Retuning the Catalytic Bias and Overpotential of a [NiFe]-Hydrogenase via a Single Amino Acid Exchange at the Electron Entry/Exit Site

The redox chemistry of the electron entry/exit site in Escherichia coli hydrogenase-1 is shown to play a vital role in tuning biocatalysis. Inspired by nature, we generate a HyaA-R193L variant to disrupt a proposed Arg-His cation-pi interaction in the secondary coordination sphere of the outermost, distal, iron-sulfur cluster. This rewires the enzyme, enhancing the relative rate of H-2 production and the thermodynamic efficiency of H-2 oxidation catalysis. On the basis of Fourier transformed alternating current voltammetry measurements, we relate these 'changes in catalysis to a shift in the distal [Fe4S4](2+/1+) redox potential, a previously experimentally inaccessible parameter. Thus, metalloenzyme chemistry is shown to be tuned by the second coordination sphere of an electron transfer site distant from the catalytic center.