Spectroscopic and Computational Investigation of Iron(III) Cysteine Dioxygenase: Implications for the Nature of the Putative Superoxo-Fe(III) Intermediate

Cysteine dioxygenase (CDO) is a mononuclear, non-heme iron-dependent enzyme that converts exogenous cysteine (Cys) to cysteine sulfinic acid using molecular oxygen. Although the complete catalytic mechanism is not yet known, several recent reports presented evidence for an Fe(III)-superoxo reaction intermediate. In this work, we have utilized spectroscopic and computational methods to investigate the as-isolated forms of CDO, as well as Cys-bound Fe(III)CDO, both in the absence and presence of azide (a mimic of superoxide). An analysis of our electronic absorption, magnetic circular dichroism, and electron paramagnetic resonance data of the azide-treated as-isolated forms of CDO within the framework of density functional theory (DFT) computations reveals that azide coordinates directly to the Fe(III), but not the Fe(II) center. An analogous analysis carried out for Cys-Fe(III)CDO provides compelling evidence that at physiological pH, the iron center is six coordinate, with hydroxide occupying the sixth coordination site. Upon incubation of this species with azide, the majority of the active sites retain hydroxide at the iron center. Nonetheless, a modest perturbation of the electronic structure of the Fe(III) center is observed, indicating that azide ions bind near the active site. Additionally, for a small fraction of active sites, azide displaces hydroxide and coordinates directly to the Cys-bound Fe(III) center to generate a low-spin (S = 1/2) Fe(III) complex. In the DFT-optimized structure of this complex, the central nitrogen atom of the azide moiety lies within 3.12 angstrom of the cysteine sulfur. A similar orientation of the superoxide ligand in the putative Fe(III)-superoxo reaction intermediate would promote the attack of the distal oxygen atom on the sulfur of substrate Cys.