Mechanistic Studies of Reactions of Peroxodiiron(III) Intermediates in T201 Variants of Toluene/o-Xylene Monooxygenase Hydroxylase

Site-directed mutagenesis studies of a strictly conserved T201 residue in the active site of toluene/o-xylene monooxygenase hydroxylase (ToMOH) revealed that a single mutation can facilitate kinetic isolation of two distinctive peroxodiiron(III) species, designated T201peroxo and ToMOHperoxo, during dioxygen activation. Previously, we characterized both oxygenated intermediates by UV–vis and Mössbauer spectroscopy, proposed structures from DFT and QM/MM computational studies, and elucidated chemical steps involved in dioxygen activation through the kinetic studies of T201peroxo formation. In this study, we investigate the kinetics of T201peroxo decay to explore the reaction mechanism of the oxygenated intermediates following O2 activation. The decay rates of T201peroxo were monitored in the absence and presence of external (phenol) or internal (tryptophan residue in an I100W variant) substrates under pre-steady-state conditions. Three possible reaction models for the formation and decay of T201peroxo were evaluated, and the results demonstrate that this species is on the pathway of arene oxidation and appears to be in equilibrium with ToMOHperoxo.National Institute of General Medical Sciences (U.S.) (GM032134

Dioxygen Activation in Soluble Methane Monooxygenase

The controlled oxidation of methane to methanol is a chemical transformation of great value, particularly in the pursuit of alternative fuels, but the reaction remains underutilized industrially because of inefficient and costly synthetic procedures. In contrast, methane monooxygenase enzymes (MMOs) from methanotrophic bacteria achieve this chemistry efficiently under ambient conditions. In this Account, we discuss the first observable step in the oxidation of methane at the carboxylate-bridged diiron active site of the soluble MMO (sMMO), namely, the reductive activation of atmospheric O2. The results provide benchmarks against which the dioxygen activation mechanisms of other bacterial multicomponent monooxygenases can be measured. Molecular oxygen reacts rapidly with the reduced diiron(II) cen-ter of the hydroxylase component of sMMO (MMOH). The first spectroscopically characterized intermediate that results from this process is a peroxodiiron(III) species, P*, in which the iron atoms have identical environments. P* converts to a second peroxodiiron(III) unit, Hperoxo, in a process accompanied by the transfer of a proton, probably with the assistance of a residue near the active site. Proton-promoted O−O bond scission and rearrangement of the diiron core then leads to a diiron(IV) unit, termed Q, that is directly responsible for the oxidation of methane to methanol. In one section of this Account, we provide a detailed discussion of these processes, with particular emphasis on possible structures of the intermediates. The geometries of P* and Hperoxo are currently unknown, and recent synthetic modeling chemistry has highlighted the need for further structural characterization of Q, currently assigned as a di(μ-oxo)diiron(IV) “diamond core.” In another section of the Account, we discuss in detail proton transfer during the O2 activation events. The role of protons in promoting O−O bond cleavage, thereby initiating the conversion of Hperoxo to Q, was previously a controversial topic. Recent studies of the mechanism, covering a range of pH values and in D2O instead of H2O, confirmed conclusively that the transfer of protons, possibly at or near the active site, is necessary for both P*-to-Hperoxo and Hperoxo-to-Q conversions. Specific mechanistic insights into these processes are provided. In the final section of the Account, we present our view of experiments that need to be done to further define crucial aspects of sMMO chemistry. Here our goal is to detail the challenges that we and others face in this research, particularly with respect to some long-standing questions about the system, as well as approaches that might be used to solve them.National Institute of General Medical Sciences (U.S.) (grant GM032134

An Integrated Proteomics/Transcriptomics Approach Points to Oxygen as the Main Electron Sink for Methanol Metabolism in Methylotenera mobilis▿†

Methylotenera species, unlike their close relatives in the genera Methylophilus, Methylobacillus, and Methylovorus, neither exhibit the activity of methanol dehydrogenase nor possess mxaFI genes encoding this enzyme, yet they are able to grow on methanol. In this work, we integrated a genome-wide proteomics approach, shotgun proteomics, and a genome-wide transcriptomics approach, shotgun transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq), of Methylotenera mobilis JLW8 to identify genes and enzymes potentially involved in methanol oxidation, with special attention to alternative nitrogen sources, to address the question of whether nitrate could play a role as an electron acceptor in place of oxygen. Both proteomics and transcriptomics identified a limited number of genes and enzymes specifically responding to methanol. This set includes genes involved in oxidative stress response systems, a number of oxidoreductases, including XoxF-type alcohol dehydrogenases, a type II secretion system, and proteins without a predicted function. Nitrate stimulated expression of some genes in assimilatory nitrate reduction and denitrification pathways, while ammonium downregulated some of the nitrogen metabolism genes. However, none of these genes appeared to respond to methanol, which suggests that oxygen may be the main electron sink during growth on methanol. This study identifies initial targets for future focused physiological studies, including mutant analysis, which will provide further details into this novel process