A protein containing a heme-binding PAS (PAS is from the protein names in which imperfect repeat sequences were first recognized: PER, ARNT, and SIM) domain from Escherichia coli has been implied a direct oxygen sensor (Ec DOS) enzyme. In the present study, we isolated cDNA for the Ec DOS full-length protein, expressed it in E. coli, and examined its structure-function relationships for the first time. Ec DOS was found to be tetrameric and was obtained as a 6-coordinate low spin ferric heme complex. Its ␣-helix content was calculated as 53% by CD spectroscopy. The redox potential of the heme was found to be ؉67 mV versus SHE. Mutation of His-77 of the isolated PAS domain abolished heme binding, whereas mutation of His-83 did not, suggesting that His-77 is one of the heme axial ligands. Ferrous, but not ferric, Ec DOS had phosphodiesterase (PDE) activity of nearly 0.15 min ؊1 with cAMP, which was optimal at pH 8.5 in the presence of Mg 2؉ and was strongly inhibited by CO, NO, and etazolate, a selective cAMP PDE inhibitor. Absorption spectral changes indicated tight CO and NO bindings to the ferrous heme. Therefore, the present study unequivocally indicates for the first time that Ec DOS exhibits PDE activity with cAMP and that this is regulated by the heme redox state.Heme proteins and enzymes perform a broad range of functions. Well known examples include O 2 storage with myoglobin, O 2 carriage with hemoglobin, mediators of electron transfer with cytochromes, and catalytic activation of heme ligands with P450s and peroxidases (1-3). Recently, a new class of heme enzymes involved in intramolecular signal transduction is emerging, known as heme-based sensors (4 -6). Almost of all the heme-based sensors contain two different functional domains as follows: one is an N-terminal heme domain, which acts a sensor, and the other is a catalytic domain such as a histidine kinase or a soluble guanylate cyclase. These heme sensor enzymes use the heme for mediating transcriptional and regulatory events associated with the presence of gaseous molecules such as CO, NO, and O 2 (4 -6). In these enzymes, the ligand association or dissociation from the heme iron leads to protein conformational changes, which transmit signals to the other domain where they initiate catalytic function or DNA binding. For example, the CooA 1 protein from Rhodospirillum rubrum is a CO sensor heme protein that regulates the expression of the coo genes associated with CO-dependent growth (Refs. 7 and 8 and references therein). Soluble guanylate cyclase is an NO sensor heme protein that regulates conversion of 5Ј-GTP to the intracellular second messenger, cGMP (Refs. 9 and 10 and references therein). Hem-AT-Bs and Hem-AT-Hs are oxygen sensors in which the hemes are thought to mediate signal transduction for methylation of the chemotaxis proteins (11, 12).The Fix proteins, FixL and FixJ, of Rhizobium meliloti are well characterized as biological oxygen sensors and regulate the expression of the nitrogen fixation genes of a plant symbiotic bacterium, Sino...

The heme-regulated phosphodiesterase, Ec DOS, is a redox sensor that uses the heme in its PAS domain to regulate catalysis. The rate of O 2 association (k on ) with full-length Ec DOS is extremely slow at 0. 0019 The phosphodiesterase (PDE) 1 from Escherichia coli, Ec DOS, is composed of an N-terminal heme-bound PAS domain and a C-terminal PDE catalytic domain (1). The basic physicochemical characteristics and function of this enzyme have been partially elucidated by our group and that of Kitagawa et al. (1,2). PDE activity is dependent on the redox state of Ec DOS in that the enzyme is active only when the heme is in the Fe(II) state. Changes in the redox state of the heme bound to the N-terminal PAS domain may induce a subtle conformational change, which intramolecularly transmits signals to the C-terminal PDE domain to initiate and/or regulate catalysis. Ec DOS therefore constitutes a novel class of heme enzymes designated "heme-based sensors" (3-5). These include proteins such as FixL (6, 7), CooA (8, 9), sGC (10, 11), and Hem-AT (12, 13). In these enzymes, association or dissociation of the exogenous axial ligand (O 2 , CO, or NO) from the heme iron leads to protein conformational changes, which in turn transmit signals to other domains to regulate catalysis or binding to DNA. The Ec DOS signal transducing mechanism appears to be unique, since changes in the redox state of the PAS domain, rather than iron coordination chemistry, are responsible for signal transduction (1). However, in other words, signal transduction triggered by ligand binding (CO and NO) is common to Ec DOS and FixL, based on the finding that CO or NO binding abolishes catalysis by Ec DOS (1).The physicochemical properties of the isolated heme-bound PAS domain of Ec DOS were initially characterized by GillesGonzales and colleagues (14). The kinetics of exogenous axial ligand binding to the heme protein and associated equilibrium constants provide useful information on the structure and characteristics of the heme distal site and ligand access channel (16 -19). It is important to study O 2 and CO binding, particularly to full-length Ec DOS, to clarify whether the enzyme is a direct O 2 sensor. These analyses would also be useful in elucidating the structure of the heme distal site and ligand access channel and their relation to the signal transduction mechanism. Based on the amino acid sequence alignment and crystal structure of a similar PAS enzyme, FixL (7,20,21), Met-95 is suggested as a heme axial ligand trans to His-77.In the present study, we report rate and equilibrium constants for O 2 and CO binding to the full-length enzyme in the Fe(II) state, isolated heme-bound PAS domain, and Met-95 * The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.‡ To whom correspondence should be addressed: Institute of Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced Materials, Tohok...

A marked decrease in zinc concentration was observed in plasma (P < 0.001), hindpaw skin (P < 0.01), and dorsal skin (P < 0.01) in zinc-deficient rats (rats fed a zinc-deficient diet for 3 wk), compared with the control rats fed the same zinc-deficient diet supplemented with ZnCO3 (50 mg/kg diet). The threshold intensity needed to elicit vasodilatation in the hindpaw skin of the zinc-deficient rats on electrical stimulation of the saphenous nerve in a peripheral direction was markedly lower (P < 0.01) than that in the control rats. No difference was observed between control (n = 5) and zinc-deficient rats (n = 5) in the magnitude of the plasma extravasation evoked by either histamine or substance P. There was no difference between control and zinc-deficient rats in terms of the dose-response curve for release of histamine by substance P. Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) concentration in the hindpaw skin of the zinc-deficient rats was nearly fourfold higher (P < 0.01) than that of the control rats, whereas no difference in the leukotriene B4 level in the hindpaw skin was observed between control and zinc-deficient rats. From the present study, it seems likely that an increased level of PGE2 in the vicinity of the nociceptive C-fiber terminals in the hindpaw skin of zinc-deficient rats may sensitize the terminals of the nociceptive C-fibers of the saphenous afferent nerve in the hindpaw and thus facilitate the production of antidromic vasodilatation.

Redoxセンサータンパク質， ヘム制御ホスホジエスエラーゼの構造と機能 東北大学多元物質科学研究所 黒河博文，吉村-鈴木登紀子，笹倉由貴江，渡部美紀 平田智士，田口須恵，五十嵐城太郎，佐上郁子，清水 透Heme-regulated phosphodiesterase from Escherichia coli (Ec DOS) is a novel PAS heme-sensor enzyme. Ec DOS is active in the Fe 2+ heme-bound form, whereas it is inactive in the Fe 3+ heme-bound form. To elucidate the mechanism of the redox-dependent heme-regulated catalysis, we examined spectroscopic and functional characters of site-directed and deletion mutant proteins. We also determined crystal structures of the wild type enzyme under various conditions. In this review, we summarized findings about hemesensor proteins, PAS domain and phosphodiesterase in general and structure and function relationships of Ec DOS specifically. .(カラー図は電子ジャーナ ル参照)