Native mass spectrometry identifies the HybG chaperone as carrier of the Fe(CN)CO group during maturation of E. coli [NiFe]-hydrogenase 2.

[NiFe]-hydrogenases activate dihydrogen. Like all [NiFe]-hydrogenases, hydrogenase 2 of Escherichia coli has a bimetallic NiFe(CN)CO cofactor in its catalytic subunit. Biosynthesis of the Fe(CN)CO group of the [NiFe]-cofactor occurs on a distinct scaffold complex comprising the HybG and HypD accessory proteins. HybG is a member of the HypC-family of chaperones that confers specificity towards immature hydrogenase catalytic subunits during transfer of the Fe(CN)CO group. Using native mass spectrometry of an anaerobically isolated HybG-HypD complex we show that HybG carries the Fe(CN)CO group. Our results also reveal that only HybG, but not HypD, interacts with the apo-form of the catalytic subunit. Finally, HybG was shown to have two distinct, and apparently CO-related, covalent modifications that depended on the presence of the N-terminal cysteine residue on the protein, possibly representing intermediates during Fe(CN)CO group biosynthesis. Together, these findings suggest that the HybG chaperone is involved in both biosynthesis and delivery of the Fe(CN)CO group to its target protein. HybG is thus suggested to shuttle between the assembly complex and the apo-catalytic subunit. This study provides new insights into our understanding of how organometallic cofactor components are assembled on a scaffold complex and transferred to their client proteins.