Heme flattening is sufficient for signal transduction in the H-NOX family

The H-NOX family of nitric oxide (NO) sensing proteins has received considerable attention because its members include the mammalian NO sensor, soluble guanylate cyclase. Despite this attention, the mechanism of signal transduction has not been elucidated. Structural studies of bacterial members of the family have revealed that the H-NOX heme cofactor is extremely distorted from planarity. Furthermore, it has been determined that heme distortion is maintained primarily by a conserved proline residue located in the proximal heme pocket. It has been suggested that changes in heme planarity may contribute to signal transduction. Here we demonstrate that heme flattening is, indeed, sufficient for signal transduction in the H-NOX family. Using our previously described H-NOX/diguanylate cyclase functional partners from Shewanella woodyi, we demonstrate that mutation of the conserved proline (P117 in SwH-NOX) to alanine, which results in heme flattening, has the same affect on phosphodiesterase activity as NO binding to wildtype SwH-NOX. This study demonstrates, for the first time, that heme flattening mimics the activated, NO-bound state of H-NOX and suggests that NO binding induces heme flattening as part of the signal transduction mechanism in the H-NOX family.