Mi. Davis et al., Spectroscopic investigation of reduced protocatechuate 3,4-dioxygenase: Charge-induced alterations in the active site iron coordination environment, INORG CHEM, 38(16), 1999, pp. 3676-3683
Chemical reduction of the mononuclear ferric active site in the bacterial i
ntradiol cleaving catecholic dioxygenase protocatechuate 3,4-dioxygenase (3
,4-PCD, Brevibacterium fuscum) produces a high-spin ferrous center. We have
applied circular dichroism (CD), magnetic circular dichroism (MCD), variab
le-temperature-variable-field (VTVH) MCD, X-ray absorption (XAS) pre-edge,
and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopies to inve
stigate the geometric and electronic structure of the reduced iron center.
Excited-state ligand field CD and MCD data indicate that the site is six-co
ordinate where the E-5(g) excited-state splitting is 2033 cm(-1), VTVH MCD
analysis of the ground state indicates that the site has negative zero-fiel
d splitting with a small rhombic splitting of the lowest doublet (delta = 1
.6 +/- 0.3 cm(-1)). XAS pre-edge analysis also indicates a six-coordinate s
ite while EXAFS analysis provides accurate bond lengths. Since previous spe
ctroscopic analysis and the crystal structure of oxidized 3,4-PCD indicate
a five-coordinate ferric active site, the results presented here show that
the coordination number increases upon reduction. This is attributed to the
coordination of a second solvent ligand. The coordination number increase
relative to the oxidized site also appears to be associated with a large de
crease in the ligand donor strength in the reduced enzyme due to protonatio
n of the original hydroxide ligand.