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Abstract: The native structure of the heterodimeric periplasmic nitrate reductase (NapAB) from Cupriavidus (C.) necator was solved at 1.5Å resolution, using one single crystal obtained at the robot facility at the EMBL, Grenoble. The reaction mechanism for this family of proteins was recently revised, based on new crystallographic evidence, and new structural studies are required to clarify this new mechanistic implication. Several nanodrop crystallization trials yielded microcrystals of the C. necator NapAB. However, scale-up attempts systematically failed and did not yield any suitable crystals. Only with the use of ionic liquids (IL) were we able to grow, in a reproducible manner, larger crystals, which diffracted X-rays to 1.7Å resolution. By using the IL [C4mim]Cl as a crystallization additive, we achieved reproducibility in obtaining good quality crystals. Although no IL molecules could be identified in the electron density maps, the crystals grown in the presence and absence of IL have large differences in cell constants. This is the first report of the use of IL for a difficult crystallization problem. The procedure now reported can be applied for crystal optimization such as size increase or improvement of fine needles, as well as for scaling-up crystallization conditions from nanolitre to microlitre drop volumes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The periplasmic nitrate reductase (NapAB) from Cupriavidus necator is a heterodimeric protein that belongs to the dimethyl sulfoxide reductase family of mononuclear Mo-containing enzymes and catalyzes the reduction of nitrate to nitrite. The protein comprises a large catalytic subunit (NapA, 91 kDa) containing the molybdenum active site plus one [4Fe–4S] cluster, as well as a small subunit (NapB, 17 kDa), which is a diheme c-type cytochrome involved in electron transfer. Crystals of the oxidized form of the enzyme diffracted beyond 1.5 Å at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility. This is the highest resolution reported to date for a nitrate reductase, providing true atomic details of the protein active center, and this showed further evidence on the molybdenum coordination sphere, corroborating previous data on the related Desulfovibrio desulfuricans NapA. The molybdenum atom is bound to a total of six sulfur atoms, with no oxygen ligands or water molecules in the vicinity. In the present work, we were also able to prepare partially reduced crystals that revealed two alternate conformations of the Mo-coordinating cysteine. This crystal form was obtained by soaking dithionite into crystals grown in the presence of the ionic liquid [C4mim]Cl−. In addition, UV–Vis and EPR spectroscopy studies showed that the periplasmic nitrate reductase from C. necator might work at unexpectedly high redox potentials when compared to all periplasmic nitrate reductases studied to date. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]