Heme-protein fold

Measurements of the proximal histidine-iron stretching frequency by Resonance Raman spectroscopy revealed that this bond is very weak in relation to other heme protein systems (vFe.His = 204 cm-1) (130). Formation of the sGC-NO complex labilizes this ligand resulting in the formation of a 5-coordinate high spin iron(II) complex, and the conformational change responsible for the several hundred-fold increase in catalytic activity (126,129,130). 

Keywords Design, Polypeptide, Catalysis, Metalloprotein, Heme, Structure, Protein folding, Glycopeptide. 

While these complex model heme proteins have a large potential for functionalization, an interesting approach that is very different has been taken by other workers in that the heme itself functions as the template in the formation of folded peptides. In these models peptide-peptide interactions are minimized and the driving force for folding appears to be the interactions between porphyrin and the hydrophobic faces of the amphiphiUc peptides. The amino acid sequences are too small to permit peptide-peptide contacts as they are separated by the tetrapyrrole residue. These peptide heme conjugates show well-re-solved NMR spectra and thus well-defined folds and the relationship between structure and function can probably be determined in great detail when functions have been demonstrated [22,23,77]. They are therefore important model systems that complement the more complex proteins described above. 

Since the primary structure of a peptide determines the global fold of any protein, the amino acid sequence of a heme protein not only provides the ligands, but also establishes the heme environmental factors such as solvent and ion accessibility and local dielectric. The prevalent secondary structure element found in heme protein architectures is the a-helix however, it should be noted that p-sheet heme proteins are also known, such as the nitrophorin from Rhodnius prolixus (71) and flavocytochrome cellobiose dehydrogenase from Phanerochaete chrys-osporium (72). However, for the purpose of this review, we focus on the structures of cytochromes 6562 (73) and c (74) shown in Fig. 2, which are four-a-helix bundle protein architectures and lend themselves as resource structures for the development of de novo designs. 

The substantial free energy available in the binding of hemes into natural proteins is frequently harnessed to fold or stabilize the final protein structure as observed in the differences in the apo- (77) and holo-structures (73) of cytochrome 6562 shown in Fig. 2. Although detailed thermodynamic studies of natural heme proteins are beginning... 

A representative sampling of non-heme iron proteins is presented in Fig. 3. Evident from this atlas is the diversity of structural folds exhibited by non-heme iron proteins it may be safely concluded that there is no unique structural motif associated with non-heme iron proteins in general, or even for specific types of non-heme iron centers. Protein folds may be generally classified into several categories (i.e., all a, parallel a/)3, or antiparallel /8) on the basis of the types and interactions of secondary structures (a helix and sheet) present (Richardson, 1981). Non-heme iron proteins are found in all three classes (all a myohemerythrin, ribonucleotide reductase, and photosynthetic reaction center parallel a/)8 iron superoxide dismutase, lactoferrin, and aconitase antiparallel )3 protocatechuate dioxygenase, rubredoxins, and ferredoxins). This structural diversity is another reflection of the wide variety of functional roles exhibited by non-heme iron centers. 

The folding pattern of cytochrome b5 is also found in the complex heme protein flavocytochrome b2 from yeast (Chapter 15)133 and probably also in liver sulfite oxidase134,135 Both are 58-kDa peptides which can be cleaved by trypsin to 11-kDa fragments that have spectroscopic similarities and sequence homology with cytochrome b5. Sulfite oxidase also has a molybdenum center (Section H). The 100-residue N-terminal portion of flavocytochrome b2 has the cytochrome b5 folding pattern but the next 386 residues form an eight-stranded (a / P)8 barrel that binds a molecule of FMN.133,136 All of these proteins pass electrons to cytochrome c. In contrast, the folding of cytochrome... 

Tezcan FA, Winkler JR, Gray HB (1988) Effects of ligation and folding on reduction potentials of heme proteins. J Am Chem Soc 120 13383-13388... 

---