Masahiro Samejima

Cellobiose Dehydrogenase from the Fungi Phanerochaete chrysosporium and Humicola insolens A FLAVOHEMOPROTEIN FROM HUMICOLA INSOLENS CONTAINS 6-HYDROXY-FAD AS THE DOMINANT ACTIVE COFACTOR

Cellobiose dehydrogenases (CDH) were purified from cellulose-grown cultures of the fungi Phanerochaete chrysosporium and Humicola insolens. The pH optimum of the cellobiose-cytochrome c oxidoreductase activity ofP. chrysosporium CDH was acidic, whereas that of H. insolens CDH was neutral. The absorption spectra of the two CDHs showed them to be typical hemoproteins, but there was a small difference in the visible region. Limited proteolysis between the heme and flavin domains was performed to investigate the cofactors. There was no difference in absorption spectrum between the heme domains ofP. chrysosporium and H. insolens CDHs. The midpoint potentials of heme at pH 7.0 were almost identical, and no difference in pH dependence was observed over the range of pH 3–9. The pH dependence of cellobiose oxidation by the flavin domains was similar to that of the native CDHs, indicating that the difference in the pH dependence of the catalytic activity between the two CDHs is because of the flavin domains. The absorption spectrum of the flavin domain fromH. insolens CDH has absorbance maxima at 343 and 426 and a broad absorption peak at 660 nm, whereas that of P. chrysosporium CDH showed a normal flavoprotein spectrum. Flavin cofactors were extracted from the flavin domains and analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography. The flavin cofactor fromH. insolens was found to be a mixture of 60% 6-hydroxy-FAD and 40% FAD, whereas that from P. chrysosporium CDH was normal FAD. After reconstitution of the deflavo-proteins it was found that flavin domains containing 6-hydroxy-FAD were clearly active but their cellobiose oxidation rates were lower than those of flavin domains containing normal FAD. Reconstitution of flavin cofactor had no effect on the optimum pH. From these results, it is concluded that the pH dependence is not because of the flavin cofactor but is because of the protein molecule.

Cellobiose oxidase from Phanerochaete chrysosporium Stopped-flow spectrophotometric analysis of pH-dependent reduction

Cellobiose oxidase (CBO) from Phanetochaete chrysosporium can utilize dichlorphenol—indophenol (Cl2Ind) and cytochrome c as effective electron acceptors for the oxidation of cellobiose. However, the pH dependencies of activity for these electron acceptors are significantly different. Both compounds act as effective electron acceptors at pH 4.2, whereas only dichlorophenol‐indophenol is active at pH 5.9. To explain this discrepancy, the pH dependencies of the reduction rates of FAD and heme, respectively, in CBO by cellobiose have been investigated by stopped‐flow spectrophotometry. Both FAD and heme are reduced with a high rate constant at pH 4.2. In contrast, at pH 5.9, only FAD reduction is fast, while the reduction of the heme is extremely slow. As a conclusion, the reduction of cytochrome c by CBO is dependent on heme, which functions at a lower pH range compared to reduction of FAD.

Mechanisms of redox interactions between lignin peroxidase and cellobiose:quinone oxidoreductase.

The mechanism of redox interactions between the heme‐enzyme, lignin peroxidase (LiP), and the FAD‐enzyme, cellobiose:quinone oxidoreductase (CBQ) (EC 1.1.5.1), was investigated under various conditions. Veratryl alcohol oxidation by LiP was inhibited by CBQ in the presence of cellobiose. Lineweaver‐Burk plots at various CBQ concentrations suggest that this inhibition is non‐competitive. The oxidation rate of the reduced CBQ (FADH2) by LiP plus H2O2 increased significantly only in the presence of veratryl alcohol. Furthermore, the cation radical derived from 1,2,4,5‐tetramethoxybenzene was reduced by CBQ in the presence of cellobiose. It is concluded from these results that CBQ can reduce aromatic cation radicals and that veratryl alcohol acts as a radical mediator of the redox interactions between LiP and CBQ.