Tracking protein-protein interactions by NMR: conformational selection in human steroidogenic cytochrome P450 CYP17A1 induced by cytochrome b5.

The human steroidogenic cytochrome P450 CYP17A1 catalyzes two types of reactions in the biosynthetic pathway leading from pregnenolone to testosterone and several other steroid hormones. The first is the hydroxylation of pregnenolone or progesterone to the corresponding 17α-hydroxy steroid, followed by a lyase reaction that converts these 17α-hydroxy intermediates to the androgens dehydroepiandrosterone and androstenedione, respectively. cytochrome b5 (cytb5) is known to act as both an effector and electron donor for the lyase oxidations, markedly stimulating the rate of the lyase reaction in its presence relative to the rate in its absence. Extensive sequential backbone 1H,15N and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance assignments have now been made for oxidized CYP17A1 bound to the prostate cancer drug and inhibitor abiraterone. This is the first eukaryotic P450 for which such assignments are now available. These assignments allow more complete interpretation of the structural perturbations observed upon cytb5 addition. Possible mechanism(s) for the effector activity of cytb5 are discussed in light of this new information.

Selective steroidogenic cytochrome P450 haem iron ligation by steroid-derived isonitriles.

Alkyl isonitriles, R-NC, have previously been shown to ligate the heme (haem) iron of cytochromes P450 in both accessible oxidation states (ferrous, Fe2+, and ferric, Fe3+). Herein, the preparation of four steroid-derived isonitriles and their interactions with several P450s, including the steroidogenic CYP17A1 and CYP106A2, as well as the more promiscuous drug metabolizers CYP3A4 and CYP2D6, is described. It was found that successful ligation of the heme iron by the isonitrile functionality for a given P450 depends on both the position and stereochemistry of the isonitrile on the steroid skeleton. Spectral studies indicate that isonitrile ligation of the ferric heme is stable upon reduction to the ferrous form, with reoxidation resulting in the original complex. A crystallographic structure of CYP17A1 with an isonitrile derived from pregnanalone further confirmed the interaction and identified the absolute stereochemistry of the bound species.

Conformational heterogeneity suggests multiple substrate binding modes in CYP106A2.

CYP106A2 (cytochrome P450meg) is a bacterial enzyme originally isolated from B. megaterium, and has been shown to hydroxylate a wide variety of substrates, including steroids. The regio- and stereochemistry of CYP106A2 hydroxylation has been shown to be dependent on a variety of factors, and hydroxylation often occurs at more than one site and/or with lack of stereospecificity for some substrates. Comprehensive backbone 15N, 1H and 13C resonance assignments based on multidimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiments performed with uniform and selective isotopically labeled CYP106A2 samples are reported herein, and broadening and splitting of resonances assigned to regions of the enzyme shown to be affected by substrate binding in other P450 enzymes indicate that substrate binding does not reduce structural heterogeneity as has been observed previously in P450 enzymes CYP101A1 and MycG. Paramagnetic relaxation enhancement (PRE) due to proximity between substrate protons and the heme iron were measured for three different substrates, and the relatively uniform nature of the PREs support the proposal that multiple substrate binding modes are occupied at saturating substrate concentrations.

Hydroxylation Regiochemistry Is Robust to Active Site Mutations in Cytochrome P450cam (CYP101A1).

Cytochrome P450cam (CYP101A1) catalyzes the hydroxylation of d-camphor by molecular oxygen. The enzyme-catalyzed hydroxylation exhibits a high degree of regioselectivity and stereoselectivity, with a single major product, d-5-exo-hydroxycamphor, suggesting that the substrate is oriented to facilitate this specificity. In previous work, we used an elastic network model and perturbation response scanning to show that normal deformation modes of the enzyme structure are highly responsive not only to the presence of a substrate but also to the substrate orientation. This work examines the effects of mutations near the active site on substrate localization and orientation. The investigated mutations were designed to promote a change in substrate orientation and/or location that might give rise to different hydroxylation products, while maintaining the same carbon and oxygen atom balances as in the wild type (WT) enzyme. Computational experiments and parallel in vitro site-directed mutations of CYP101A1 were used to examine reaction products and enzyme activity. 1H-15N TROSY-HSQC correlation maps were used to compare the computational results with detectable perturbations in the enzyme structure and dynamics. We found that all of the mutant enzymes retained the same regio- and stereospecificity of hydroxylation as the WT enzyme, with varying degrees of efficiency, which suggests that large portions of the enzyme have been subjected to evolutionary pressure to arrive at the appropriate sequence-structure combination for efficient 5-exo hydroxylation of camphor.

A dynamic understanding of cytochrome P450 structure and function through solution NMR.

Many economically important biosyntheses incorporate regiospecific and stereospecific oxidations at unactivated carbons. Such oxidations are commonly catalyzed by cytochrome P450 monooxygenases, heme-containing enzymes that activate molecular oxygen while selectively binding and orienting the substrate for reaction. Despite the plethora of P450-catalyzed reactions, the P450 fold is highly conserved, and static structures are often insufficient for characterizing conformational states that contribute to specificity. High-resolution solution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) offers insights into dynamic processes and conformational changes that are required of a P450 in order to attain the combination of specificity and efficiency required for these reactions.

A Model for the Solution Structure of Human Fe(II)-Bound Acireductone Dioxygenase and Interactions with the Regulatory Domain of Matrix Metalloproteinase I (MMP-I).

The metalloenzyme acireductone dioxygenase (ARD) shows metal-dependent physical and enzymatic activities depending upon the metal bound in the active site. The Fe(II)-bound enzyme catalyzes the penultimate step of the methionine salvage pathway, converting 1,2-dihydroxy-5-(methylthio)pent-1-en-3-one (acireductone) into formate and the ketoacid precursor of methionine, 2-keto-4-thiomethyl-2-oxobutanoate, using O2 as the oxidant. If Ni(II) is bound, an off-pathway shunt occurs, producing 3-methylthiopropionate, formate, and carbon monoxide from the same acireductone substrate. The solution structure of the Fe(II)-bound human enzyme, HsARD, is described and compared with the structures of Ni-bound forms of the closely related mouse enzyme, MmARD. Potential rationales for the different reactivities of the two isoforms are discussed. The human enzyme has been found to regulate the activity of matrix metalloproteinase I (MMP-I), which is involved in tumor metastasis, by binding the cytoplasmic transmembrane tail peptide of MMP-I. Nuclear magnetic resonance titration of HsARD with the MMP-I tail peptide permits identification of the peptide binding site on HsARD, a cleft anterior to the metal binding site adjacent to a dynamic proline-rich loop.

Analysis of α-synuclein species enriched from cerebral cortex of humans with sporadic dementia with Lewy bodies.

Since researchers identified α-synuclein as the principal component of Lewy bodies and Lewy neurites, studies have suggested that it plays a causative role in the pathogenesis of dementia with Lewy bodies and other 'synucleinopathies'. While α-synuclein dyshomeostasis likely contributes to the neurodegeneration associated with the synucleinopathies, few direct biochemical analyses of α-synuclein from diseased human brain tissue currently exist. In this study, we analysed sequential protein extracts from a substantial number of patients with neuropathological diagnoses of dementia with Lewy bodies and corresponding controls, detecting a shift of cytosolic and membrane-bound physiological α-synuclein to highly aggregated forms. We then fractionated aqueous extracts (cytosol) from cerebral cortex using non-denaturing methods to search for soluble, disease-associated high molecular weight species potentially associated with toxicity. We applied these fractions and corresponding insoluble fractions containing Lewy-type aggregates to several reporter assays to determine their bioactivity and cytotoxicity. Ultimately, high molecular weight cytosolic fractions enhances phospholipid membrane permeability, while insoluble, Lewy-associated fractions induced morphological changes in the neurites of human stem cell-derived neurons. While the concentrations of soluble, high molecular weight α-synuclein were only slightly elevated in brains of dementia with Lewy bodies patients compared to healthy, age-matched controls, these observations suggest that a small subset of soluble α-synuclein aggregates in the brain may drive early pathogenic effects, while Lewy body-associated α-synuclein can drive neurotoxicity.

What Your Crystal Structure Will Not Tell You about Enzyme Function.

Enzyme function requires that enzyme structures be dynamic. Substrate binding, product release, and transition state stabilization typically involve different enzyme conformers. Furthermore, in multistep enzyme-catalyzed reactions, more than one enzyme conformation may be important for stabilizing different transition states. While X-ray crystallography provides the most detailed structural information of any current methodology, X-ray crystal structures of enzymes capture only those conformations that fit into the crystal lattice, which may or may not be relevant to function. Solution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) methods can provide an alternative approach to characterizing enzymes under nonperturbing and controllable conditions, allowing one to identify and localize dynamic processes that are important to function. However, many enzymes are too large for standard approaches to making sequential resonance assignments, a critical first step in analyzing and interpreting the wealth of information inherent in NMR spectra. This Account describes our long-standing NMR-based research into structural and dynamic aspects of function in the cytochrome P450 monooxygenase superfamily. These heme-containing enzymes typically catalyze the oxidation of unactivated C-H and C═C bonds in a multitude of substrates, often with complete regio- and stereospecificity. Over 600 000 genes in GenBank have been assigned to P450s, yet all known P450 structures exhibit a highly conserved and unique fold. This combination of functional and structural conservation with a vast substrate clientele, each substrate having multiple possible sites for oxidation, makes the P450s a unique target for understanding the role of enzyme structure and dynamics in determining a particular substrate-product combination. P450s are large by solution NMR standards, requiring us to develop specialized approaches for making sequential resonance assignments and interpreting the spectral changes that occur as a function of changing conditions (e.g., oxidation and spin state changes, ligand, substrate or effector binding). Solution conformations are characterized by the fitting of residual dipolar couplings (RDCs) measured for sequence-specifically assigned amide N-H correlations to alignment tensors optimized in the course of restrained molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The conformational ensembles obtained by such RDC-restrained simulations, which we call "soft annealing", are then tested by site-directed mutation and spectroscopic and activity assays for relevance. These efforts have gained us insights into cryptic conformational changes associated with substrate and redox partner binding that were not suspected from crystal structures, but were shown by subsequent work to be relevant to function. Furthermore, it appears that many of these changes can be generalized to P450s besides those that we have characterized, providing guidance for enzyme engineering efforts. While past research was primarily directed at the more tractable prokaryotic P450s, our current efforts are aimed at medically relevant human enzymes, including CYP17A1, CYP2D6, and CYP3A4.

Human acireductone dioxygenase (HsARD), cancer and human health: Black hat, white hat or gray?

Multiple factors involving the methionine salvage pathway (MSP) and polyamine biosynthesis have been found to be involved in cancer cell proliferation, migration, invasion and metastasis. This review summarizes the relationships of the MSP enzyme acireductone dioxygenase (ARD), the ADI1 gene encoding ARD and other gene products (ADI1GP) with carcinomas and carcinogenesis. ARD exhibits structural and functional differences depending upon the metal bound in the active site. In the penultimate step of the MSP, the Fe2+ bound form of ARD catalyzes the on-pathway oxidation of acireductone leading to methionine, whereas Ni2+ bound ARD catalyzes an off-pathway reaction producing methylthiopropionate and carbon monoxide, a biological signaling molecule and anti-apoptotic. The relationship between ADI1GP, MSP and polyamine synthesis are discussed, along with possible role(s) of metal in modulating the cellular behavior of ADI1GP and its interactions with other cellular components.

A new approach to understanding structure-function relationships in cytochromes P450 by targeting terpene metabolism in the wild.

A strategy for elucidating sequence determinants of function in the class of cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes that catalyze the first steps of terpene metabolism in wild microbiomes is described. Wild organisms that can use camphor, terpineol, pinene and limonene were isolated from soils rich in coniferous waste. Cell free extracts and growth beers were analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry to identify primary oxidative metabolites. For one organism, Pseudomonas nitroreducens TPJM, a cytochrome P450 (CYP108B1) isolated from cell free extracts was demonstrated to catalyze the oxidation of α-terpineol in assays combining the native ferredoxin and putidaredoxin reductase, and the resulting oxidation products identified by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Shotgun sequencing of PnTPJM identified four candidate P450 genes, including an apparently fragmentary gene with a high degree of homology with the known enzyme CYP108 (P450terp).

Some Surprising Implications of NMR-directed Simulations of Substrate Recognition and Binding by Cytochrome P450cam (CYP101A1).

Cytochrome P450cam (CYP101A1) catalyzes the stereospecific 5-exo hydroxylation of d-camphor by molecular oxygen. Previously, residual dipolar couplings measured for backbone amide 1H-15N correlations in both substrate-free and bound forms of CYP101A1 were used as restraints in soft annealing molecular dynamic simulations in order to identify average conformations of the enzyme with and without substrate bound. Multiple substrate-dependent conformational changes remote from the enzyme active site were identified, and site-directed mutagenesis and activity assays confirmed the importance of these changes in substrate recognition. The current work makes use of perturbation response scanning (PRS) and umbrella sampling molecular dynamic of the residual dipolar coupling-derived CYP101A1 structures to probe the roles of remote structural features in enforcing the regio- and stereospecific nature of the hydroxylation reaction catalyzed by CYP101A1. An improper dihedral angle Ψ was defined and used to maintain substrate orientation in the CYP101A1 active site, and it was observed that different values of Ψ result in different PRS response maps. Umbrella sampling methods show that the free energy of the system is sensitive to Ψ, and bound substrate forms an important mechanical link in the transmission of mechanical coupling through the enzyme structure. Finally, a qualitative approach to interpreting PRS maps in terms of the roles of secondary structural features is proposed.

NADH reduction of nitroaromatics as a probe for residual ferric form high-spin in a cytochrome P450.

The existence of a substrate-sensitive equilibrium between high spin (S=5/2) and low spin (S=1/2) ferric iron is a well-established phenomenon in the cytochrome P450 (CYP) superfamily, although its origins are still a subject of discussion. A series of mutations that strongly perturb the spin state equilibrium in the camphor hydroxylase CYP101A1 were recently described (Colthart et al., Sci. Rep. 6, 22035 (2016)). Wild type CYP101A1 as well as some CYP101A1 mutants are herein shown to be capable of catalyzing the reduction of nitroacetophenones by NADH to the corresponding anilino compounds (nitroreductase or NRase activity). The distinguishing characteristic between those mutants that catalyze the reduction and those that cannot appears to be the extent to which residual high spin form exists in the absence of the native substrate d-camphor, with those showing the largest spin state shifts upon camphor binding also exhibiting NRase activity. Optical and EPR spectroscopy was used to further examine these phenomena. These results suggest that reduction of nitroaromatics may provide a useful probe of residual high spin states in the CYP superfamily. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Cytochrome P450 biodiversity and biotechnology, edited by Erika Plettner, Gianfranco Gilardi, Luet Wong, Vlada Urlacher, Jared Goldstone.

Substrate recognition by two different P450s: Evidence for conserved roles in a common fold.

Cytochrome P450 monooxygenases CYP101A1 and MycG catalyze regio- and stereospecific oxidations of their respective substrates, d-camphor and mycinamicin IV. Despite the low sequence homology between the two enzymes (29% identity) and differences in size and hydrophobicity of their substrates, the conformational changes that occur upon substrate binding in both enzymes as determined by solution NMR methods show some striking similarities. Many of the same secondary structural features in both enzymes are perturbed, suggesting the existence of a common mechanism for substrate binding and recognition in the P450 superfamily.

The Metal Drives the Chemistry: Dual Functions of Acireductone Dioxygenase.

Acireductone dioxygenase (ARD) from the methionine salvage pathway (MSP) is a unique enzyme that exhibits dual chemistry determined solely by the identity of the divalent transition-metal ion (Fe2+ or Ni2+) in the active site. The Fe2+-containing isozyme catalyzes the on-pathway reaction using substrates 1,2-dihydroxy-3-keto-5-methylthiopent-1-ene (acireductone) and dioxygen to generate formate and the ketoacid precursor of methionine, 2-keto-4-methylthiobutyrate, whereas the Ni2+-containing isozyme catalyzes an off-pathway shunt with the same substrates, generating methylthiopropionate, carbon monoxide, and formate. The dual chemistry of ARD was originally discovered in the bacterium Klebsiella oxytoca, but it has recently been shown that mammalian ARD enzymes (mouse and human) are also capable of catalyzing metal-dependent dual chemistry in vitro. This is particularly interesting, since carbon monoxide, one of the products of off-pathway reaction, has been identified as an antiapoptotic molecule in mammals. In addition, several biochemical and genetic studies have indicated an inhibitory role of human ARD in cancer. This comprehensive review describes the biochemical and structural characterization of the ARD family, the proposed experimental and theoretical approaches to establishing mechanisms for the dual chemistry, insights into the mechanism based on comparison with structurally and functionally similar enzymes, and the applications of this research to the field of artificial metalloenzymes and synthetic biology.

Solution Conformations and Dynamics of Substrate-Bound Cytochrome P450 MycG.

MycG is a P450 monooxygenase that catalyzes the sequential hydroxylation and epoxidation of mycinamicin IV (M-IV), the last two steps in the biosynthesis of mycinamicin II, a macrolide antibiotic isolated from Micromonospora griseorubida. The crystal structure of MycG with M-IV bound was previously determined but showed the bound substrate in an orientation that did not rationalize the observed regiochemistry of M-IV hydroxylation. Nuclear magnetic resonance paramagnetic relaxation enhancements provided evidence of an orientation of M-IV in the MycG active site more compatible with the observed chemistry, but substrate-induced changes in the enzyme structure were not characterized. We now describe the use of amide 1H-15N residual dipolar couplings as experimental restraints in solvated "soft annealing" molecular dynamics simulations to generate solution structural ensembles of M-IV-bound MycG. Chemical shift perturbations, hydrogen-deuterium exchange, and 15N relaxation behavior provide insight into the dynamic and electronic perturbations in the MycG structure in response to M-IV binding. The solution and crystallographic structures are compared, and the possibility that the crystallographic orientation of bound M-IV represents an inhibitory mode is discussed.

Dual chemistry catalyzed by human acireductone dioxygenase.

Acireductone dioxygenase (ARD) from the methionine salvage pathway of Klebsiella oxytoca is the only known naturally occurring metalloenzyme that catalyzes different reactions in vivo based solely on the identity of the divalent transition metal ion (Fe2+ or Ni2+) bound in the active site. The iron-containing isozyme catalyzes the cleavage of substrate 1,2-dihydroxy-3-keto-5-(thiomethyl)pent-1-ene (acireductone) by O2 to formate and the ketoacid precursor of methionine, whereas the nickel-containing isozyme uses the same substrates to catalyze an off-pathway shunt to form methylthiopropionate, carbon monoxide and formate. This dual chemistry was recently demonstrated in vitro by ARD from Mus musculus (MmARD), providing the first example of a mammalian ARD exhibiting metal-dependent catalysis. We now show that human ARD (HsARD) is also capable of metal-dependent dual chemistry. Recombinant HsARD was expressed and purified to obtain a homogeneous enzyme with a single transition metal ion bound. As with MmARD, the Fe2+-bound HsARD shows the highest activity and catalyzes on-pathway chemistry, whereas Ni2+, Co2+ or Mn2+ forms catalyze off-pathway chemistry. The thermal stability of the HsARD isozymes is a function of the metal ion identity, with Ni2+-bound HsARD being the most stable followed by Co2+ and Fe2+, and Mn2+-bound HsARD being the least stable. As with the bacterial ARD, solution NMR data suggest that HsARD isozymes can have significant structural differences depending upon the metal ion bound.

Detection of substrate-dependent conformational changes in the P450 fold by nuclear magnetic resonance.

Cytochrome P450 monooxygenases typically catalyze the insertion of one atom of oxygen from O2 into unactivated carbon-hydrogen and carbon-carbon bonds, with concomitant reduction of the other oxygen atom to H2O by NAD(P)H. Comparison of the average structures of the camphor hydroxylase cytochrome P450(cam) (CYP101) obtained from residual dipolar coupling (RDC)-restrained molecular dynamics (MD) in the presence and absence of substrate camphor shows structural displacements resulting from the essential collapse of the active site upon substrate removal. This collapse has conformational consequences that extend across the protein structure, none of which were observed in analogous crystallographic structures. Mutations were made to test the involvement of the observed conformational changes in substrate binding and recognition. All of the mutations performed based upon the NMR-detected perturbations, even those remote from the active site, resulted in modified substrate selectivity, enzyme efficiency and/or haem iron spin state. The results demonstrate that solution NMR can provide insights into enzyme structure-function relationships that are difficult to obtain by other methods.

Metal-Dependent Function of a Mammalian Acireductone Dioxygenase.

The two acireductone dioxygenase (ARD) isozymes from the methionine salvage pathway of Klebsiella oxytoca are the only known pair of naturally occurring metalloenzymes with distinct chemical and physical properties determined solely by the identity of the divalent transition metal ion (Fe(2+) or Ni(2+)) in the active site. We now show that this dual chemistry can also occur in mammals. ARD from Mus musculus (MmARD) was studied to relate the metal ion identity and three-dimensional structure to enzyme function. The iron-containing isozyme catalyzes the cleavage of 1,2-dihydroxy-3-keto-5-(thiomethyl)pent-1-ene (acireductone) by O2 to formate and the ketoacid precursor of methionine, which is the penultimate step in methionine salvage. The nickel-bound form of ARD catalyzes an off-pathway reaction resulting in formate, carbon monoxide (CO), and 3-(thiomethyl) propionate. Recombinant MmARD was expressed and purified to obtain a homogeneous enzyme with a single transition metal ion bound. The Fe(2+)-bound protein, which shows about 10-fold higher activity than that of others, catalyzes on-pathway chemistry, whereas the Ni(2+), Co(2+), or Mn(2+) forms exhibit off-pathway chemistry, as has been seen with ARD from Klebsiella. Thermal stability of the isozymes is strongly affected by the metal ion identity, with Ni(2+)-bound MmARD being the most stable, followed by Co(2+) and Fe(2+), and Mn(2+)-bound ARD being the least stable. Ni(2+)- and Co(2+)-bound MmARD were crystallized, and the structures of the two proteins found to be similar. Enzyme-ligand complexes provide insight into substrate binding, metal coordination, and the catalytic mechanism.

Unfolding a molecular trefoil derived from a zwitterionic metallopeptide to form self-assembled nanostructures.

While used extensively by nature to control the geometry of protein structures, and dynamics of proteins, such as self-organization, hydration forces and ionic interactions received less attention for controlling the behaviour of small molecules. Here we describe the synthesis and characterization of a novel zwitterionic metallopeptide consisting of a cationic core and three distal anionic groups linked by self-assembling peptide motifs. 2D NMR spectra, total correlated spectroscopy and nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy, show that the molecule exhibits a three-fold rotational symmetry and adopts a folded conformation in dimethyl sulfoxide due to Coulombic forces. When hydrated in water, the molecule unfolds to act as a self-assembling building block of supramolecular nanostructures. By combining ionic interactions with the unique geometry from metal complex and hydrophobic interactions from simple peptides, we demonstrate a new and effective way to design molecules for smart materials through mimicking a sophisticated biofunctional system using a conformational switch.