No abstract

Dehaloperoxidase (DHP) from the annelid Amphitrite ornata is a catalytically active hemoglobin-peroxidase that possesses a unique internal binding cavity in the distal pocket above the heme. The previously published crystal structure of DHP shows 4-iodophenol bound internally. This led to the proposal that the internal binding site is the active site for phenol oxidation. However, the native substrate for DHP is 2,4,6-tribromophenol, and all attempts to bind 2,4,6-tribromophenol in the internal site under physiological conditions have failed. Herein, we show that the binding of 4-halophenols in the internal pocket inhibits enzymatic function. Furthermore, we demonstrate that DHP has a unique two-site competitive binding mechanism in which the internal and external binding sites communicate through two conformations of the distal histidine of the enzyme, resulting in nonclassical competitive inhibition. The same distal histidine conformations involved in DHP function regulate oxygen binding and release during transport and storage by hemoglobins and myoglobins. This work provides further support for the hypothesis that DHP possesses an external binding site for substrate oxidation, as is typical for the peroxidase family of enzymes.

Human serum albumin (HSA), the most prominent protein in blood plasma, is able to bind a wide range of endogenous and exogenous compounds. Among the endogenous ligands, HSA is a significant transporter of heme, the heme-HSA complex being present in blood plasma. Drug binding to heme-HSA affects allosterically the heme affinity for HSA and vice versa. Heme-HSA, heme, and their complexes with ibuprofen have been characterized by electronic absorption, resonance Raman, and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. Comparison of the results for the heme and heme-HSA systems has provided insight into the structural consequences on the heme pocket of ibuprofen binding. The pentacoordinate tyrosine-bound heme coordination of heme-HSA, observed in the absence of ibuprofen, becomes hexacoordinate low spin upon ibuprofen binding, and heme dissociates at increasing drug levels. The electronic absorption spectrum and nu(Fe-CO)/nu(CO) vibrational frequencies of the CO-heme-HSA-ibuprofen complex, together with the observation of a Fe-His Raman mode at 218 cm(-1) upon photolysis of the CO complex and the low spin EPR g values indicate that a His residue is one of the low spin axial ligands, the sixth ligand probably being Tyr161. The only His residue in the vicinity of the heme Fe atom is His146, 9 A distant in the absence of the drug. This indicates that drug binding to heme-HSA results in a significant rearrangement of the heme pocket, implying that the conformational adaptability of HSA involves more than the immediate vicinity of the drug binding site. As a whole, the present spectroscopic investigation supports the notion that HSA could be considered as the prototype of monomeric allosteric proteins.

No abstract

The present work highlights the important role played by the distal histidine in controlling the binding of heme ligands in dehaloperoxidase (DHP) as compared to myoglobin and peroxidases. In DHP the distal histidine is highly mobile and undergoes a conformational change that places it within hydrogen-bonding distance of anionic ligands and water, where strong hydrogen bonding can occur. The detailed resonance Raman (RR) analysis at room temperature shows the presence of an equilibrium between a 5-coordinate and a 6-coordinate (aquo) high-spin form. The equilibrium shifts toward the aquo form at 12 K. These two forms are consistent with the existing X-ray structures where a closed conformation, with His55 positioned in the distal pocket and H-bonded with the distal water molecule (6-coordinate), and an open solvent-exposed conformation, with the His55 displaced from the distal pocket (5-coordinate form), are in equilibrium. Moreover, the comparison between the Raman data at 298 and 12 K and the results obtained by EPR of DHP in the presence of 4-iodophenol highlights the formation of a pure 5-coordinate high-spin form (open conformation). The data reported herein support the role of His55 in facilitating the interaction of substrate and inhibitor in the regulation of enzyme function, as previously suggested. The two conformations of His55 in equilibrium at room temperature provide a level of control that permits the distal histidine to act as both the acid-base catalyst in the peroxidase mechanism and the stabilizing amino acid for exogenous heme-coordinated ligands.