Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA.
J Inorg Biochem. 2014 Jan;130:130-40. doi: 10.1016/j.jinorgbio.2013.09.005. Epub 2013 Sep 13.
Nitric oxide synthase (NOS), a flavo-hemoprotein, is responsible for biosynthesis of nitric oxide (NO) in mammals. Three NOS isoforms, iNOS, eNOS and nNOS (inducible, endothelial, and neuronal NOS), achieve their biological functions by tight control of interdomain electron transfer (IET) process through interdomain interactions. In particular, the FMN-heme IET is essential in coupling electron transfer in the reductase domain with NO synthesis in the heme domain by delivery of electrons required for O2 activation at the catalytic heme site. Emerging evidence indicates that calmodulin (CaM) activates NO synthesis in eNOS and nNOS by a conformational change of the FMN domain from its shielded electron-accepting (input) state to a new electron-donating (output) state, and that CaM is also required for proper alignment of the FMN and heme domains in the three NOS isoforms. In the absence of a structure of full-length NOS, an integrated approach of spectroscopic, rapid kinetic and mutagenesis methods is required to unravel regulation mechanism of the FMN-heme IET process. This is to investigate the roles of the FMN domain motions and the docking between the primary functional FMN and heme domains in regulating NOS activity. The recent developments in this area that are driven by the combined approach are the focuses of this review. A better understanding of the roles of interdomain FMN/heme interactions and CaM binding may serve as a basis for the rational design of new selective modulators of the NOS enzymes.
一氧化氮合酶(NOS)是一种黄素-血红素蛋白,负责哺乳动物中一氧化氮(NO)的生物合成。三种 NOS 同工型,即诱导型 NOS(iNOS)、内皮型 NOS(eNOS)和神经元型 NOS(nNOS),通过域间相互作用紧密控制域间电子转移(IET)过程来实现其生物学功能。特别是,FMN-血红素 IET 对于通过在催化血红素部位提供用于 O2 激活的电子来偶联还原酶结构域中的电子转移与血红素结构域中的 NO 合成是必不可少的。新出现的证据表明,钙调蛋白(CaM)通过 FMN 结构域从其屏蔽的电子接受(输入)状态到新的电子供体(输出)状态的构象变化,激活 eNOS 和 nNOS 中的 NO 合成,并且 CaM 对于三种 NOS 同工型中 FMN 和血红素结构域的正确对准也是必需的。在没有全长 NOS 结构的情况下,需要采用光谱学、快速动力学和诱变方法的综合方法来阐明 FMN-血红素 IET 过程的调节机制。这是为了研究 FMN 结构域运动的作用以及在调节 NOS 活性中的主要功能 FMN 和血红素结构域之间的对接。由联合方法驱动的该领域的最新进展是本综述的重点。更好地理解域间 FMN/血红素相互作用和 CaM 结合的作用可能为合理设计新的 NOS 酶选择性调节剂奠定基础。