Ferredoxin

Figure 8.39 Fourier transformed Fe extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) and retransformation, after applying a 0.9-3.5 A filter window, of (a) a rubredoxin, (b) a plant ferredoxin and (c) a bacterial ferredoxin, whose structures are also shown. (Reproduced, with permission, Ifom Teo, B. K. and Joy, D. C. (Eds), EXAFS Spectroscopy, p. 15, Plenum, New York, 1981)...

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. 

A second example is that of an Ala-to-Cys mutation, which causes the fonnation of a rare SH S hydrogen bond between the cysteine and a redox site sulfur and a 50 mV decrease in redox potential (and vice versa) in the bacterial ferredoxins [73]. Here, the side chain contribution of the cysteine is significant however, a backbone shift can also contribute depending on whether the nearby residues allow it to happen. Site-specific mutants have confirmed the redox potential shift [76,77] and the side chain conformation of cysteine but not the backbone shift in the case with crystal structures of both the native and mutant species [78] the latter can be attributed to the specific sequence of the ferre-doxin studied [73]. 

Nonrepetitive but well-defined structures of this type form many important features of enzyme active sites. In some cases, a particular arrangement of coil structure providing a specific type of functional site recurs in several functionally related proteins. The peptide loop that binds iron-sulfur clusters in both ferredoxin and high potential iron protein is one example. Another is the central loop portion of the E—F hand structure that binds a calcium ion in several calcium-binding proteins, including calmodulin, carp parvalbumin, troponin C, and the intestinal calcium-binding protein. This loop, shown in Figure 6.26, connects two short a-helices. The calcium ion nestles into the pocket formed by this structure. 

The immediate electron acceptor for P700 is a special molecule of chlorophyll. This unique Chi a (Aq) rapidly passes the electron to a specialized quinone (Aj), which in turn passes the e to the first in a series of membrane-bound ferredoxins (Fd, Chapter 21). This Fd series ends with a soluble form of ferredoxin, Fd, which serves as the immediate electron donor to the fiavo-protein (Fp) that catalyzes NADP reduction, namely, ferredoxin NADP reductase. 

Figure 25.9 Some non-haem iron proteins (a) rubredoxin in which the single Fe is coordinated, almost tetra-hedrally, to 4 cysteine-sulfurs, (b) plant ferredoxin, [Fe2S2(S-Cys)4], (c) [Fe4S4(S-Cys)4] cube of bacterial ferredoxins. (This is in fact distorted, the Fe4 and S4 making up the two interpenetrating tetrahedra, of which the latter is larger than the former).

The reductions are effected in nature by ferredoxin (p. 1102). This behaviour can be reproduced surprisingly well by simpler, model compounds. Some of the best known of these are obtained by the addition of axial groups to the square-planar complexes of Co with Schiff bases, or substituted glyoximes (giving cobaloximes) as illustrated in Fig. 26.7. The reduced Co species of these, along with vitamin... 

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