Iron-sulfur proteins structure

PD Swartz, BW Beck, T Ichiye. Stiaictural origins of redox potential m iron-sulfur proteins Electrostatic potentials of crystal structures. Biophys 1 71 2958-2969, 1996. 

Xavier AV, Moura JJG, Moura I (1981) Novel Structures in Iron-Sulfur Proteins. 43 187-213 Xavier AV, see Pereira lAC (1998) 91 65-90... 

With these assignments at hand the analysis of the hyperfine shifts became possible. An Fe(III) in tetrahedral structures of iron-sulfur proteins has a high-spin electronic structure, with negligible magnetic anisotropy. The hyperfine shifts of the protons influenced by the Fe(III) are essentially Fermi contact in origin 21, 22). An Fe(II), on the other hand, has four unpaired electrons and there may be some magnetic anisotropy, giving rise to pseudo-contact shifts. In addition, there is a quintet state at a few hundred cm which may complicate the analysis of hyperfine shifts, but the main contribution to hyperfine shifts is still from the contact shifts 21, 22). 

Contact shifts give information on the electronic structure of the iron atoms, particularly on the valence distribution and on the magnetic coupling within polymetallic systems. The magnetic coupling scheme, which is considered later, fully accounts for the variety of observed hyperfine shifts and the temperature dependence. Thus, through the analysis of the hyperfine shifts, NMR provides detailed information on the metal site(s) of iron-sulfur proteins, and, thanks to the progress in NMR spectroscopy, also the solution structure 23, 24 ). 

The solution structure determination of iron-sulfur proteins is feasible in most cases. To achieve this result, it is necessary to have enough structural constraints to make it possible to obtain a family of conformers with similar folding from many randomly generated structures (95). 

In addition to the standard constraints introduced previously, structural constraints obtainable from the effects of the paramagnetic center(s) on the NMR properties of the nuclei of the protein can be used (24, 103). In iron-sulfur proteins, both nuclear relaxation rates and hyperfine shifts can be employed for this purpose. The paramagnetic enhancement of nuclear relaxation rates [Eqs. (1) and (2)] depends on the sixth power of the nucleus-metal distance (note that this is analogous to the case of NOEs, where there is a dependence on the sixth power of the nucleus-nucleus distance). It is thus possible to estimate such distances from nuclear relaxation rate measurements, which can be converted into upper (and lower) distance limits. When there is more than one metal ion, the individual contributions of all metal ions must be summed up (101, 104-108). If all the metal ions are equivalent (as in reduced HiPIPs), the global paramagnetic contribution to the 7th nuclear relaxation rate is given by... 

Table III reports structural statistics relative to the solution structures of iron-sulfur proteins available from the Protein Data Bank (118). The lowest percentage of residue assignment occurs for oxidized Synechococcus elongatus Fd (119). The highest percentage of proton assignment is instead obtained for oxidized E. halophila HiPIP, with a value as high as 95% (120). A close figure was also obtained for the reduced protein (94%). In the latter case, such high values are obtained also thanks to the availability of labeled...

NMR Assignments, Structural Constraints, and Structural Parameters for the Available NMR Solution Structures of Iron-Sulfur Proteins"- ... 

APPLICATION OF EPR SPECTROSCOPY TO THE STRUCTURAL AND FUNCTIONAL STUDY OF IRON-SULFUR PROTEINS... 

III. Application of EPR to the Structural Study of Iron-Sulfur Proteins... 

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... 

Xavier, A. V., Moura, J. J. G., Mowa, I. Novel Structures in Iron-Sulfur Proteins. Vol. 43,... 

Although heme is absent in Clostridia, it was early recognized that anaerobic bacteria may contain substantial levels of iron (44). To date the best characterized iron compounds from this source are the iron-sulfur proteins termed ferredoxins and rubredoxins. Molecular structures of representatives of both types of protein have been worked out by Jensen and his colleagues by X-ray diffraction analysis (see below). 

The remarkable range of redox potentials in the iron sulfur proteins, already noted, illustrates the principle that nature, having discovered a ligand system, attempts to extract from it the maximum utility. Certainly the outstanding problem awaiting solution in these proteins is an explanation for the relationship between structure and redox potential. Thus... 

Aizman, A., and D. A. Case. 1982. Electronic Structure Calculations on Active Site Models for 4-FE,4-S Iron-Sulfur Proteins. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 104, 3269. 

There are two types of electron transport those involving flavoproteins and iron-sulfur proteins, and those requiring only flavoproteins. The X-ray crystal structure of the soluble cytochrome P450 from Pseudomonas putida grown on camphor (P-450-CAM) has been determined (Poulos et ah, 1985), as have several others. The haem group is deeply embedded in the hydrophobic interior of the protein, and the identity of the proximal haem iron ligand, based on earlier spectroscopic studies (Mason et ah, 1965) is confirmed as a specific cysteine residue. 

XAS data comprises both absorption edge structure and extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS). The application of XAS to systems of chemical interest has been well reviewed (4 5). Briefly, the structure superimposed on the x-ray absorption edge results from the excitation of core-electrons into high-lying vacant orbitals (, ] ) and into continuum states (8 9). The shape and intensity of the edge structure can frequently be used to determine information about the symmetry of the absorbing site. For example, the ls+3d transition in first-row transition metals is dipole forbidden in a centrosymmetric environment. In a non-centrosymmetric environment the admixture of 3d and 4p orbitals can give intensity to this transition. This has been observed, for example, in a study of the iron-sulfur protein rubredoxin, where the iron is tetrahedrally coordinated to four sulfur atoms (6). 

Application of EPR Spectroscopy to the Structural and Functional Study of Iron-Sulfur Proteins Bruno Guigliarelli and Patrick Bertrand... 

The relevant structural and chemical information on iron-sulfur proteins provided by EPR, ENDOR and Mossbauer techniques serves as an instructive example for the success of combining different types of spectroscopic methods. 

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