Involvement of the P cluster in intramolecular electron transfer within the nitrogenase MoFe protein

Nitrogenase is the catalytic component of biological nitrogen fixation, and it is comprised of two component proteins called the Fe protein and MoFe protein. The Fe protein contains a single Fe4S4 cluster, and the MoFe protein contains two metallocluster types called the P cluster (Fe8S8) and FeMo-cofactor (Fe7S9Mo-homocitrate). During turnover, electrons are delivered one at a time from the Fe protein to the MoFe protein in a reaction coupled to component-protein association-dissociation and MgATP hydrolysis. Under conditions of optimum activity, the rate of component-protein dissociation is rate-limiting. The Fe protein's Fe4S4 cluster is the redox entity responsible for intermolecular electron delivery to the MoFe protein, and FeMo-cofactor provides the substrate reduction site. In contrast, the role of the P cluster in catalysis is not well understood although it is believed to be involved in accumulating electrons delivered from the Fe protein and brokering their intramolecular delivery to the substrate reduction site. A nitrogenase component-protein docking model, which is based on the crystallographic structures of the component proteins and which pairs the 2-fold symmetric surface of the Fe protein with the exposed surface of the MoFe protein's pseudosymmetric alpha beta interface, is now available. During component-protein interaction, this model places the P cluster between the Fe protein's Fe4S4 cluster and FeMo-cofactor, which implies that the P cluster is involved in mediating intramolecular electron transfer between the clusters. In the present study, evidence supporting this idea was obtained by demonstrating that it is possible to alter the rate of substrate reduction by perturbing the polypeptide environment between the P cluster and FeMo-cofactor without necessarily disrupting the metallocluster polypeptide environments or altering component-protein interaction.