Search

In protein film voltammetry, a redox enzyme is directly connected to an electrode; in the presence of substrate and when the driving force provided by the electrode is appropriate, a current flow reveals the steady-state turnover. We show that, in the case of a multicenter enzyme, this signal reports on the energetics and kinetics of electron transfer (ET) along the redox chain that wires the active site to the electrode, and this provides a new strategy for studying intramolecular ET. We propose a model which takes into account all the enzyme's redox microstates, and we prove it useful to interpret data for various enzymes. Several general ideas emerge from this analysis. Considering the reversibility of ET is a requirement: the usual picture, where ET is depicted as a series of irreversible steps, is oversimplified and lacks the important features that we emphasize. We give justification to the concept of apparent reduction potential on the time scale of turnover and we explain how the value of this potential relates to the thermodynamic and kinetic properties of the system. When intramolecular ET does not limit turnover, the redox chain merely mediates the driving force provided by the electrode or the soluble redox partner, whereas when intramolecular ET is slow, the enzyme behaves as if its active active site had apparent redox properties which depend on the reduction potentials of the relays. This suggests an alternative to the idea that redox chains are optimized in terms of speed: evolutionary pressure may have resulted in slowing down intramolecular ET in order to tune the enzyme's "operating potential". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protein film voltammetry is a relatively new approach to studying redox enzymes, the concept being that a sample of a redox protein is configured as a film on an electrode and probed by a variety of electrochemical techniques. The enzyme molecules are bound at the electrode surface in such a way that there is fast electron transfer and complete retention of the chemistry of the active site that is observed in more conventional experiments. Modulations of the electrode potential or catalytic turnover result in the movement of electrons to, from, and within the enzyme; this is detected as a current that varies in characteristic ways with time and potential. Henceforth, the potential dimension is introduced into enzyme kinetics. The presence of additional intrinsic redox centers for providing fast intramolecular electron transfer between a buried active site and the protein surface is an important factor. Centers which carry out cooperative two-electron transfer, most obviously flavins, produce a particularly sharp signal that allows them to be observed, even as transient states, when spectroscopic methods are not useful. High catalytic activity produces a large amplification of the current, and useful information can be obtained even if the coverage on the electrode is low. Certain enzymes display optimum activity at a particular potential, and this can be both mechanistically informative and physiologically relevant. This paper outlines the principles of protein film voltammetry by discussing some recent results from this laboratory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mechanism of catalytic hydrogen evolution and oxidation by Allochromatium vinosum [NiFe]-hydrogenase has been studied by protein film voltammetry (PFV) with the enzyme adsorbed at a pyrolytic graphite edge electrode. By analyzing the entire shapes of catalytic voltammograms, the energetics of the catalytic cycles (reduction potentials and acidity constants of the active states), including the detailed profiles of activity against pH and the sequences of proton and electron transfers, have been determined, and these are discussed with respect to the mechanism. PFV, which probes rates as a continuous function of the electrochemical potential (i.e., in the "potential domain"), is proven to be an invaluable tool for determining the redox properties of an active site in the presence of its substrate, at room temperature, and during turnover. This is especially relevant in the case of the active states of hydrogenase, since one of its substrates (the proton) is always present at significant levels in the titration medium at physiological pH values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogenases catalyze the oxidation and production of H2. The fact that they could be used in biotechnological devices if they resisted inhibition by O2 motivates the current research on their inactivation mechanism. Direct electrochemistry has been thoroughly used in this respect but often in a qualitative manner. We propose a new and precise chronoamperometric method for studying the anaerobic inactivation mechanism of hydrogenase, which we apply to the oxygen-tolerant NiFe enzyme from Aquifex aeolicus. We demonstrate that the voltammetric data cannot be used for measuring the reduction potential of the so-called NiB inactive state, even in the small scan rate limit. We show that the inactivation mechanism proposed for standard (oxygen-sensitive) NiFe hydrogenases does not apply in the case of the enzyme from A. aeolicus. In particular, the activation and inactivation reactions cannot follow the same reaction pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogenases catalyze the conversion between 2H+ + 2e- and H21. Most of these enzymes are inhibited by O2, which represents a major drawback for their use in biotechnological applications.12 Improving hydrogenase O2 tolerance is therefore a major contemporary challenge to allow the implementation of a sustainable hydrogen economy. We succeeded in improving O2 tolerance, which we define here as the ability of the enzyme to resist for several minutes to O2 exposure, by substituting with methionines small hydrophobic residues strongly conserved in the gas channel. Remarkably, the mutated enzymes remained active in the presence of an O2 concentration close to that found in aerobic solutions in equilibrium with air, while the wild type enzyme is inhibited in a few seconds. Crystallographic and spectroscopic studies showed that the structure and the chemistry at the active site are not affected by the mutations. Kinetic studies demonstrated that the inactivation is slower and reactivation faster in these mutants. We propose that in addition to restricting O2 diffusion to the active site of the enzyme, methionine may also interact with bound peroxide and provide an assisted escape route for H2O2 toward the gas channel. These results show for the first time that it is possible to improve O2-tolerance of [NiFe] hydrogenases, making possible the development of biohydrogen production systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The respiratory nitrate reductase (NapAB) from Rhodobacter sphaeroides is a 108 kilodaltons, periplasmic, heterodimeric enzyme which belongs to the dimethylsulphoxide reductase family and houses a molybdenum bis-molybdopterin guanine dinucleotide cofactor, a [4Fe-4S] cluster in close proximity to the active site and two surface-exposed, c-type hemes. A study of NapAB by protein film voltammetry and the first quantitative interpretation of the complex redox-state dependence of activity that has also been observed with several other related enzymes. These results show that reduction potentials cannot always be directly used to understand the behavior of an enzymatic system under turnover conditions.

The high turnover rates of [FeFe]-hydrogenases under mild conditions and at low overpotentials provide a natural blueprint for the design of hydrogen catalysts. However, the unique active site (H-cluster) degrades upon contact with oxygen. The [FeFe]-hydrogenase from Clostridium beijerinckii (CbA5H) is characterized by the flexibility of its protein structure, which allows a conserved cysteine to coordinate to the active site under oxidative conditions. Thereby, intrinsic cofactor degradation induced by dioxygen is minimized. However, the protection from O 2 is only partial, and the activity of the enzyme decreases upon each exposure to O 2 . By using site-directed mutagenesis in combination with electrochemistry, ATR-FTIR spectroscopy, and molecular dynamics simulations, we show that the kinetics of the conversion between the oxygen-protected inactive state (cysteine-bound) and the oxygen-sensitive active state can be accelerated by replacing a surface residue that is very distant from the active site. This sole exchange of methionine for a glutamate residue leads to an increased resistance of the hydrogenase to dioxygen. With our study, we aim to understand how local modifications of the protein structure can have a crucial impact on protein dynamics and how they can control the reactivity of inorganic active sites through outer sphere effects., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2022 American Chemical Society.)

Studies of molecular catalysts traditionally aim at understanding how a certain mechanism allows the reaction to be fast. A distinct question, which has only recently received attention in the case of bidirectional molecular catalysts, is how much thermodynamic driving force is required to achieve fast catalysis in either direction of the reaction. "Reversible" catalysts are bidirectional catalysts that work either way in response to even a small departure from equilibrium and thus do not waste input free energy as heat; conversely, "irreversible" catalysts require a large driving force to proceed at an appreciable rate [Fourmond et al. Nat. Rev. Chem. 2021 , 5 , 348-360]. Numerous mechanistic rationales for these contrasting behaviors have been proposed. To understand the determinants of catalytic (ir)reversibility, we examined the steady-state, direct electron transfer voltammetry of a particular FeFe hydrogenase, from Thermoanaerobacter mathranii , which is very unusual in that it irreversibly catalyzes H 2 oxidation and production: a large overpotential is required for the reaction to proceed in either direction [Land et al. Chem. Sci. 2020 , 11 , 12789-12801]. In contrast to previous hypotheses, we demonstrate that in this particular enzyme catalytic irreversibility can be explained without invoking slow interfacial electron transfer or variations in the mechanism: the observed kinetics is fully consistent with the same catalytic pathway being used in both directions of the reaction.

Energy conversion schemes involving dihydrogen hold great potential for meeting sustainable energy needs, but widespread implementation cannot proceed without solutions that mitigate the cost of rare metal catalysts and the O 2 instability of biological and bioinspired replacements. Recently, thick films (>100 μm) of redox polymers were shown to prevent O 2 catalyst damage but also resulted in unnecessary catalyst load and mass transport limitations. Here we apply novel homogeneous thin films (down to 3 μm) that provide protection from O 2 while achieving highly efficient catalyst utilization. Our empirical data are explained by modeling, demonstrating that resistance to O 2 inactivation can be obtained for nonlimiting periods of time when the optimal thickness for catalyst utilization and current generation is achieved, even when using highly fragile catalysts such as the enzyme hydrogenase. We show that different protection mechanisms operate depending on the matrix dimensions and the intrinsic catalyst properties and can be integrated together synergistically to achieve stable H 2 oxidation currents in the presence of O 2 , potentially enabling a plethora of practical applications for bioinspired catalysts under harsh oxidative conditions.

Some enzymes, including those that are involved in the activation of small molecules such as H 2 or CO 2 , can be wired to electrodes and function in either direction of the reaction depending on the electrochemical driving force and display a significant rate at very small deviations from the equilibrium potential. We call the former property "bidirectionality" and the latter "reversibility". This performance sets very high standards for chemists who aim at designing synthetic electrocatalysts. Only recently, in the particular case of the hydrogen production/evolution reaction, has it been possible to produce inorganic catalysts that function bidirectionally, with an even smaller number that also function reversibly. This raises the question of how to engineer such desirable properties in other synthetic catalysts. Here we introduce the kinetic modeling of bidirectional two-electron-redox reactions in the case of molecular catalysts and enzymes that are either attached to an electrode or diffusing in solution in the vicinity of an electrode. We emphasize that trying to discuss bidirectionality and reversibility in relation to a single redox potential leads to an impasse: the catalyst undergoes two redox transitions, and therefore two catalytic potentials must be defined, which may depart from the two potentials measured in the absence of catalysis. The difference between the two catalytic potentials defines the reversibility; the difference between their average value and the equilibrium potential defines the directionality (also called "preference", or "bias"). We describe how the sequence of events in the bidirectional catalytic cycle can be elucidated on the basis of the voltammetric responses. Further, we discuss the design principles of bidirectionality and reversibility in terms of thermodynamics and kinetics and conclude that neither bidirectionality nor reversibility requires that the catalytic energy landscape be flat. These theoretical findings are illustrated by previous results obtained with nickel diphosphine molecular catalysts and hydrogenases. In particular, analysis of the nickel catalysts highlights the fact that reversible catalysis can be achieved by catalysts that follow complex mechanisms with branched reaction pathways.

The membrane-bound hydrogenase (Hase I) of the hyperthermophilic bacterium Aquifex aeolicus belongs to an intriguing class of redox enzymes that show enhanced thermostability and oxygen tolerance. Protein film electrochemistry is employed here to portray the interaction of Hase I with molecular oxygen and obtain an overall picture of the catalytic activity. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy integrated with in situ electrochemistry is used to identify structural details of the [NiFe] site and the intermediate states involved in its redox chemistry. We found that the active site coordination is similar to that of standard hydrogenases, with a conserved Fe(CN)(2)CO moiety. However, only four catalytic intermediates could be detected; these correspond structurally to the Ni-B, Ni-SI(a), Ni-C, and Ni-R states of standard hydrogenases. The Ni-SI/Ni-C and Ni-C/Ni-R midpoint potentials are approximately 100 mV more positive than those observed in mesophilic hydrogenases, which may be the reason that A. aeolicus Hase I is more suitable as a catalyst for H(2) oxidation than production. Protein film electrochemistry shows that oxygen inhibits the enzyme by reacting at the active site to form a single species (Ni-B); the same inactive state is obtained under oxidizing, anaerobic conditions. The mechanism of anaerobic inactivation and reactivation in A. aeolicus Hase I is similar to that in standard hydrogenases. However, the reactivation of the former is more than 2 orders of magnitude faster despite the fact that reduction of Ni-B is not thermodynamically more favorable. A scheme for the enzymatic mechanism of A. aeolicus Hase I is presented, and the results are discussed in relation to the proposed models of oxygen tolerance.

Enzymes of the DMSO reductase family use a mononuclear Mo-bis(molybdopterin) cofactor (MoCo) to catalyze a variety of oxo-transfer reactions. Much functional information on nitrate reductase, one of the most studied members of this family, has been gained from EPR spectroscopy, but this technique is not always conclusive because the signature of the MoCo is heterogeneous, and which signals correspond to active species is still unsure. We used site-directed mutagenesis, EPR and protein film voltammetry to demonstrate that the MoCo in R. sphaeroides periplasmic nitrate reductase (NapAB) is subject to an irreversible reductive activation process whose kinetics we precisely define. This activation quantitatively correlates with the disappearance of the so-called "Mo(V) high-g" EPR signal, but this reductive process is too slow to be part of the normal catalytic cycle. Therefore, in NapAB, this most intense and most commonly observed signature of the MoCo arises from a dead-end, inactive state that gives a catalytically competent species only after reduction. This activation proceeds, even without substrate, according to a reduction followed by an irreversible nonredox step, both of which are pH independent. An apparently similar process occurs in other nitrate reductases (both assimilatory and membrane bound), and this also recalls the redox cycling procedure, which activates periplasmic DMSO reductases and simplifies their spectroscopic signatures. Hence we propose that heterogeneity at the active site and reductive activation are common properties of enzymes from the DMSO reductase family. Regarding NapAB, the fact that we could detect no Mo EPR signal upon reoxidizing the fully reduced enzyme suggests that the catalytically active form of the Mo(V) is thermodynamically unstable, as is the case for other enzymes of the DMSO reductase family. Our original approach, which combines spectroscopy and protein film voltammetry, proves useful for discriminating the forms of the active site on the basis of their catalytic properties. This could be applied to other enzymes for which the question arises as to the catalytic relevance of certain long-lived, spectroscopically characterized species.

For redox enzymes, the technique called protein film voltammetry makes it possible to determine the entire profile of activity against driving force by having the enzyme exchanging directly electrons with the rotating-disc electrode onto which it is adsorbed. Both the potential location of the catalytic response and its detailed shape report on the sequence of catalytic events, electron transfers and chemical steps, but the models that have been used so far to decipher this signal lack generality. For example, it was often proposed that substrate binding to multiple redox states of the active site may explain that turnover is greater in a certain window of electrode potential, but no fully analytical treatment has been given. Here, we derive (i) the general current equation for the case of reversible substrate binding to any redox states of a two-electron active site (as exemplified by flavins and Mo cofactors), (ii) the quantitative conditions for an extremum in activity to occur, and (iii) the expressions from which the substrate-concentration dependence of the catalytic potential can be interpreted to learn about the kinetics of substrate binding and how this affects the reduction potential of the active site. Not only does slow substrate binding and release make the catalytic wave shape highly complex, but we also show that it can have important consequences which will escape detection in traditional experiments: the position of the wave (this is the driving force that is required to elicit catalysis) departs from the reduction potential of the active site even at the lowest substrate concentration, and this deviation may be large if substrate binding is irreversible. This occurs in the reductive half-cycle of periplasmic nitrate reductase where irreversibility lowers the driving force required to reduce the active site under turnover conditions and favors intramolecular electron transfer from the proximal [4Fe4S]+ cluster to the active site Mo(V).

The periplasmic nitrate reductase (NapAB), a member of the DMSO reductase superfamily, catalyzes the first step of the denitrification process in bacteria. In this heterodimer, a di-heme NapB subunit is associated to the catalytic NapA subunit that binds a [4Fe-4S] cluster and a bis(molybdopterin guanine dinucleotide) cofactor. Here, we report the kinetic characterization of purified mutated heterodimers from Rhodobacter sphaeroides. By combining site-directed mutagenesis, redox potentiometry, EPR spectroscopy, and enzymatic characterization, we investigate the catalytic role of two conserved residues (M153 and R392) located in the vicinity of the molybdenum active site. We demonstrate that M153 and R392 are involved in nitrate binding: the Vm measured on the M153A and R392A mutants are similar to that measured on the wild-type enzyme, whereas the Km for nitrate is increased 10-fold and 200-fold, respectively. The use of an alternative enzymatic assay led us to discover that NapAB is uncompetitively inhibited by Zn2+ ions (Ki' = 1 microM). We used this property to further probe the active site access in the mutant enzymes. It is proposed that R392 acts as a filter by preventing a direct reduction of the Mo atom by small reducing molecules and partially protecting the active site against zinc inhibition. In addition, we show that M153 is a key residue mediating this inhibition likely by coordinating Zn2+ ions via its sulfur atom. This residue is not conserved in the DMSO reductase superfamily while it is conserved in the periplasmic nitrate reductase family. Zinc inhibition is therefore likely to be specific and restricted to periplasmic nitrate reductases.

In NiFe hydrogenases, electrons are transferred from the active site to the redox partner via a chain of three Iron-Sulfur clusters, and the surface-exposed [4Fe4S] cluster has an unusual His(Cys)3 ligation. When this Histidine (H184 in Desulfovibrio fructosovorans) is changed into a cysteine or a glycine, a distal cubane is still assembled but the oxidative activity of the mutants is only 1.5 and 3% of that of the WT, respectively. We compared the activities of the WT and engineered enzymes for H2 oxidation, H+ reduction and H/D exchange, under various conditions: (i) either with the enzyme directly adsorbed onto an electrode or using soluble redox partners, and (ii) in the presence of exogenous ligands whose binding to the exposed Fe of H184G was expected to modulate the properties of the distal cluster. Protein film voltammetry proved particularly useful to unravel the effects of the mutations on inter and intramolecular electron transfer (ET). We demonstrate that changing the coordination of the distal cluster has no effect on cluster assembly, protein stability, active-site chemistry and proton transfer; however, it slows down the first-order rates of ET to and from the cluster. All-sulfur coordination is actually detrimental to ET, and intramolecular (uphill) ET is rate determining in the glycine variant. This demonstrates that although [4Fe4S] clusters are robust chemical constructs, the direct protein ligands play an essential role in imparting their ability to transfer electrons.

We have used protein film voltammetry to study the NiFe hydrogenase from Desulfovibrio fructosovorans. We show how measurements of transient activity following the addition in the electrochemical cell of H(2), CO, or O(2) allow simple and virtually instantaneous determinations of the Michaelis constant, inhibition constant, or rate of inactivation, respectively, thus opening new opportunities to study the active site of NiFe hydrogenases. The binding and release of CO occur within a fraction of a second, and we determine and discuss how its affinity for the active site changes as the driving force for the H(+)/H(2) reaction is continuously varied. Inactivation by O(2) is a slow, bimolecular process (with pH-independent rate constant approximately 3 x 10(4) s(-1) M(-1) at 40 degrees C, under one atm of H(2)) that leads to a mixture of fully oxidized states, and unlike the case of CO inhibition, the active site is not fully protected by H(2). This experimental approach could be used to study the reaction of other multicentered metalloenzymes with their gaseous substrates or inhibitors.