Reaction coordinate analysis for beta-diketone cleavage by the non-heme Fe2+-dependent dioxygenase Dke1.

Acetylacetone dioxygenase from Acinetobacter johnsonii (Dke1) utilizes a non-heme Fe2+ cofactor to promote dioxygen-dependent conversion of 2,4-pentanedione (PD) into methylglyoxal and acetate. An oxidative carbon-carbon bond cleavage by Dke1 is triggered from a C-3 peroxidate intermediate that performs an intramolecular nucleophilic attack on the adjacent carbonyl group. But how does Dke1 bring about the initial reduction of dioxygen? To answer this question, we report here a reaction coordinate analysis for the part of the Dke1 catalytic cycle that involves O2 chemistry. A weak visible absorption band (epsilon approximately 0.2 mM(-1) cm(-1)) that is characteristic of an enzyme-bound Fe2+-beta-keto-enolate complex served as spectroscopic probe of substrate binding and internal catalytic steps. Transient and steady-state kinetic studies reveal that O2-dependent conversion of the chromogenic binary complex is rate-limiting for the overall reaction. Linear free-energy relationship analysis, in which apparent turnover numbers (k(app) cat) for enzymatic bond cleavage of a series of substituted beta-dicarbonyl substrates were correlated with calculated energies for the highest occupied molecular orbitals of the corresponding beta-keto-enolate structures, demonstrates unambiguously that k(app) cat is governed by the electron-donating ability of the substrate. The case of 2'-hydroxyacetophenone (2'HAP), a completely inactive beta-dicarbonyl analogue that has the enol double bond delocalized into the aromatic ring, indicates that dioxygen reduction and C-O bond formation cannot be decoupled and therefore take place in one single kinetic step.