New structures reveal flexible dynamics between the subdomains of peptidylglycine monooxygenase. Implications for an open to closed mechanism.

Peptidylglycine monooxygenase (PHM) is essential for the biosynthesis of many neuroendocrine peptides via a copper-dependent hydroxylation of a glycine-extended pro-peptide. The "canonical" mechanism requires the transfer of two electrons from one mononuclear copper (CuH, H-site) to a second mononuclear copper (CuM, M-site) which is the site of oxygen binding and catalysis. In most crystal structures the copper centers are separated by 11 Å of disordered solvent, but recent work has established that a PHM variant H108A forms a closed conformer in the presence of citrate with a reduced Cu-Cu site separation of ~4 Å.

Pre-Steady-State Reactivity of Peptidylglycine Monooxygenase Implicates Ascorbate in Substrate Triggering of the Active Conformer.

Peptidylglycine monooxygenase (PHM) is essential for the posttranslational amidation of neuroendocrine peptides. An important aspect of the PHM mechanism is the complete coupling of oxygen reduction to substrate hydroxylation, which implies no oxygen reactivity of the fully reduced enzyme in the absence of peptidyl substrates. As part of studies aimed at investigating this feature of the PHM mechanism, we explored pre-steady-state kinetics using chemical quench (CQ) and rapid freeze-quench (RFQ) studies of the fully reduced ascorbate-free PHM enzyme.

Copper monooxygenase reactivity: Do consensus mechanisms accurately reflect experimental observations?

An important question is whether consensus mechanisms for copper monooxygenase enzymes such as peptidylglycine monooxygenase (PHM) and dopamine β-monooxygenase (DBM) generated via computational and spectroscopic approaches account for important experimental observations. We examine this question in the light of recent crystallographic and QMMM reports which suggest that alternative mechanisms involving an open to closed conformational cycle may be more representative of a number of experimental findings that remain unaccounted for in the canonical mononuclear mechanisms. These include (i) the almost negligible reactivity of the catalytic copper site (CuM) with oxygen in the absence of substrate, (ii) the carbonyl chemistry and in particular the substrate-induced activation exemplified by the lowered CO stretching frequency, (iii) the peroxide shunt chemistry which demands an intermediate that facilitates equilibrium between a Cu(II)-peroxo state and a Cu(I)-dioxygen state, and (iv) clear evidence for both closed and open conformational states in both PHM and DBM.

Localized Electronic Structure of Nitrogenase FeMoco Revealed by Selenium K-Edge High Resolution X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy.

The size and complexity of Mo-dependent nitrogenase, a multicomponent enzyme capable of reducing dinitrogen to ammonia, have made a detailed understanding of the FeMo cofactor (FeMoco) active site electronic structure an ongoing challenge. Selective substitution of sulfur by selenium in FeMoco affords a unique probe wherein local Fe-Se interactions can be directly interrogated via high-energy resolution fluorescence detected X-ray absorption spectroscopic (HERFD XAS) and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) studies. These studies reveal a significant asymmetry in the electronic distribution of the FeMoco, suggesting a more localized electronic structure picture than is typically assumed for iron-sulfur clusters.

Rational Design of a Histidine-Methionine Site Modeling the M-Center of Copper Monooxygenases in a Small Metallochaperone Scaffold.

Mononuclear copper monooxygenases peptidylglycine monooxygenase (PHM) and dopamine β-monooxygenase (DBM) catalyze the hydroxylation of high energy C-H bonds utilizing a pair of chemically distinct copper sites (CuH and CuM) separated by 11 Å. In earlier work, we constructed single-site PHM variants that were designed to allow the study of the M- and H-centers independently in order to place their reactivity sequentially along the catalytic pathway. More recent crystallographic studies suggest that these single-site variants may not be truly representative of the individual active sites.

The "speed limit" for macromolecular crystal growth.

A simple "diffusion-to-capture" model is used to estimate the upper limit to the growth rate of macromolecular crystals under conditions when the rate limiting process is the mass transfer of sample from solution to the crystal. Under diffusion-limited crystal growth conditions, this model predicts that the cross-sectional area of a crystal will increase linearly with time; this prediction is validated by monitoring the growth rate of lysozyme crystals. A consequence of this analysis is that when crystal growth is diffusion-limited, micron-sized crystals can be produced in ~1 s, which would be compatible with the turnover time of many enzymes.

Neuroligin1 drives synaptic and behavioral maturation through intracellular interactions.

In vitro studies suggest that the intracellular C terminus of Neuroligin1 (NL1) could play a central role in the maturation of excitatory synapses. However, it is unknown how this activity affects synapses in vivo, and whether it may impact the development of complex behaviors. To determine how NL1 influences the state of glutamatergic synapses in vivo, we compared the synaptic and behavioral phenotypes of mice overexpressing a full-length version of NL1 (NL1FL) with mice overexpressing a version missing part of the intracellular domain (NL1ΔC).