Models of noncoupled dinuclear copper centers in azurin.

The successful modeling of metalloproteins is an important step in understanding their structure and function. Toward this goal, models of the noncoupled copper centers found in the enzymes peptidyl alpha-hydroxylating monooxygenase (PHM), dopamine beta-monooxygenase (DBM), and nitrite reductase (NiR) were designed into the small soluble protein azurin. The models are significant because they maintain the existing type 1 (T1) copper, electron transfer site of azurin while including the second designed type 2 (T2) copper center that mimics the T2 catalytic sites in the target enzymes.