Self-subunit Swapping Chaperone Needed for the Maturation of Multimeric Metalloenzyme Nitrile Hydratase by a Subunit Exchange Mechanism Also Carries Out the Oxidation of the Metal Ligand Cysteine Residues and Insertion of Cobalt*S⃞

摘要

The incorporation of cobalt into low molecular mass nitrile hydratase (L-NHase) of Rhodococcus rhodochrous J1 has been found to depend on the α-subunit exchange between cobalt-free L-NHase (apo-L-NHase lacking oxidized cysteine residues) and its cobalt-containing mediator (holo-NhlAE containing \documentclass[10pt]{article}\usepackage{amsmath}\usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy}\usepackage{mathrsfs}\usepackage{pmc}\usepackage[Euler]{upgreek}\pagestyle{empty}\oddsidemargin -1.0in\begin{document}\begin{equation*}{\mathrm{Cys-SO}}_{2}^{-}\end{equation*}\end{document} and Cys-SO- metal ligands), this novel mode of post-translational maturation having been named self-subunit swapping, and NhlE having been recognized as a self-subunit swapping chaperone (Zhou, Z., Hashimoto, Y., Shiraki, K., and Kobayashi, M. (2008) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 105, 14849–14854). We discovered here that cobalt was inserted into both the cobalt-free NhlAE (apo-NhlAE) and the cobalt-free α-subunit (apo-α-subunit) in an NhlE-dependent manner in the presence of cobalt and dithiothreitol in vitro. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectroscopy analysis revealed that the non-oxidized cysteine residues in apo-NhlAE were post-translationally oxidized after cobalt insertion. These findings suggested that NhlE has two activities, i.e. cobalt insertion and cysteine oxidation. NhlE not only functions as a self-subunit swapping chaperone but also a metallochaperone that includes a redox function. Cobalt insertion and cysteine oxidation occurred under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions when Co3+ was used as a cobalt donor, suggesting that the oxygen atoms in the oxidized cysteines were derived from water molecules but not from dissolved oxygen. Additionally, we isolated apo-NhlAE after the self-subunit swapping event and found that it was recycled for cobalt transfer into L-NHase.