title: Porphyrin interactions with wild-type and mutant mouse ferrochelatase.
abstract: Ferrochelatase (EC 4.99.1.1), the terminal enzyme of the heme biosynthetic pathway, catalyzes Fe(2+) chelation into protoporphyrin IX. Resonance Raman and UV-vis absorption spectroscopies of wild-type and engineered variants of murine ferrochelatase were used to examine the proposed structural mechanism for iron insertion into porphyrin. The recombinant variants (i.e., H207N and E287Q) are enzymes in which the conserved amino acids histidine-207 and glutamate-287 of murine ferrochelatase were substituted with asparagine and glutamine, respectively. Both of these residues are at the active site of the enzyme as deduced from the Bacillus subtilis ferrochelatase three-dimensional structure. On the basis of changes in the UV-vis absorption spectrum, addition of free-base or metalated porphyrins to wild-type ferrochelatase and H207N variant yields a 1:1 complex, most likely a monomeric protein-bound species at the active site. In contrast, the addition of porphyrin (either free base or metalated) to E287Q is substoichiometric, as this variant retains bound porphyrin in the active site during isolation and purification. The specificity of porphyrin binding is confirmed by the narrowing of the structure-sensitive lines and the vinyl vibrational mode in the resonance Raman spectra. Shifts in the resonance Raman lines of free-base and metalated porphyrins bound to the wild-type ferrochelatase indicate a nonplanar distortion of the porphyrin macrocycle. However, the magnitude of the distortion cannot be determined without first defining the specific type of deformation. Significantly, the extent of the nonplanar distortion varies in the case of H207N- and E287Q-bound porphyrins. In fact, resonance Raman spectral decompositions indicate a homogeneous ruffled deformation for the nickel protoporphyrin bound to the wild-type ferrochelatase, whereas both planar and ruffled conformations are present for the H207N-bound porphyrin. Perhaps more revealing is the unusual resonance Raman spectrum of the endogenous E287Q-bound porphyrin, which has the structure-sensitive lines greatly upshifted relative to those of the free-base protoporphyrin in solution. This could be interpreted as an equilibrium between protein conformers, one of which favors a highly distorted porphyrin macrocycle. Taken together, these findings suggest that distortion occurs in murine ferrochelatase for some porphyrins, even without metal binding, which is apparently required for the yeast ferrochelatase.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Medicine, Institute for Biomolecular Science and H. Lee Moffit Cancer Center and Research Institute, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33612, USA.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Franco
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: G C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Shelnutt
mesh_terms: D019943:Amino Acid Substitution / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism; D001665:Binding Sites; D005294:Ferrochelatase / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics*; D006859:Hydrogen; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D008652:Mesoporphyrins / Q000737:chemistry; D008665:Metalloporphyrins / Q000737:chemistry; D051379:Mice; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D009532:Nickel / Q000737:chemistry; D011166:Porphyrins / Q000737:chemistry*; D011524:Protoporphyrins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D013056:Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet; D013059:Spectrum Analysis, Raman
chemical_list: D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D008652:Mesoporphyrins; D008665:Metalloporphyrins; D011166:Porphyrins; D011524:Protoporphyrins; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; C031468:mesoporphyrin IX; D009532:Nickel; D006859:Hydrogen; D005294:Ferrochelatase