Cysteine dioxygenase (CDO) catalyzes the oxidation of L-cysteine to cysteine sulfinic acid. Deficiencies in this enzyme have been linked to autoimmune diseases and neurological disorders. The x-ray crystal structure of CDO from Mus musculus was solved to a nominal resolution of 1.75 Å. The sequence is 91% identical to that of a human homolog. The structure reveals that CDO adopts the typical -barrel fold of the cupin superfamily. The NE2 atoms of His-86, -88, and -140 provide the metal binding site. The structure further revealed a covalent linkage between the side chains of Cys-93 and Tyr-157, the cysteine of which is conserved only in eukaryotic proteins. Metal analysis showed that the recombinant enzyme contained a mixture of iron, nickel, and zinc, with increased iron content associated with increased catalytic activity. Details of the predicted active site are used to present and discuss a plausible mechanism of action for the enzyme.cupin ͉ cysteine metabolism ͉ O2-activation M ouse cysteine dioxygenase (CDO) catalyzes the initial step in the biochemical pathway used for oxidation of cysteine to sulfate (1), namely the oxidation of L-cysteine to cysteine sulfinic acid as shown in Fig. 1. The enzyme activity has important medical implications because elevated cysteine levels have been associated with Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases (2). High cysteine-to-sulfate ratios have been observed in patients suffering from systemic lupus erthematosus and rheumatoid arthritis (3, 4). Moreover, the Hallervorden-Spatz syndrome, a neurological disorder associated with iron accumulation, has been linked to a decline in CDO activity (5).CDO displays significant sequence identity with some members of the cupin superfamily (6), which have a conserved -barrel fold and share two conserved sequence motifs: G(X) 5 HXH(X) 3,4 E(X) 6 G and G(X) 5 PXG(X) 2 H(X) 3 N (6-8).The two His and Glu residues from the first motif and the His from the second motif coordinate the metal ion in germin, the superfamily archetype (9). The Mus musculus CDO sequence contains the first motif with the exception of the glutamate, which is replaced by cysteine. This substitution is conserved in other eukaryotic CDOs. The second motif is less conserved, and only the His and Asn residues are present in the mouse CDO.CDO does not require an external reductant ( Fig. 1) and incorporates both oxygen atoms from O 2 (10), which justifies the dioxygenase classification, but relatively little else is known about the reaction mechanism. The recombinant enzyme from Rattus norvegicus has been purified and characterized by steadystate kinetics (11); the mouse enzyme investigated here has an identical sequence. Reconstitution of the rat apoenzyme with various transition metals confirmed that iron was required for activity, in accord with the earlier conclusions (1). Moreover, the recombinant rat enzyme was active without a second interacting factor, despite previous reports suggesting that additional components were required (12, 13).Here, we describe the x-ra...