The nitrogenase enzyme system catalyzes the ATP (adenosine triphosphate)-dependent reduction of dinitrogen to ammonia during the process of nitrogen fixation. Nitrogenase consists of two proteins: the iron (Fe)-protein, which couples hydrolysis of ATP to electron transfer, and the molybdenum-iron (MoFe)-protein, which contains the dinitrogen binding site. In order to address the role of ATP in nitrogen fixation, the crystal structure of the nitrogenase Fe-protein from Azotobacter vinelandii has been determined at 2.9 angstrom (A) resolution. Fe-protein is a dimer of two identical subunits that coordinate a single 4Fe:4S cluster. Each subunit folds as a single alpha/beta type domain, which together symmetrically ligate the surface exposed 4Fe:4S cluster through two cysteines from each subunit. A single bound ADP (adenosine diphosphate) molecule is located in the interface region between the two subunits. Because the phosphate groups of this nucleotide are approximately 20 A from the 4Fe:4S cluster, it is unlikely that ATP hydrolysis and electron transfer are directly coupled. Instead, it appears that interactions between the nucleotide and cluster sites must be indirectly coupled by allosteric changes occurring at the subunit interface. The coupling between protein conformation and nucleotide hydrolysis in Fe-protein exhibits general similarities to the H-Ras p21 and recA proteins that have been recently characterized structurally. The Fe-protein structure may be relevant to the functioning of other biochemical energy-transducing systems containing two nucleotide-binding sites, including membrane transport proteins.

No abstract

The crystal structure of the nitrogenase molybdenum-iron (MoFe) protein from Clostridium pasteurianum (Cp1) has been determined at 3.0-A resolution by a combination of isomorphous replacement, molecular replacement, and noncrystallographic symmetry averaging. The structure of Cp1, including the two types of metal centers associated with the protein (the FeMo-cofactor and the P-cluster pair), is similar to that previously described for the MoFe-protein from Azotobacter vinelandii (Av1). Unique features of the Cp1 structure arise from the presence of an approximately 50-residue insertion in the alpha subunit and an approximately 50-residue deletion in the beta subunit. As a consequence, the FeMo-cofactor is more buried in Cp1 than in Av1, since the insertion is located on the surface above the FeMo-cofactor. The location of this insertion near the putative nitrogenase iron protein binding site provides a structural basis for the observation that the nitrogenase proteins from C. pasteurianum have low activity with complementary nitrogenase proteins isolated from other organisms. Mechanistic implications of the Cp1 structure for substrate entry/product release, substrate binding to the FeMo-cofactor, and electron- and proton-transfer reactions of nitrogenase are discussed.

While decreasing preload under extreme lab conditions also decreases RCP, simply creating a pneumoperitoneum of 12 mmHg does not. The decrease in renal blood flow associated with pneumoperitoneum is likely not solely a function of preload.

No abstract