Heterodisulfide reductase from Methanothermobacter marburgensis contains an active‐site [4Fe–4S] cluster that is directly involved in mediating heterodisulfide reduction

摘要

>Heterodisulfide reductases (HDRs) from methanogenic archaea are iron–sulfur flavoproteins or hemoproteins that catalyze the reversible reduction of the heterodisulfide (CoM-S–S-CoB) of the methanogenic thiol coenzymes, coenzyme M (CoM-SH) and coenzyme B (CoB-SH). In this work, the ground- and excited-state electronic properties of the paramagnetic Fe–S clusters in Methanothermobacter marburgensis HDR have been characterized using the combination of electron paramagnetic resonance and variable-temperature magnetic circular dichroism spectroscopies. The results confirm multiple S=1/2 [4Fe–4S]+ clusters in dithionite-reduced HDR and reveal spectroscopically distinct S=1/2 [4Fe–4S]3+ clusters in oxidized HDR samples treated separately with the CoM-SH and CoB-SH cosubstrates. The active site of HDR is therefore shown to contain a [4Fe–4S] cluster that is directly involved in mediating heterodisulfide reduction. The catalytic mechanism of HDR is discussed in light of the crystallographic and spectroscopic studies of the related chloroplast ferredoxin:thioredoxin reductase class of disulfide reductases.