Structural Characterization of the P1+ Intermediate State of the P-Cluster of Nitrogenase

Authors

Stephen M. Keable, Montana State UniversityFollow
Oleg A. Zadvornyy, Washington State UniversityFollow
Lewis E. Johnson, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Bojana Ginovska, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Andrew J. Rasmussen, Utah State University
Karamatullah Danyal, Utah State University
Brian J. Eilers, Montana State UniversityFollow
Gregory A. Prussia, Montana State UniversityFollow
Axl X. LeVan, Montana State UniversityFollow
Simone Raugei, Washington State UniversityFollow
Lance C. Seefeldt, Utah State UniversityFollow
John W. Peters, Washington State UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title

Journal of Biological Chemistry

Publication Date

5-2-2018

Publisher

American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

First Page

1

Last Page

18

Abstract

Nitrogenase is the enzyme that reduces atmospheric dinitrogen (N₂) to ammonia (NH₃) in biological systems. It catalyzes a series of single-electron transfers from the donor iron protein (Fe protein) to the molybdenum–iron protein (MoFe protein) that contains the iron–molybdenum cofactor (FeMo-co) sites where N₂ is reduced to NH₃. The P-cluster in the MoFe protein functions in nitrogenase catalysis as an intermediate electron carrier between the external electron donor, the Fe protein, and the FeMo-co sites of the MoFe protein. Previous work has revealed that the P-cluster undergoes redox-dependent structural changes and that the transition from the all-ferrous resting (P^N) state to the two-electron oxidized P²⁺ state is accompanied by protein serine hydroxyl and backbone amide ligation to iron. In this work, the MoFe protein was poised at defined potentials with redox mediators in an electrochemical cell, and the three distinct structural states of the P-cluster (P²⁺, P¹⁺, and P^N) were characterized by X-ray crystallography and confirmed by computational analysis. These analyses revealed that the three oxidation states differ in coordination, implicating that the P¹⁺ state retains the serine hydroxyl coordination but lacks the backbone amide coordination observed in the P²⁺ states. These results provide a complete picture of the redox-dependent ligand rearrangements of the three P-cluster redox states.

Recommended Citation

Keable, Stephen M.; Zadvornyy, Oleg A.; Johnson, Lewis E.; Ginovska, Bojana; Rasmussen, Andrew J.; Danyal, Karamatullah; Eilers, Brian J.; Prussia, Gregory A.; LeVan, Axl X.; Raugei, Simone; Seefeldt, Lance C.; and Peters, John W., "Structural Characterization of the P1+ Intermediate State of the P-Cluster of Nitrogenase" (2018). Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Publications. Paper 762.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/chem_facpub/762