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Title: One-carbon chemistry of oxalate oxidoreductase captured by X-ray crystallography

Journal Article · · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
ORCiD logo [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [5];  [2]
  1. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States); Princeton Univ., NJ (United States)
  2. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
  3. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States); Emory Univ. School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA (United States)
  4. Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States); Southern Utah Univ., Cedar City, UT (United States)
  5. Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)

Thiamine pyrophosphate (TPP)-dependent oxalate oxidoreductase (OOR) metabolizes oxalate, generating two molecules of CO2 and two low-potential electrons, thus providing both the carbon and reducing equivalents for operation of the Wood–Ljungdahl pathway of acetogenesis. Here we present structures of OOR in which two different reaction intermediate bound states have been trapped: the covalent adducts between TPP and oxalate and between TPP and CO2. These structures, along with the previously determined structure of substrate-free OOR, allow us to visualize how active site rearrangements can drive catalysis. Furthermore, our results suggest that OOR operates via a bait-and-switch mechanism, attracting substrate into the active site through the presence of positively charged and polar residues, and then altering the electrostatic environment through loop and side chain movements to drive catalysis. This simple but elegant mechanism explains how oxalate, a molecule that humans and most animals cannot break down, can be used for growth by acetogenic bacteria.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Advanced Photon Source (APS)
Sponsoring Organization:
National Institutes of Health (NIH); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities Division
Grant/Contract Number:
GM069857; GM39451; 1122374; P41 GM103403; AC02-06CH11357
OSTI ID:
1235478
Journal Information:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 113, Issue 2; ISSN 0027-8424
Publisher:
National Academy of SciencesCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
ENGLISH
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 11 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (5)

X-ray crystallography–based structural elucidation of enzyme-bound intermediates along the 1-deoxy-d-xylulose 5-phosphate synthase reaction coordinate journal June 2019
Crystal structures of archaeal 2-oxoacid:ferredoxin oxidoreductases from Sulfolobus tokodaii journal September 2016
Binding site for coenzyme A revealed in the structure of pyruvate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase from Moorella thermoacetica journal March 2018
Anaerobic Radical Enzymes for Biotechnology journal April 2018
Kinetics and mechanistic study of the reduction of $$\hbox {Mn}^{\mathrm{III}}$$ Mn III by oxalate in Salophen scaffold: relevance to oxalate oxidase journal August 2018