Coordination Geometries for Monovalent and Divalent Metal Ions in [His121] Azurin
Authors: Danielsen Eva , Kroes Sandra J. , Canters Gerad W. , Bauer Rogert , Hemmingsen Lars , Singh Kulwant , Messerschmidt Albrecht 
Published: September 2004

The structural details of the metal site in the [His121]azurin mutant from Alcaligenes denitrificans where the axial methionine has been replaced by a histidine have been studied after substitution with the divalent cadmium ion and the monovalent silver ion. The studies have been carried out in solution using the technique of perturbed angular correlations of γ‐rays (PAC) of the two isotopes, 111Ag and 111mCd.

In the pH range 6–9, the PAC spectra for cadmium‐substituted [His121] azurin reveals a pH‐independent equilibrium between two different metal‐coordination geometries. Interpretation of the PAC data shows agreement between the dominating coordination geometry and that derived from X‐ray diffraction on the Cu(II)[His121] azurin at high pH (Messerschmidt, A., unpublished results). Thus, it appears likely that cadmium for this geometry is four coordinated to the ligands His46, His117, Cys112, and His121. The other geometry is best interpreted as a substitution of His121 by a solvent water ligand. These interpretations stem from predictions of the experimentally determined nuclear quadrupole interactions (NQI) via the simple angular overlap model (AOM). At low pH(3.8), the concentration of the former species is reduced to 50% of its high pH value suggesting a pK of about 4 for His121. Two different coordination geometries have also been observed for the Cu(II) protein and assigned a type 1.5 and a type 1 copper site [Kroes, S.J., Hoitink, C. W. G., Andrew, C. R., Ai, J., Sanders‐Loehr, J., Messerschmidt, A., Hagen, W. R. & Canters, G. W. (1996a) Eur. J. Biochem. 240, 342–351].

For silver‐substituted [His121]azurin, several notable changes occur relative to the cadmium‐substituted protein. At least four different metal‐coordination geometries exist for silver [His121]azurin in the pH range 4–8. Changes in the population of these coordination sites occurs between pH 4 and pH 5, and pH 5 and pH 6. Furthermore, in contrast to the cadmium‐substituted protein, only a single coordination geometry is present above pH 6. The change in population occurring between pH 5 and pH 6 suggests ionization of a non‐coordinating histidine, here proposed as His121. The change in population at low pH could then be due to protonation of an additional coordinating histidine such as His46 or His117. The single coordination geometry existing at pH values above 6 for the silver protein cannot within our model calculations be described with His121 coordinated. However, it can be described with a coordinated water molecule but in a different angular position than for His121 in the copper protein (Messerschmidt, A., unpublished results). The reduced tendency for silver to coordinate His121 is in agreement with the general trend of lower pK values for ligands coordinating to monovalent ions relative to divalent ions.

In conclusion, this work demonstrates that mutation of Met121 to other amino acid residues opens the possibility of other coordination geometries than the rigid three‐coordinated structure observed for wild‐type azurin, especially the possibility of increasing the coordination number by either solvent water ligands or the substituting amino acid. Furthermore, it opens up the possibility for different coordination geometries for monovalent and divalent metal ions as observed here and previously for the [Leu121]azurin mutant [Bauer, R., Danielsen, E., Hemmingsen, L., Bjerrum, M. J., Hansson, Ö. & Singh, K. (1997) J. Am. Chem. Soc. 19, 157–163].