Corrole–protein interactions in H-NOX and HasA

Abstract

Replacing the native porphyrin cofactor in haem proteins has led to the development of novel designer proteins for a variety of applications. In most cases, haem analogues bind in a way that is comparable to the iron porphyrin, but this is not necessarily the case for complexes bearing non-exchangeable ligands. This study probes how a PO corrole binds to functionally disparate hemoproteins: a haem-dependent oxygen sensor (H-NOX) and a haem-scavenging protein (HasA). The results demonstrate that the protein–cofactor interactions are distinct from the native, haem-bound holoprotein. In H-NOX, the PO unit primarily hydrogen bonds with the haem-ligating histidine (H102), rather than the hydrogen-bonding network that stabilises the Fe(II)–O₂ complex in the native protein. In the absence of H102, the protein is still able to bind the corrole, albeit at reduced levels. Molecular dynamics simulations were utilised to determine the flexibility of apo H-NOX and revealed the coupled motion of key residues necessary for corrole binding. In the case of HasA, the PO unit does not primarily interact with either the haem-ligating histidine (H32) or tyrosine (Y75). Instead, histidine 83, the hydrogen-bonding partner for Y75, is critical for PO corrole binding. The conformation of HasA is interrogated by site-specifically labelling the protein and exploiting Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) to determine the dye–cofactor distance. HasA reconstituted with the PO corrole exhibits an extended, apo-like conformation. Together, these results demonstrate that non-natural cofactors can bind to proteins in unexpected ways and highlight the need to uncover these interactions for the further development of designer haem proteins.