Resonance Raman investigation of the interaction of thromboxane synthase with substrate analogues

Thromboxane synthase is a hemethiolate enzyme that catalyzes the isomerization of prostaglandin H2 to thromboxane A2. We report the first resonance Raman (RR) spectra of recombinant human thromboxane synthase (TXAS) in both the presence and the absence of substrate analogues U44069 and U46619. The resting enzyme and its U44069 complex are found to have a 6-coordinate, low spin (6c/ls) heme, in agreement with earlier experiments. The U46619-bound enzyme is detected as a 6c/ls heme too, which is in contradiction with a previous conclusion based on absorption difference spectroscopy. Two new vibrations at 368 and 424 cm(-1) are observed upon binding of the substrate analogues in the heme pocket and are assigned to the second propionate and vinyl bending modes, respectively. We interpret the changes in these vibrational modes as the disruption of the protein environment and the hydrogen-bonding network of one of the propionate groups when the substrate analogues enter the heme pocket. We use carbocyclic thromboxane A2 (CTA2) to convert the TXAS heme cofactor to its 5-coordinate, high spin (5c/hs) form, as is confirmed by optical and RR spectroscopy. In this 5c/hs state of the enzyme, the Fe-S stretching frequency is determined at 350 cm(-1) with excitation at 356.4 nm. This assignment is supported by comparison to the spectrum of resting enzyme excited at 356.4 nm and by exciting at different wavelengths. Implications of our findings for substrate binding and the catalytic mechanism of TXAS will be discussed.