bound substrate is substantially below that for the free, a device which assists in the hydroxylation at the 3-position.

4-Hydroxybenzoate-3-Monooxygenase↗

Mechanism of activation of acyl-CoA substrates by medium chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase: interaction of the thioester carbonyl with the flavin adenine dinucleotide ribityl side chain.

The flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) cofactor of pig kidney medium-chain specific acyl-coenzyme A (CoA) dehydrogenase (MCADH) has been replaced by ribityl-3'-deoxy-FAD and ribityl-2'-deoxy-FAD. 3'-Deoxy-FAD-MCADH has properties very similar to those of native MCADH, indicating that the FAD-ribityl side-chain 3'-OH group does not play any particular role in cofactor binding or catalysis. 2'-Deoxy-FAD-MCADH was characterized using the natural substrate C8CoA as well as various substrate and transition-state analogues. Substrate dehydrogenation in 2'-deoxy-FAD-MCADH is approximately 1.5 x 10(7)-fold slower than that of native MCADH, indicating that disruption of the hydrogen bond between 2'-OH and substrate thioester carbonyl leads to a substantial transition-state destabilization equivalent to approximately 38 kJ mol-1. The alphaC-H microscopic pKa of the substrate analogue 3S-C8CoA, which undergoes alpha-deprotonation on binding to MCADH, is lowered from approximately 16 in the free state to approximately 11 (+/-0.5) when bound to 2'-deoxy-FAD-MCADH. This compares with a decrease of the same pKa to approximately 5 in the complex with unmodified hwtMCADH, which corresponds to a pK shift of approximately 11 pK units, i.e., approximately 65 kJ mol-1 [Vock, P., Engst, S., Eder, M., and Ghisla, S. (1998) Biochemistry 37, 1848-1860]. The difference of this effect of approximately 6 pK units ( approximately 35 kJ mol-1) between MCADH and 2'-deoxy-FAD-MCADH is taken as the level of stabilization of the substrate carbanionic species caused by the interaction with the FAD-2'-OH. This energetic parameter derived from the kinetic experiments (stabilization of transition state) is in agreement with those obtained from static experiments (lowering of alphaC-H microscopic pKa of analogue, i.e., stabilization of anionic transition-state analogue). The contributions of the two single H-bonds involved in substrate activation (Glu376amide-N-H and ribityl-2'-OH) thus appear to behave additively toward the total effect. The crystal structures of native pMCADH and of 2'-deoxy-FAD-MCADH complexed with octanoyl-CoA/octenoyl-CoA show unambiguously that the FAD cofactor and the substrate/product bind in an identical fashion, implying that the observed effects are mainly due to (the absence of) the FAD-ribityl-2'-OH hydrogen bond. The large energy associated with the 2'-OH hydrogen bond interaction is interpreted as resulting from the changes in charge and the increased hydrophobicity induced by binding of lipophilic substrate. This is the first example demonstrating the direct involvement of a flavin cofactor side chain in catalysis.

Acyl-CoA Dehydrogenase↗

The electronic structure of the flavin cofactor in DNA photolyase.

Density functional theory is used to calculate the electronic structure of the neutral flavin radical, FADH(*), formed in the light-induced electron-transfer reaction of DNA repair in cis,syn-cyclobutane pyrimidine dimer photolyases. Using the hybrid B3LYP functional together with the double-zeta basis set EPR-II, (1)H, (13)C, (15)N, and (17)O isotropic and anisotropic hyperfine couplings are calculated and explained by reference to the electron densities of the highest occupied molecular orbital and of the unpaired spin distribution on the radical. Comparison of calculated and experimental hyperfine couplings obtained from EPR and ENDOR/TRIPLE resonance leads to a refined structure for the FAD cofactor in Escherichia coli DNA photolyase. Hydrogen bonding at N3H, O4, and N5H results in significant changes in the unpaired spin density distribution and hyperfine coupling constants. The calculated electronic structure of FADH(*) provides evidence for a superexchange-mediated electron transfer between the cyclobutane pyrimidine dimer lesion and the 7,8-dimethyl isoalloxazine moiety of the flavin cofactor via the adenine moiety.

Crystallography, X-Ray↗

Determination of the distance between the two neutral flavin radicals in augmenter of liver regeneration by pulsed ELDOR.

Pulsed electron-electron double resonance (ELDOR) has been used to obtain structural information from a FAD-dependent sulfhydryl oxidase, Augmenter of Liver Regeneration (ALR). ALR is a homodimer with each subunit containing a noncovalently bound FAD cofactor. Both FADs may be converted into the blue neutral radical form by aerobic treatment with DTT. From three-pulse and four-pulse ELDOR experiments, a distance of 26.1 +/- 0.8 A could be determined between the FAD cofactors in human ALR. Taking into account the electron spin density distribution in a neutral flavin radical obtained from density functional theory calculations, a distance of 26.9 A could be estimated for the separation of the spin centers in the X-ray structure of rat ALR. The good agreement confirms that rat ALR may be used as a model for mechanistic discussions of human ALR. The experiments also demonstrate that neutral flavin radicals have the appropriate properties to be used as intrinsic spin labels for distance determinations in proteins.

Electron Spin Resonance Spectroscopy↗