Myoglobin (Mb)1 is a small (17 kDa), well characterized heme protein that is often used as a model system for other heme proteins and the reactions they catalyze. In addition to its native function as an oxygen carrier, Mb has been engineered to efficiently perform peroxidase, catalase, and peroxygenase (sulfoxidation and epoxidation) activities (1-4). Scheme 1 shows three major alternate pathways for the reaction with peroxide. The latest novel function to be proposed for Mb is cytochrome P450-type aromatic carbon hydroxylation. Although hydroxylation by P450s has been extensively studied (5-7), the mechanism is still not fully understood (6,8). Input from new model systems could provide additional insight. P450 enzymes capture their substrates near the heme via specific interactions (9 -11), which Mb cannot do. A Trp was, thus, engineered in the heme pocket of Mb to model P450 hydroxylation of aromatic compounds ( Fig. 1) (12, 13). The monooxygenation product has not previously been observed or isolated due to rapid subsequent oxidation steps.The mechanism of hydroxylation by P450s is proving to be quite complex and may even vary among various P450s (7). Some of the proposed mechanisms involve 1) an epoxide intermediate for the aromatic hydroxylation, 2) a concerted direct insertion of oxygen, 3) a non-concerted sequential insertion involving hydrogen abstraction and oxygen rebound, or 4) a more simple non-concerted radical mechanism (6 -8, 14). Recently it has been found that these mechanisms may not be entirely valid, and the actual mechanism may involve two electrophilic oxidants and/or two spin states of the iron oxo species (6,8,14). Although P450cam has been shown to lose its hydroxylation activity when an imidizole is substituted for the axial thiolate ligand (15, 16), in contrast, chloroperoxidase retains its chlorination, peroxidation, epoxidation, and catalase activities when its thiolate ligand is mutated to histidine (17). Also, studies with iron porphyrin compounds have demonstrated that imidazole ligation can replace the thiolate in P450 type reactions under certain conditions (18). Therefore, because * This work was supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research 14209019 (to Y. W). and 13740384 (to T. U.) and by the 21st Century COE program "Establishment of COE on Materials Science: Elucidation and Creation of Molecular Functions" of Nagoya University (to T. D. P.). 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. ** Present address: National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology Research Institute of Genome-based Biofactory, 2-17 Tsukisamu-Higashi, Toyohira, Sapporo 062-8517, Japan.ʈʈ To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel.: 81-52-789-3049; Fax: 81-52-789-2953; E-mail: yoshi@nucc.cc.nagoya-u.ac.jp. 1 The abbreviations used are: Mb, myoglobin; Mb WDI, Mb F43W/ H64D/V68I mutant; Mb WL, Mb ...