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Peroxiredoxins (Prx) are ubiquitous enzymes that reduce peroxides as part of antioxidant defenses and redox signaling. While Prx catalytic activity and sensitivity to hyperoxidative inactivation depend on their dynamic properties, there are few examples where their dynamics has been characterized by NMR spectroscopy. Here, we provide a foundation for studies of the solution properties of peroxiredoxin Q from the plant pathogen Xanthomonas campestris (XcPrxQ) by assigning the observable (1)H(N), (15)N, (13)C(α), (13)C(β), and (13)C' chemical shifts for both the reduced (dithiol) and oxidized (disulfide) states. In the reduced state, most of the backbone amide resonances (149/152, 98 %) can be assigned in the XcPrxQ (1)H-(15)N HSQC spectrum. In contrast, a remarkable 51 % (77) of these amide resonances are not visible in the (1)H-(15)N HSQC spectrum of the disulfide state of the enzyme, indicating a substantial change in backbone dynamics associated with the formation of an intramolecular C48-C84 disulfide bond.

In probing the oxygen reactivity of an Enterococcus faecalis NADH oxidase (Nox; O2 → 2H2O) C42S mutant lacking the Cys42-sulfenic acid (Cys42-SOH) redox center, we provided direct evidence of a C(4a)-peroxyflavin intermediate in the oxidative half-reaction and also described a conformational or chemical change that is rate-limiting for full reoxidation of the homodimer. In this work, the Nox from Streptococcus pyogenes (SpyNox) has been expressed and crystallized, and the overoxidized wild-type [Cys44-SOH → Cys44-sulfinic acid (Cys44-SO2H)] and C44S mutant enzyme structures have been refined at 2.0 and 2.15 Å, respectively. We show that azide binds to the two-electron reduced wild-type (EH2) enzyme and to the mutant enzyme in solution, but with a significantly higher affinity for the mutant protein. The spectral course of the titration with the SpyNox EH2 form clearly indicates progressive displacement of the Cys44-S(-) → FAD charge-transfer interaction. An azide soak with C44S Nox crystals led to the structure of the complex, as refined at 2.10 Å. The active-site N3(-) ligand is proximal to the Ser44 and His11 side chains, and a significant shift in the Ser44 side chain also appears. This provides an attractive explanation for the azide-induced loss of charge-transfer absorbance seen with the wild-type EH2 form and also permits accommodation of a C(4a)-peroxyflavin structural model. The conformation of Ser44 and the associated helical element, and the resulting steric accommodation, appear to be linked to the conformational change described in the E. faecalis C42S Nox oxidative half-reaction.

Unlabelled: The formation of H2 O2 by the FAD-dependent L-α-glycerophosphate oxidase (GlpO) is important for the pathogenesis of Streptococcus pneumoniae and Mycoplasma pneumoniae. The structurally known GlpO from Streptococcus sp. (SspGlpO) is similar to the pneumococcal protein (SpGlpO) and provides a guide for drug design against that target. However, M. pneumoniae GlpO (MpGlpO), having < 20% sequence identity with structurally known GlpOs, appears to represent a second type of GlpO that we designate as type II GlpOs. In the present study, the recombinant His-tagged MpGlpO structure is described at an approximate resolution of 2.5 Å, solved by molecular replacement using, as a search model, the Bordetella pertussis protein 3253 (Bp3253), comprising a protein of unknown function solved by structural genomics efforts. Recombinant MpGlpO is an active oxidase with a turnover number of approximately 580 min(-1), whereas Bp3253 showed no GlpO activity. No substantial differences exist between the oxidized and dithionite-reduced MpGlpO structures. Although, no liganded structures were determined, a comparison with the tartrate-bound Bp3253 structure and consideration of residue conservation patterns guided the construction of a model for L-α-glycerophosphate (Glp) recognition and turnover by MpGlpO. The predicted binding mode also appears relevant for the type I GlpOs (such as SspGlpO) despite differences in substrate recognition residues, and it implicates a histidine conserved in type I and II Glp oxidases and dehydrogenases as the catalytic acid/base. The present study provides a solid foundation for guiding further studies of the mitochondrial Glp dehydrogenases, as well as for continued studies of M. pneumoniae and S. pneumoniae glycerol metabolism and the development of novel therapeutics targeting MpGlpO and SpGlpO., Database: Structural data have been deposited in the Protein Data Bank under accession numbers 4X9M (oxidized) and 4X9N (reduced)., (© 2015 FEBS.)

L-α-glycerophosphate oxidase is an FAD-dependent enzyme that catalyzes the oxidation of L-α-glycerophosphate (Glp) by molecular oxygen to generate dihydroxyacetone phosphate (DHAP) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). The catalytic properties of recombinant His6-GlpO from Mycoplasma pneumoniae (His6-MpGlpO) were investigated through transient and steady-state kinetics and ligand binding studies. The results indicate that the reaction mechanism of His6-MpGlpO follows a ping-pong model. Double-mixing mode stopped-flow experiments show that, after flavin-mediated substrate oxidation, DHAP leaves rapidly prior to the oxygen reaction. The values determined for the individual rate constants and kcat (4.2 s(-1) at 4 °C), in addition to the finding that H2 O2 binds to the oxidized enzyme, suggest that H2O2 release is the rate-limiting step for the overall reaction. The results indicate that His6 -MpGlpO contains mixed populations of fast- and slow-reacting species. It is predominantly the fast-reacting species that participates in turnover. In contrast to other GlpO enzymes previously described, His6-MpGlpO is able to catalyze the reverse reaction of reduced enzyme and DHAP. This result may be explained by the standard reduction potential value of His6-MpGlpO (-167 ± 1 mV), which is lower than those of GlpO from other species. We found that D,L-glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate (GAP) may be used as a substrate in the His6-MpGlpO reaction, although it exhibited an approximately 100-fold lower kcat value in comparison with the reaction of Glp. These results also imply involvement of GlpO in glycolysis, as well as in lipid and glycerol metabolism. The kinetic models and distinctive properties of His6-MpGlpO reported here should be useful for future drug development against Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection., (© 2015 FEBS.)

In Escherichia coli, bacterioferritin comigratory protein (BCP) is a peroxiredoxin (Prx) that catalyzes the reduction of H(2)O(2) and organic hydroperoxides. This protein, along with plant PrxQ, is a founding member of one of the least studied subfamilies of Prxs. Recent structural data have suggested that proteins in the BCP/PrxQ group can exist as monomers or dimers; we report here that, by analytical ultracentrifugation, both oxidized and reduced E. coli BCP behave as monomers in solution at concentrations as high as 200 μM. Unexpectedly, thioredoxin (Trx1)-dependent peroxidase assays conducted by stopped-flow spectroscopy demonstrated that V(max,app) increases with increasing Trx1 concentrations, indicating a nonsaturable interaction (K(m) > 100 μM). At a physiologically reasonable Trx1 concentration of 10 μM, the apparent K(m) value for H(2)O(2) is ~80 μM, and overall, the V(max)/K(m) for H(2)O(2), which remains constant at the various Trx1 concentrations (consistent with a ping-pong mechanism), is ~1.3 × 10(4) M(-1) s(-1). Our kinetic analyses demonstrated that BCP can utilize a variety of reducing substrates, including Trx1, Trx2, Grx1, and Grx3. BCP exhibited a high redox potential of -145.9 ± 3.2 mV, the highest to date observed for a Prx. Moreover, BCP exhibited a broad peroxide specificity, with comparable rates for H(2)O(2) and cumene hydroperoxide. We determined a pK(a) of ~5.8 for the peroxidatic cysteine (Cys45) using both spectroscopic and activity titration data. These findings support an important role for BCP in interacting with multiple substrates and remaining active under highly oxidizing cellular conditions, potentially serving as a defense enzyme of last resort., (© 2011 American Chemical Society)

Rhodanese homology domains (RHDs) play important roles in sulfur trafficking mechanisms essential to the biosynthesis of sulfur-containing cofactors and nucleosides. We have now determined the crystal structure at 2.10 A resolution for the Bacillus anthracis coenzyme A-disulfide reductase isoform (BaCoADR-RHD) containing a C-terminal RHD domain; this is the first structural representative of the multidomain proteins class of the rhodanese superfamily. The catalytic Cys44 of the CoADR module is separated by 25 A from the active-site Cys514' of the RHD domain from the complementary subunit. In stark contrast to the B. anthracis CoADR [Wallen, J. R., Paige, C., Mallett, T. C., Karplus, P. A., and Claiborne, A. (2008) Biochemistry 47, 5182-5193], the BaCoADR-RHD isoform does not catalyze the reduction of coenzyme A-disulfide, although both enzymes conserve the Cys-SSCoA redox center. NADH titrations have been combined with a synchrotron reduction protocol for examination of the structural and redox behavior of the Cys44-SSCoA center. The synchrotron-reduced (Cys44 + CoASH) structure reveals ordered binding for the adenosine 3'-phosphate 5'-pyrophosphate moiety of CoASH, but the absence of density for the pantetheine arm indicates that it is flexible within the reduced active site. Steady-state kinetic analyses with the alternate disulfide substrates methyl methanethiolsulfonate (MMTS) and 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoate) (DTNB), including the appropriate Cys --> Ser mutants, demonstrate that MMTS reduction occurs within the CoADR active site. NADH-dependent DTNB reduction, on the other hand, requires communication between Cys44 and Cys514', and we propose that reduction of the Cys44-SSCoA disulfide promotes the transfer of reducing equivalents to the RHD, with the swinging pantetheine arm serving as a ca. 20 A bridge.

Salmonella typhimurium AhpC is a founding member of the peroxiredoxin family, a ubiquitous group of cysteine-based peroxidases with high reactivity toward hydrogen peroxide, organic hydroperoxides, and peroxynitrite. For all of the peroxiredoxins, the catalytic cysteine, referred to as the peroxidatic cysteine (C(P)), acts as a nucleophile in attacking the peroxide substrate, forming a cysteine sulfenic acid at the active site. Because thiolates are far stronger nucleophiles than thiol groups, it is generally accepted that cysteine-based peroxidases should exhibit pK(a) values lower than an unperturbed value of 8.3-8.5. In this investigation, several independent approaches were used to assess the pK(a) of the two cysteinyl residues of AhpC. Methods using two different iodoacetamide derivatives yielded unperturbed pK(a) values (7.9-8.7) for both cysteines, apparently due to reactivity with the wrong conformation of C(P) (i.e., locally unfolded and flipped out of the active site), as supported by X-ray crystallographic analyses. A functional pK(a) of 5.94 +/- 0.10 presumably reflecting the titration of C(P) within the fully folded active site was obtained by measuring AhpC competition with horseradish peroxidase for hydrogen peroxide; this value is quite similar to that obtained by analyzing the pH dependence of the epsilon(240) of wild-type AhpC (5.84 +/- 0.02) and similar to those obtained for two typical 2-cysteine peroxiredoxins from Saccharomyces cerevisiae (5.4 and 6.0). Thus, the pK(a) value of AhpC balances the need for a deprotonated thiol (at pH 7, approximately 90% of the C(P) would be deprotonated) with the fact that thiolates with higher pK(a) values are stronger nucleophiles.

Typical 2-Cys peroxiredoxins (Prxs) are ubiquitous peroxidases that are involved in peroxide scavenging and/or the regulation of peroxide signaling in eukaryotes. Despite their prevalence, very few Prxs have been reliably characterized in terms of their substrate specificity profile and redox potential even though these values are important for gaining insight into physiological function. Here, we present such studies focusing on Salmonella typhimurium alkyl hydroperoxide reductase C component (StAhpC), an enzyme that has proven to be an excellent prototype of this largest and most widespread class of Prxs that includes mammalian Prx I-Prx IV. The catalytic efficiencies of StAhpC (k(cat)/K(m)) are >10(7) M(-1).s(-1) for inorganic and primary hydroperoxide substrates and approximately 100-fold less for tertiary hydroperoxides, with the difference being exclusively caused by changes in K(m). The oxidative inactivation of AhpC through reaction with a second molecule of peroxide shows parallel substrate specificity. The midpoint reduction potential of StAhpC is determined to be -178 +/- 0.4 mV, a value much higher than most other thiol-based redox proteins. The relevance of these results for our understanding of Prx and the physiological role of StAhpC is discussed.

Peroxiredoxins (Prxs) make up a ubiquitous class (proposed EC 1.11.1.15) of cysteine-dependent peroxidases with roles in oxidant protection and signal transduction. An intriguing biophysical property of typical 2-Cys Prxs is the redox-dependent modulation of their oligomeric state between decamers and dimers at physiological concentrations. The functional consequences of this linkage are unknown, but on the basis of structural considerations, we hypothesized that decamer-building (dimer-dimer) interactions serve to stabilize a loop that forms the peroxidatic active site. Here, we address this important issue by studying mutations of Thr77 at the decamer-building interface of AhpC from Salmonella typhimurium. Ultracentrifugation studies revealed that two of the substitutions (T77I and T77D) successfully disrupted the decamer, while the third (T77V) actually enhanced decamer stability. Crystal structures of the decameric forms of all three mutant proteins provide a rationale for their properties. A new assay allowed the first ever measurement of the true k(cat) and K(m) values of wild-type AhpC with H(2)O(2), placing the catalytic efficiency at 4 x 10(7) M(-)(1) s(-)(1). T77V had slightly higher activity than wild-type enzyme, and both T77I and T77D exhibited ca. 100-fold lower catalytic efficiency, indicating that the decameric structure is quite important for, but not essential to, activity. The interplay between decamer formation and active site loop dynamics is emphasized by a decreased susceptibility of T77I and T77D to peroxide-mediated inactivation, and by an increase in the crystallographic B-factors in the active site loop, rather than at the site of the mutation, in the T77D variant.

Uses DNase I protection assays to further investigate the interaction of the RofA protein of Streptococcus pyogenes with its target promoters. Analysis of mutants using a novel vector for examination of transcriptional regulation in gram-positive bacteria; Indication that RofA recognizes two binding sites in the region between prtF and rofA.