New insights into the activity of Pseudomonas aeruginosa cd1 nitrite reductase

2008 ◽  
Vol 36 (6) ◽  
pp. 1155-1159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Serena Rinaldo ◽  
Alessandro Arcovito ◽  
Giorgio Giardina ◽  
Nicoletta Castiglione ◽  
Maurizio Brunori ◽  
...  

The cytochrome cd1 nitrite reductases are enzymes that catalyse the reduction of nitrite to nitric oxide (NO) in the bacterial energy conversion denitrification process. These enzymes contain two different redox centres: one covalently bound c-haem, which is reduced by external donors, and one peculiar d1-haem, where catalysis occurs. In the present paper, we summarize the current understanding of the reaction of nitrite reduction in the light of the most recent results on the enzyme from Pseudomonas aeruginosa and discuss the differences between enzymes from different organisms. We have evidence that release of NO from the ferrous d1-haem occurs rapidly enough to be fully compatible with the turnover, in contrast with previous hypotheses, and that the substrate nitrite is able to displace NO from the d1-haem iron. These results shed light on the mechanistic details of the activity of cd1 nitrite reductases and on the biological role of the d1-haem, whose presence in this class of enzymes has to date been unexplained.

2011 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 195-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Serena Rinaldo ◽  
Giorgio Giardina ◽  
Nicoletta Castiglione ◽  
Valentina Stelitano ◽  
Francesca Cutruzzolà

The cd1 NiRs (nitrite reductases) are enzymes catalysing the reduction of nitrite to NO (nitric oxide) in the bacterial energy conversion denitrification process. These enzymes contain two distinct redox centres: one covalently bound c-haem, which is reduced by external electron donors, and another peculiar porphyrin, the d1-haem (3,8-dioxo-17-acrylate-porphyrindione), where nitrite is reduced to NO. In the present paper, we summarize the most recent results on the mechanism of nitrite reduction by the cd1 NiR from Pseudomonas aeruginosa. We discuss the essential catalytic features of this enzyme, with special attention to the allosteric regulation of the enzyme's activity and to the mechanism employed to avoid product inhibition, i.e. trapping of the active-site reduced haem by the product NO. These results shed light on the reactivity of cd1 NiRs and assign a central role to the unique d1-haem, present only in this class of enzymes.


Molecules ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (11) ◽  
pp. 2997
Author(s):  
Kakali Sen ◽  
Michael Hough ◽  
Richard Strange ◽  
Chin Yong ◽  
Thomas Keal

Copper-containing nitrite reductases (CuNiRs) play a key role in the global nitrogen cycle by reducing nitrite (NO2−) to nitric oxide, a reaction that involves one electron and two protons. In typical two-domain CuNiRs, the electron is acquired from an external electron-donating partner. The recently characterised Rastonia picketti (RpNiR) system is a three-domain CuNiR, where the cupredoxin domain is tethered to a heme c domain that can function as the electron donor. The nitrite reduction starts with the binding of NO2− to the T2Cu centre, but very little is known about how NO2− binds to native RpNiR. A recent crystallographic study of an RpNiR mutant suggests that NO2− may bind via nitrogen rather than through the bidentate oxygen mode typically observed in two-domain CuNiRs. In this work we have used combined quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) methods to model the binding mode of NO2− with native RpNiR in order to determine whether the N-bound or O-bound orientation is preferred. Our results indicate that binding via nitrogen or oxygen is possible for the oxidised Cu(II) state of the T2Cu centre, but in the reduced Cu(I) state the N-binding mode is energetically preferred.


2017 ◽  
Vol 398 (3) ◽  
pp. 319-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine C. Helms ◽  
Xiaohua Liu ◽  
Daniel B. Kim-Shapiro

Abstract Nitrite was once thought to be inert in human physiology. However, research over the past few decades has established a link between nitrite and the production of nitric oxide (NO) that is potentiated under hypoxic and acidic conditions. Under this new role nitrite acts as a storage pool for bioavailable NO. The NO so produced is likely to play important roles in decreasing platelet activation, contributing to hypoxic vasodilation and minimizing blood-cell adhesion to endothelial cells. Researchers have proposed multiple mechanisms for nitrite reduction in the blood. However, NO production in blood must somehow overcome rapid scavenging by hemoglobin in order to be effective. Here we review the role of red blood cell hemoglobin in the reduction of nitrite and present recent research into mechanisms that may allow nitric oxide and other reactive nitrogen signaling species to escape the red blood cell.


1996 ◽  
Vol 76 (1) ◽  
pp. 193-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. B. Persson

It is generally held that the role of a specific control element can only be understood within its physiological environment. The reviewed studies make it clear that there is a potent interplay between locally produced substances such as adenosine, nitric oxide, prostaglandins, and various others all interacting with the central level of control. This can occur at central sites (e.g., nitric oxide in the brain) or in the periphery (e.g., neural influence on autoregulation). The interactions are more or less pronounced during specific physiological challenges. Furthermore, several of these interactions are altered under pathological circumstances, and in some cases, the interactions seem to maintain or even augment the severity of disease. When more than three parameters participate in an interaction, the resulting regulation may become extremely complex. If these parameters are nonlinearly coupled with each other, the only way to shed light onto the nature of control network is by treating it as a black box. With the use of spectral analysis or nonlinear methods, it is possible to disentangle the fundamental nature of the system in terms of the complexity and stability. Therefore, modern developments in cardiovascular physiology utilizing these techniques, some of which are derived from the "chaos theory," are reviewed.


1982 ◽  
Vol 207 (2) ◽  
pp. 333-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
R Cammack ◽  
R H Jackson ◽  
A Cornish-Bowden ◽  
J A Cole

The NADH-dependent nitrite reductase of Escherichia coli, which contains sirohaem, flavin, non-haem iron and labile sulphide, was examined by low-temperature e.s.r. spectroscopy. The enzyme, stored in the presence of nitrite and ascorbate, gave the spectrum of a nitrosyl derivative, with hyperfine splitting due to the nitrosyl nitrogen. On removal of these reagents, a series of signals centred around g = 6 was observed, typical of high-spin ferric haem. Cyanide converted this into a low-spin form. On reduction of the enzyme with NADH, an axial spectrum at g = 1.92, 2.01 was observed. The temperature-dependence of this signal is indicative of a [2Fe-2S] iron-sulphur cluster. The midpoint potential of this cluster was estimated to be −230 +/- 15 mV by two independent methods. Reduction of the enzyme with dithionite yielded further signals, which are at present unidentified, at g = 2.1-2.28. No signals were observed that could be assigned to a [4Fe-4S] cluster, such as is found in other sulphite reductases and nitrite reductases that contain sirohaem.


Author(s):  
Thomas Klünemann ◽  
Wulf Blankenfeldt

A key step in anaerobic nitrate respiration is the reduction of nitrite to nitric oxide, which is catalysed by the cd 1 nitrite reductase NirS in, for example, the Gram-negative opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Each subunit of this homodimeric enzyme consists of a cytochrome c domain and an eight-bladed β-propeller that binds the uncommon isobacteriochlorin heme d 1 as an essential part of its active site. Although NirS has been well studied mechanistically and structurally, the focus of previous studies has been on the active heme d 1-bound form. The heme d 1-free form of NirS reported here, which represents a premature state of the reductase, adopts an open conformation with the cytochrome c domains moved away from each other with respect to the active enzyme. Further, the movement of a loop around Trp498 seems to be related to a widening of the propeller, allowing easier access to the heme d 1-binding side. Finally, a possible link between the open conformation of NirS and flagella formation in P. aeruginosa is discussed.


1976 ◽  
Vol 31 (9-10) ◽  
pp. 565-568 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hartmut Spiller ◽  
Gerhard Bookjans ◽  
Peter Böger

Abstract Data regarding the role of oxygen in nitrite reduction are presented. In an NADPH-generating system including homogeneously purified ferredoxin-NADP reductase, ferredoxin (or flavodoxin) and nitrite reductase from the alga Bumilleriopsis filiformis, oxygen and nitrite can be reduced simultaneously. In air, rates of 1.2 μmol nitrite reduced· min-1· mg -1 nitrite reductase are ob­tained, which are physiologically feasible. Ferredoxin is inhibited non-competitively by oxygen during nitrite reduction. Oxygen uptake due to the oxidase reaction of ferredoxin-NADP reductase mediated by flavodoxin from Chlorella fusca and ferredoxin from Bumilleriopsis involves superoxide and is inhibited by the nitrite reducing system.


2009 ◽  
Vol 192 (4) ◽  
pp. 903-911 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Hartsock ◽  
James P. Shapleigh

ABSTRACT Analysis of the Rhodobacter sphaeroides 2.4.3 genome revealed four previously unidentified sequences similar to the binding site of the transcriptional regulator NnrR. Expression studies demonstrated that three of these sequences are within the promoters of genes, designated paz, norEF, and cdgA, in the NnrR regulon, while the status of the fourth sequence, within the tat operon promoter, remains uncertain. nnrV, under control of a previously identified NnrR site, was also identified. paz encodes a pseudoazurin that is a donor of electrons to nitrite reductase. paz inactivation did not decrease nitrite reductase activity, but loss of pseudoazurin and cytochrome c2 together reduced nitrite reduction. Inactivation of norEF reduced nitrite and nitric oxide reductase activity and increased the sensitivity to nitrite in a taxis assay. This suggests that loss of norEF increases NO production as a result of decreased nitric oxide reductase activity. 2.4.3 is the only strain of R. sphaeroides with norEF, even though all four of the strains whose genomes have been sequenced have the norCBQD operon and nnrR. norEF was shown to provide resistance to nitrite when it was mobilized into R. sphaeroides strain 2.4.1 containing nirK. Inactivation of the other identified genes did not reveal any detectable denitrification-related phenotype. The distribution of members of the NnrR regulon in R. sphaeroides revealed patterns of coselection of structural genes with the ancillary genes identified here. The strong coselection of these genes indicates their functional importance under real-world conditions, even though inactivation of the majority of them does not impact denitrification under laboratory conditions.


2013 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tristan Nicke ◽  
Tobias Schnitzer ◽  
Karin Münch ◽  
Julia Adamczack ◽  
Kristin Haufschildt ◽  
...  

The periplasmic cytochrome cd1 nitrite reductase NirS occurring in denitrifying bacteria such as the human pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa contains the essential tetrapyrrole cofactors haem c and haem d1. Whereas the haem c is incorporated into NirS by the cytochrome c maturation system I, nothing is known about the insertion of the haem d1 into NirS. Here, we show by co-immunoprecipitation that NirS interacts with the potential haem d1 insertion protein NirN in vivo. This NirS–NirN interaction is dependent on the presence of the putative haem d1 biosynthesis enzyme NirF. Further, we show by affinity co-purification that NirS also directly interacts with NirF. Additionally, NirF is shown to be a membrane anchored lipoprotein in P. aeruginosa. Finally, the analysis by UV–visible absorption spectroscopy of the periplasmic protein fractions prepared from the P. aeruginosa WT (wild-type) and a P. aeruginosa ΔnirN mutant shows that the cofactor content of NirS is altered in the absence of NirN. Based on our results, we propose a potential model for the maturation of NirS in which the three proteins NirS, NirN and NirF form a transient, membrane-associated complex in order to achieve the last step of haem d1 biosynthesis and insertion of the cofactor into NirS.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document