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Crystal structure of a plant catechol oxidase containing a dicopper center

Nature Structural Biology volume 5, pages 1084–1090 (1998)Cite this article

Abstract

Catechol oxidases are ubiquitous plant enzymes containing a dinuclear copper center. In the wound-response mechanism of the plant they catalyze the oxidation of a broad range of ortho-diphenols to the corresponding o-quinones coupled with the reduction of oxygen to water. The crystal structures of the enzyme from sweet potato in the resting dicupric Cu(II)-Cu(II) state, the reduced dicuprous Cu(I)-Cu(I) form, and in complex with the inhibitor phenylthiourea were analyzed. The catalytic copper center is accommodated in a central four-helix-bundle located in a hydrophobic pocket close to the surface. Both metal binding sites are composed of three histidine ligands. His 109, ligated to the CuA site, is covalently linked to Cys 92 by an unusual thioether bond. Based on biochemical, spectroscopic and the presented structural data, a catalytical mechanism is proposed in which one of the oxygen atoms of the diphenolic substrate binds to CuB of the oxygenated enzyme.

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Figure 1: Ribbon drawings of catechol oxidase.
Figure 2: A sample of 2 |Fo| - |Fc|Φcalc electron density, for the oxidized catalytic dinuclear copper site.
Figure 3: Active site region of catechol oxidase.
Figure 4: Superposition of the dinuclear copper center of sweet potato catechol oxidase with bound phenylthiourea (PTU) with the oxygenated form of Limulus polyphemus hemocyanin19.
Figure 5: Proposed reaction pathway of catechol oxidase, based on biochemical, spectroscopic, and structural data.
Figure 6: Sequence alignment of sweet potato catechol oxidase (ibCO), human tyrosinase (hsTYR), Neurospora crassa tyrosinase (ncTYR), Panulirus interruptus hemocyanin (piHC), Limulus polyphemus (lpHC), Helix pomatia hemocyanin (hpHC), and the subunit g of Octopus dofleini hemocyanin (odgHC).

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Acknowledgements

Supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, the Fonds der Chemischen Industrie, the Welch Foundation, and the NIH. T.K. thanks the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft for a postdoctoral fellowship. We thank N. Sträter for reviewing the manuscript and V. L. Pecoraro for many helpful discussions. We all express our appreciation to the late Herbert Witzel for his commitment and contributions to this science. This study is in partial fulfillment of the requirements of C.E. for the degree of Dr. rer. nat. at the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster.

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  1. Thomas Klabunde, Christoph Eicken and Bernt Krebs: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Texas A&M University, College Station, 77843-2128, Texas, USA

    Thomas Klabunde & James C. Sacchettini

  2. Anorganisch-Chemisches Institut, Universität Münster, Münster, 48149, Germany

    Christoph Eicken & Bernt Krebs

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  1. Thomas Klabunde
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Correspondence to James C. Sacchettini or Bernt Krebs.

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Klabunde, T., Eicken, C., Sacchettini, J. et al. Crystal structure of a plant catechol oxidase containing a dicopper center. Nat Struct Mol Biol 5, 1084–1090 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/4193

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