Primary Citation of Related Structures:   6SF4, 6SF5
PubMed Abstract: 
Outside of the photosynthetic machinery, high-valent manganese cofactors are rare in biology. It was proposed that a recently discovered subclass of ribonucleotide reductase (RNR), class Id, is dependent on a Mn 2 (IV,III) cofactor for catalysis ...
Outside of the photosynthetic machinery, high-valent manganese cofactors are rare in biology. It was proposed that a recently discovered subclass of ribonucleotide reductase (RNR), class Id, is dependent on a Mn 2 (IV,III) cofactor for catalysis. Class I RNRs consist of a substrate-binding component (NrdA) and a metal-containing radical-generating component (NrdB). Herein we utilize a combination of EPR spectroscopy and enzyme assays to underscore the enzymatic relevance of the Mn 2 (IV,III) cofactor in class Id NrdB from Facklamia ignava. Once formed, the Mn 2 (IV,III) cofactor confers enzyme activity that correlates well with cofactor quantity. Moreover, we present the X-ray structure of the apo- and aerobically Mn-loaded forms of the homologous class Id NrdB from Leeuwenhoekiella blandensis, revealing a dimanganese centre typical of the subclass, with a tyrosine residue maintained at distance from the metal centre and a lysine residue projected towards the metals. Structural comparison of the apo- and metal-loaded forms of the protein reveals a refolding of the loop containing the conserved lysine and an unusual shift in the orientation of helices within a monomer, leading to the opening of a channel towards the metal site. Such major conformational changes have not been observed in NrdB proteins before. Finally, in vitro reconstitution experiments reveal that the high-valent manganese cofactor is not formed spontaneously from oxygen, but can be generated from at least two different reduced oxygen species, i.e. H 2 O 2 and superoxide (O 2 ·- ). Considering the observed differences in the efficiency of these two activating reagents, we propose that the physiologically relevant mechanism involves superoxide.
Organizational Affiliation: 
Department of Chemistry, Ångström Laboratory, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden. gustav.berggren@kemi.uu.se.