Nitrogenase electron transfer

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. 

Molybdenum. Molybdenum is a component of the metaHoen2ymes xanthine oxidase, aldehyde oxidase, and sulfite oxidase in mammals (130). Two other molybdenum metaHoen2ymes present in nitrifying bacteria have been characteri2ed nitrogenase and nitrate reductase (131). The molybdenum in the oxidases, is involved in redox reactions. The heme iron in sulfite oxidase also is involved in electron transfer (132). 

Mr 220-250 kDa. Figure 1 shows an overall electron transfer pathway for the nitrogenases where the Fe proteins act as very specific, essential electron donors to the larger proteins. This is not the only role for the Fe proteins (see Section IV,C) and their role in the mechanism is almost certainly more complex than that of a simple electron transfer agent (see below. Section V). Electron transfer from the Fe protein to... 

As indicated in Fig. 1, nitrogenase can reduce substrates other than Na. In the absence of other reducible substrates it will reduce protons to dihydrogen, but it can also reduce a number of other small triple-bonded substrates, as indicated in Section V,E,1. Large substrates are not reduced efficiently, indicating physical limitations on access to the enzyme s active site. CO is a potent inhibitor of all nitrogenase substrate reductions except that of the proton to Ha. In the presence of CO the rate of electron transfer is generally not inhibited, but all electrons go toward the production of Ha. 

MgATP hydrolysis and electron transfer between the two proteins seems not to be direct and the order of reactions may depend on the precise conditions of the experiment at low temperature, electron transfer seems to be reversible (see Ref. 12) for a discussion). One innovation is incorporation of data in which the release of inorganic phosphate was monitored. With other MgATP hydrolyzing enzymes, this step is often the work step in which the energy released by MgATP hydrolysis is utilized. With nitrogenase this step takes place before the dissociation of the two proteins 106). 

It is becoming clear that the MgATP hydrolysis is not required to induce protein-protein electron transfer, but its role in nitrogenase function is still undefined. The most likely hypothesis at the moment is that its hydrolysis, on the Fe protein, induces important changes in the MoFe protein, presumably by altering the conformation of the enzyme complex. Nevertheless, the nature of the changes in the MoFe protein remain obscure. 

Some aspects of the Lowe-Thomeley mechanism for nitrogenase action, which has served us well over the past 15 years, are being called into question. In particular, the necessity for protein-protein dissociation after each electron transfer, the rate-determining step with dithionite as reductant, is being questioned when the natural electron donor flavodoxin or other artificial systems are used. Some aspects of the mechanism should be reinvestigated. 

Iron-sulfur proteins. In an iroinsulfiir protein, the metal center is surrounded by a group of sulfur donor atoms in a tetrahedral environment. Box 14-2 describes the roles that iron-sulfur proteins play in nitrogenase, and Figure 20-30 shows the structures about the metal in three different types of iron-sulfur redox centers. One type (Figure 20-30a l contains a single iron atom bound to four cysteine ligands. The electron transfer reactions at these centers... 

Iron-sulfur (Fe-S) proteins function as electron-transfer proteins in many living cells. They are involved in photosynthesis, cell respiration, as well as in nitrogen fixation. Most Fe-S proteins have single-iron (rubredoxins), or two-, three-, or four-iron (ferredoxins), or even seven/eight-iron (nitrogenases) centers. 

Iron, Fe2+ (d6) Iron, Fe2+ (d6) 4, tetrahedral 6, octahedral N-Thiolate O-Carboxylate, alkoxide, oxide, phenolate Electron transfer, nitrogen fixation in nitrogenases, electron transfer in oxidases... 

In summary, reduction of dinitrogen by nitrogenase requires cooperativity among nitrogenase s subunits and involves three basic types of electron transfer steps ... 

The so-called midpoint potential, Em, of protein-bound [Fe-S] clusters controls both the kinetics and thermodynamics of their reactions. Em may depend on the protein chain s polarity in the vicinity of the metal-sulfur cluster and also upon the bulk solvent accessibility at the site. It is known that nucleotide binding to nitrogenase s Fe-protein, for instance, results in a lowering of the redox potential of its [4Fe-4S] cluster by over 100 mV. This is thought to be essential for electron transfer to MoFe-protein for substrate reduction.11 3... 

Researchers studying the stepwise kinetics of nitrogenase electron transfer using stopped-flow kinetic techniques have presented other scenarios. One hypothesis presents kinetic evidence that dissociation of Fe-protein from MoFe-protein is not necessary for re-reduction of Fe-protein by flavodoxins.13 These authors state that the possibility of ADP-ATP exchange while Fe-protein and MoFe-protein are complexed with each other cannot be excluded and that dissociation of the complex during catalysis may not be obligatory when flavodoxin is the Fe-protein reductant. This leads to the hypothesis that MgATP binds to the preformed Fe-protein/... 

Iron, ((f ) 4, tetrahedral Y-Thiolate Electron transfer, nitrogen fixation in nitrogenases... 

One large class of non-heme iron-containing biomolecules involves proteins and enzymes containing iron-sulfur clusters. Iron-sulfur clusters are described in Sections 1.7 (Bioorganometallic Chemistry) and 1.8 (Electron Transfer) as well as in Section 3.6 (Mossbauer Spectroscopy). See especially Table 3.2 and the descriptive examples discussed in Section 3.6.4. Iron-sulfur proteins include rubredoxins, ferrodoxins, and the enzymes aconitase and nitrogenase. The nitrogenase enzyme was the subject of Chapter 6 in the hrst edition of this text—see especially Section 6.3 for a discussion of iron-sulfur clusters. In this... 

Bacterial ferredoxins. Bacterial ferredoxin was first described in 1962 by Mortenson et al. (p who found a low-molecular iron protein involved in electron transfer of pyruvate hydrogenase and nitrogenase in C. pasteurianum. Subsequently, a number of ferredoxins have been found lii widely different types of bacteria such as photosynthetic bacteria and N2-fixing bacteria. These bacterial type ferredoxins have molecular... 

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