Aconitase stereospecificity

Iron Sulfur Compounds. Many molecular compounds (18—20) are known in which iron is tetrahedraHy coordinated by a combination of thiolate and sulfide donors. Of the 10 or more stmcturaHy characterized classes of Fe—S compounds, the four shown in Figure 1 are known to occur in proteins. The mononuclear iron site REPLACE occurs in the one-iron bacterial electron-transfer protein mbredoxin. The [2Fe—2S] (10) and [4Fe—4S] (12) cubane stmctures are found in the 2-, 4-, and 8-iron ferredoxins, which are also electron-transfer proteins. The [3Fe—4S] voided cubane stmcture (11) has been found in some ferredoxins and in the inactive form of aconitase, the enzyme which catalyzes the stereospecific hydration—rehydration of citrate to isocitrate in the Krebs cycle. In addition, enzymes are known that contain either other types of iron sulfur clusters or iron sulfur clusters that include other metals. Examples include nitrogenase, which reduces N2 to NH at a MoFe Sg homocitrate cluster carbon monoxide dehydrogenase, which assembles acetyl-coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA) at a FeNiS site and hydrogenases, which catalyze the reversible reduction of protons to hydrogen gas. 

FIGURE 20.7 (a) The aconitase reaction converts citrate to cis-aconitate and then to isocitrate. Aconitase is stereospecific and removes the pro-/ hydrogen from the pro-/ arm of citrate, (b) The active site of aconitase. The iron-sulfur cluster (red) is coordinated by cysteines (yellow) and isocitrate (white). 

Fumarate is hydrated in a stereospecific reaction by fumarase to give L-malate (Figure 20.17). The reaction involves fraw5-addition of the elements of water across the double bond. Recall that aconitase carries out a similar reaction. 

Two consecutive reactions of the citric acid cycle (Fig. 10-6), the dehydration of citrate to form czs-aconi-tate and the rehydration in a different way to form isocitrate (Eq. 13-17), are catalyzed by aconitase (aconi-tate hydratase). Both reactions are completely stereospecific. In the first (Eq. 13-17, step a), the pro-R proton from C-4 (stereochemical numbering) of citrate is removed and in step c isocitrate is formed. Proton addition is to the re face in both cases. 

Aconitase was the first protein to be identified as containing a catalytic iron-sulfur cluster [24-26]. It was also readily established that the redox properties of the [4Fe-4S](2+ 1+) cluster do not play a role of significance in biological functioning the 1 + oxidation state has some 30% of the activity of the 2+ state [25], Since then several other enzymes have been identified or proposed to be nonredox iron-sulfur catalysts. They are listed in Table 2. It appears that all are involved in stereospecific hydration reactions. However, these proteins are considerably less well characterized than aconitase. In particular, no crystal structural information is available yet. Therefore, later we summarize structural and mechanistic information on aconitase, noting that many of the basic principles are expected to be relevant to the other enzymes of Table 2. 

This enzyme is fairly active and achieves an equilibrium distribution where 90% of the intermediates are citrate, 7% are D-isocitrate, and 3% are c/.s-aconitate. One interesting aspect of this reaction is that although citrate is a symmetrical molecule, it is acted upon by the enzyme aconitase as if it were asymmetric. This is due to a three-point attachment of the substrate to the enzyme with stereospecificity in the position at which water is added to cis-aconitate. The hydroxyl on isocitrate is always found distal to the newly added acetyl group and stereospecificity forms D-isocitrate. 

The reaction is interesting in that the starting compound, citrate, has an axis of symmetry, yet a stereospecific product, D-isocitrate, is produced. This arises from the fact that aconitase has an asymmetric binding site for citrate (see stereospecificity link below as well). 

See also Citric Acid Cycle, Glyoxylate Cycle Reactions, Stereospecificity of Aconitase, Enzymes of the Citric Acid Cycle, Table 14.1... 

Aconitase (citrate(isocitrate)hydro-lyase) catalyzes the isomerization of citrate and isocitrate via cM-aconitate, as shown in Figure 2. The reaction is stereospecific, as shown, with the hydration reactions occurring in a trans orientation across the double bond. Also as shown, the H... 

If the methyl carbon atom of pyruvate is labeled with which of the carbon atoms of oxaloacetate would be labeled after one turn of the citric acid cycle (See the lettering scheme for oxaloacetate in Figure 17.1 in this book.) Note that the new acetate carbons are the two shown at the bottom of the first few structures in the cycle, because aconitase reacts stereospecifically. 

Two of the enzymes of the tricarboxylic acid cycle, aconitase and fumarase, catalyze reactions in which water is added reversibly to an unsaturated polycarboxylic acid. Both enzymes exhibit rigid stereospecificity fumarase forms only L-malate from fumarate and forms only fumarate (trans) and not maleate (czs-ethylenedicarboxylic acid), and aconitase reacts with only cis-, not imns-aconitate, and with D-, not L-isocitrate. Citrate is a symmetrical molecule, with no optical isomers, but it will be shown that steric factors also enter into the reaction of this substrate with aconitase. The enzymes of the tricarboxylic acid cycle, in contrast to the glycolytic enzymes, are associated with intracellular granules known as mitochondria. Studies of the individual enzymes have depended to a large extent on the separation of soluble activities from these particles. Aconitase and fumarase are released from the particles very rapidly under mild conditions often in the preparation of cell-free homogenates these activities are largely solubilized, and special care must be taken to demonstrate their origin in mitochondria. 

---