The single‐atom enzyme (SAE) is a novel type of nanozyme that exhibits extraordinary catalytic activity. Here, we constructed a PEGylated manganese‐based SAE (Mn/PSAE) by coordination of single‐atom manganese to nitrogen atoms in hollow zeolitic imidazolate frameworks. Mn/PSAE catalyzes the conversion of cellular H2O2 to .OH through a Fenton‐like reaction; it also promotes the decomposition of H2O2 to O2 and continuously catalyzes the conversion of O2 to cytotoxic .O2− via oxidase‐like activity. The catalytic activity of Mn/PSAE is more pronounced in the weak acidic tumor environment; therefore, these cascade reactions enable the sufficient generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and effectively kill tumor cells. The prominent photothermal conversion property of the amorphous carbon can be utilized for photothermal therapy. Hence, Mn/PSAE exhibits significant therapeutic efficacy through tumor microenvironment stimulated generation of multiple ROS and photothermal activity.

Heme oxygenase, HO, from the pathogenic bacterium Neisseria meningitidis catabolizes heme for the iron necessary for infection. The enzyme, labeled HemO, exhibits less sequence homology to mammalian HO than another studied HO from Corynebacterium diphtheriae. Solution 1H NMR has been utilized to define the active site molecular and electronic structure of the cyanide-inhibited, substrate-bound complex for comparison with those provided by several crystal structures. Extensive assignments by solely 1H NMR 2D methods reveal a structure that is very strongly conserved with respect to the crystal structure, although 1H/2H exchange indicates dynamically much more stable distal and proximal helices than those for other HOs. Several residues found with alternate orientations in crystal structures of water- and NO-ligated complexes were shown to occupy positions found solely in the NO complex, confirming that there are structural accommodations in response to ligating the substrate complex with a diatomic, H-bond acceptor ligand. The observed dipolar shifts allow the determination of the magnetic axes that show that the Fe-CN unit is tilted approximately 10 degrees toward the alpha-meso position, thereby facilitating the alpha-stereoselectivity of the enzyme. Numerous labile protons with larger than usual low-field bias are identified and, in common with the other HO complexes, shown to participate in an extended, distal side H-bond network. This H-bond network orders several water molecules, most, but not all, of which have been detected crystallographically. A series of three C-terminal residues, His207-Arg208-His209, are not detected in crystal structures. However, 1H NMR finds two residues, His207 and likely Arg208 in contact with pyrrole D, which in crystal structures is exposed to solvent. The nature of the NOEs leads us to propose a H-bond between the proximally oriented His207 ring and the carboxylate of Asp27 and a salt-bridge between the terminus of Arg208 and the reoriented 7-propionyl carboxylate. While numerous ordered water molecules are found near both propionates in the crystal structure, we find much larger water NOEs to the 6- than 7-propionate, suggesting that water molecules near the 7-propionate have been expelled from the cavity by the insertion of Arg208 into the distal pocket. The conversion of the 7-propionate link from the N-terminal region (Lys16) to the C-terminal region (Arg208) in the ligated substrate complex both closes the heme cavity more tightly and may facilitate product exit, the rate-limiting step in the enzyme activity.

Resistance is futile: A platinum(IV) prodrug conjugated to a gold‐nanorod‐based delivery agent avoids the type of drug resistance that is associated with cisplatin (see picture). This conjugate is taken up into cells through endocytosis, thus avoiding the resistance‐associated uptake mediated by the copper transport protein Ctr1. The platinum(IV) prodrug is more inert than cisplatin to glutathione and metallothionein, which cause deactivation.

Protein splicing is a precise auto-catalytic process in which an intein excises itself from a precursor with the concomitant ligation of the flanking sequences. Protein splicing occurs through acid-base catalysis in which the ionization states of active site residues are crucial to the reaction mechanism. In inteins, several conserved histidines have been shown to play important roles in protein splicing, including the most conserved "B-block" histidine. In this study, we have combined NMR pK a determination with quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) modeling to study engineered inteins from Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtu) RecA intein. We demonstrate a dramatic pK a shift for the invariant B-block histidine, the most conserved residue among inteins. The B-block histidine has a pK a of 7.3 ± 0.6 in a precursor and a pK a of < 3.5 in a spliced intein. The pK a values and QM/MM data suggest that the B-block histidine has a dual role in the acid-base catalysis of protein splicing. This histidine likely acts as a general base to initiate splicing with an acyl shift and then as a general acid to cause the breakdown of the scissile bond. The proposed pK a shift mechanism accounts for the biochemical data supporting the essential role for the B-block histidine and for the absolute sequence conservation of this residue.