Structural and mechanistic insights on nitrate reductases.
Catarina CoelhoMaria João RomãoPublished in: Protein science : a publication of the Protein Society (2015)
Nitrate reductases (NR) belong to the DMSO reductase family of Mo-containing enzymes and perform key roles in the metabolism of the nitrogen cycle, reducing nitrate to nitrite. Due to variable cell location, structure and function, they have been divided into periplasmic (Nap), cytoplasmic, and membrane-bound (Nar) nitrate reductases. The first crystal structure obtained for a NR was that of the monomeric NapA from Desulfovibrio desulfuricans in 1999. Since then several new crystal structures were solved providing novel insights that led to the revision of the commonly accepted reaction mechanism for periplasmic nitrate reductases. The two crystal structures available for the NarGHI protein are from the same organism (Escherichia coli) and the combination with electrochemical and spectroscopic studies also lead to the proposal of a reaction mechanism for this group of enzymes. Here we present an overview on the current advances in structural and functional aspects of bacterial nitrate reductases, focusing on the mechanistic implications drawn from the crystallographic data.
Keyphrases
- nitric oxide
- drinking water
- escherichia coli
- crystal structure
- total knee arthroplasty
- single cell
- molecular docking
- staphylococcus aureus
- big data
- mesenchymal stem cells
- pseudomonas aeruginosa
- deep learning
- high resolution
- small molecule
- molecular dynamics simulations
- data analysis
- total hip arthroplasty
- case control
- simultaneous determination