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Heme oxygenases found in mammals, plants, and bacteria catalyze degradation of heme using the same mechanism. Roles of distal Asp (Asp-136) residue in HmuO, a heme oxygenase of Corynebacterium diphtheriae, have been investigated by site-directed mutagenesis, enzyme kinetics, resonance Raman spectroscopy, and x-ray crystallography. Replacements of the Asp-136 by Ala and Phe resulted in reduced heme degradation activity due to the formation of ferryl heme, showing that the distal Asp is critical in HmuO heme oxygenase activity. D136N HmuO catalyzed heme degradation at a similar efficiency to wild type and D136E HmuO, implying that the carboxylate moiety is not required for the heme catabolism by HmuO. Resonance Raman results suggest that the inactive ferryl heme formation in the HmuO mutants is induced by disruption of the interaction between a reactive Fe-OOH species and an adjacent distal pocket water molecule. Crystal structural analysis of the HmuO mutants confirms partial disappearance of this nearby water in D136A HmuO. Our results provide the first experimental evidence for the catalytic importance of the nearby water molecule that can be universally critical in heme oxygenase catalysis and propose that the distal Asp helps in positioning the key water molecule at a position suitable for efficient activation of the Fe-OOH species.

HmuO, a heme oxygenase of Corynebacterium diphtheriae, catalyzes degradation of heme using the same mechanism as the mammalian enzyme. The oxy form of HmuO, the precursor of the catalytically active ferric hydroperoxo species, has been characterized by ligand binding kinetics, resonance Raman spectroscopy, and x-ray crystallography. The oxygen association and dissociation rate constants are 5 microm(-1) s(-1) and 0.22 s(-1), respectively, yielding an O(2) affinity of 21 microm(-1), which is approximately 20 times greater than that of mammalian myoglobins. However, the affinity of HmuO for CO is only 3-4-fold greater than that for mammalian myoglobins, implying the presence of strong hydrogen bonding interactions in the distal pocket of HmuO that preferentially favor O(2) binding. Resonance Raman spectra show that the Fe-O(2) vibrations are tightly coupled to porphyrin vibrations, indicating the highly bent Fe-O-O geometry that is characteristic of the oxy forms of heme oxygenases. In the crystal structure of the oxy form the Fe-O-O angle is 110 degrees, the O-O bond is pointed toward the heme alpha-meso-carbon by direct steric interactions with Gly-135 and Gly-139, and hydrogen bonds occur between the bound O(2) and the amide nitrogen of Gly-139 and a distal pocket water molecule, which is a part of an extended hydrogen bonding network that provides the solvent protons required for oxygen activation. In addition, the O-O bond is orthogonal to the plane of the proximal imidazole side chain, which facilitates hydroxylation of the porphyrin alpha-meso-carbon by preventing premature O-O bond cleavage.

Crystal structures of the ferric and ferrous heme complexes of HmuO, a 24-kDa heme oxygenase of Corynebacterium diphtheriae, have been refined to 1.4 and 1.5 A resolution, respectively. The HmuO structures show that the heme group is closely sandwiched between the proximal and distal helices. The imidazole group of His-20 is the proximal heme ligand, which closely eclipses the beta- and delta-meso axis of the porphyrin ring. A long range hydrogen bonding network is present, connecting the iron-bound water ligand to the solvent water molecule. This enables proton transfer from the solvent to the catalytic site, where the oxygen activation occurs. In comparison to the ferric complex, the proximal and distal helices move closer to the heme plane in the ferrous complex. Together with the kinked distal helix, this movement leaves only the alpha-meso carbon atom accessible to the iron-bound dioxygen. The heme pocket architecture is responsible for stabilization of the ferric hydroperoxo-active intermediate by preventing premature heterolytic O-O bond cleavage. This allows the enzyme to oxygenate selectively at the alpha-meso carbon in HmuO catalysis.