Iron-sulfur clusters function

It is now clear that in addition to their widespread involvement in electron transfer pathways, iron-sulfur clusters function as catalytic centers in a wide variety of enzymes. The first example of such an enzyme is aconitase. It was at first thought that the role of the iron-sulfur group was regulatory, but it is now clear that in this enzyme the iron-sulfur group is part of the catalytic site. One of the iron atoms can coordinate water or hydroxyl and plays a key role in the isomerization catalyzed by the enzyme (Emptage et al., 1983). 

J-M Mouesca, JL Chen, F Noodleman, D Bashford, DA Case. Density functional/Poisson-Boltzmann calculations of redox potentials for iron-sulfur clusters. J Am Chem Soc 116 11898-11914, 1994. 

PS Brereton, FJM Verhagen, ZH Zhou, MWW Adams. Effect of iron-sulfur cluster environment m modulating the thermodynamic properties and biological function of ferredoxm from Pyrococcus furiosus. Biochemistry 37 7351-7362, 1998. 

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. 

Probably involved with NifS in iron-sulfur cluster synthesis Possibly accelerate MoFe protein maturation Unknown function... 

Density-Functional Theory of Spin Polarization and Spin Coupling in Iron-Sulfur Clusters Louis Noodleman and David A. Case... 

Muesca, J. M., J. L. Chen, L. Noodleman, D. Bashford, and D. A. Case. 1994. Density Functional/Poisson-Boltzmann Calculations of Redox Potentials for Iron-Sulfur Clusters. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 116, 11898. 

To successfully describe the structure and function of nitrogenase, it is important to understand the behavior of the metal-sulfur clusters that are a vital part of this complex enzyme. Metal-sulfur clusters are many, varied, and usually involved in redox processes carried out by the protein in which they constitute prosthetic centers. They may be characterized by the number of iron ions in the prosthetic center that is, rubredoxin (Rd) contains one Fe ion, ferredoxins (Fd) contain two or four Fe ions, and aconitase contains three Fe ions.7 In reference 18, Lippard and Berg present a more detailed description of iron-sulfur clusters only the [Fe4S4] cluster typical of that found in nitrogenase s Fe-protein is discussed in some detail here. The P-cluster and M center of MoFe-protein, which are more complex metal-sulfur complexes, are discussed in Sections 6.5.2. and 6.5.3. 

In the fall of 2000 an international workshop on the chemistry and biology of iron-sulfur clusters was held at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg.19 Many functions for iron-sulfur clusters besides electron transfer and... 

Figure 8.7 Simplified model of nicotiniamine (NA) function in plant cells. Iron is transported across the plasma membrane by the Strategy I or Strategy II uptake systems. Once inside the cell, NA is the default chelator of iron to avoid precipitation and catalysis of radical oxygen species. The iron is then donated to proteins, iron-sulfur clusters and haem, while ferritin and iron precipitation are only present during iron excess. (From Hell and Stephan, 2003. With kind permission of Springer Science and Business Media.)...

Iron-sulfur clusters constitute one of the most ancient, ubiquitous, and structurally and functionally diverse classes of biological prosthetic groups. For reviews see Cammack (1992), Johnson (1994, 1998), Beinert et al. (1997), Beinert and Kiley (1999), and Beinert (2000). Indeed there are now known to be in excess of 120 distinct types of Fe-S cluster-containing enzymes and proteins, distributed over all three kingdoms of life, and the list is growing rapidly. 

Ollagnier-de-Choudens S, Mattioli T, Takahashi Y, Fontecave M. 2001. Iron-sulfur cluster assembly. Characterization of IscA and evidence for a specific functional complex with ferredoxin. J Biol Chem 276 22604-7. 

Proteins containing iron-sulfur clusters are ubiquitous in nature, due primarily to their involvement in biological electron transfer reactions. In addition to functioning as simple reagents for electron transfer, protein-bound iron-sulfur clusters also function in catalysis of numerous redox reactions (e.g., H2 oxidation, N2 reduction) and, in some cases, of reactions that involve the addition or elimination of water to or from specific substrates (e.g., aconitase in the tricarboxylic acid cycle) (1). 

Iron (Fe) is quantitatively the most important trace element (see p. 362). The human body contains 4-5 g iron, which is almost exclusively present in protein-bound form. Approximately three-quarters of the total amount is found in heme proteins (see pp. 106,192), mainly hemoglobin and myoglobin. About 1% of the iron is bound in iron-sulfur clusters (see p. 106), which function as cofactors in the respiratory chain, in photosynthesis, and in other redox chains. The remainder consists of iron in transport and storage proteins (transferrin, ferritin see B). 

---