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A novel thermophilic hemoprotein scaffold for rational design of biocatalysts

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Abstract

Hemoproteins are commonly found in nature, and involved in many important cellular processes such as oxygen transport, electron transfer, and catalysis. Rational design of hemoproteins can not only inspire novel biocatalysts but will also lead to a better understanding of structure–function relationships in native hemoproteins. Here, the heme nitric oxide/oxygen-binding protein from Caldanaerobacter subterraneus subsp. tengcongensis (TtH-NOX) is used as a novel scaffold for oxidation biocatalyst design. We show that signaling protein TtH-NOX can be reengineered to catalyze H2O2 decomposition and oxidation of 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) by H2O2. In addition, the role of the distal tyrosine (Tyr140) in catalysis is investigated. The mutation of Tyr140 to alanine hinders the catalysis of the oxidation reactions. On the other hand, the mutation of Tyr140 to histidine, which is commonly observed in peroxidases, leads to a significant increase of the catalytic activity. Taken together, these results show that, while the distal histidine plays an important role in hemoprotein reactions with H2O2, it is not always essential for oxidation activity. We show that TtH-NOX protein can be used as an alternative scaffold for the design of novel biocatalysts with desired reactivity or functionality.

Graphical abstract

H-NOX proteins are homologous to the nitric oxide sensor soluble guanylate cyclase. Here, we show that the gas sensor protein TtH-NOX shows limited capacity for catalysis of redox reactions and it can be used as a novel scaffold in biocatalysis design.

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Abbreviations

H-NOX:

Heme nitric oxide/oxygen binding

TtH-NOX:

Heme domain of the methyl-accepting chemotaxis protein from Caldanaerobacter subterraneus subsp. tengcongensis

Mb:

Myoglobin

HRP:

Horseradish peroxidase

ABTS:

2,2′-Azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid)

WT:

Wild type

SDM:

Site-directed mutagenesis

IPTG:

Isopropyl β-d-1-thiogalactopyranoside

ALA:

5-Aminolevulinic acid hydrochloride

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBİTAK, 115C134). We thank Dr. Michael A. Marletta for the generous gift of pET20b plasmid encoding WT TtH-NOX. We thank Dr. Eric S. Underbakke for critical reading of the manuscript. J.E.A-F. received financial support from Turkiye Scholarships. We thank Belgin Tunçel Kırkar and the Department of Chemical Engineering at Izmir Institute of Technology for their help with the glovebox instrument. We are thankful to Biotechnology and Bioengineering Application and Research Center at Izmir Institute of Technology for DNA sequencing analysis.

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  1. Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, İzmir Institute of Technology, Gülbahce, Urla, Izmir, Turkey

    Joana Efua Aggrey-Fynn

  2. Department of Bioengineering, Izmir Institute of Technology, Fen Fak. A Blok Oda 205, Gülbahce, Urla, Izmir, Turkey

    Nur Basak Surmeli

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  1. Joana Efua Aggrey-Fynn
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Correspondence to Nur Basak Surmeli.

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Aggrey-Fynn, J.E., Surmeli, N.B. A novel thermophilic hemoprotein scaffold for rational design of biocatalysts. J Biol Inorg Chem 23, 1295–1307 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00775-018-1615-z

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