Magnetic and natural circular dichroism of L-tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenases and indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase. I. Spectra of ferric and ferrous high spin forms.

The ferric form of L-tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenases from both Pseudomonas acidovorans (ATCC 11299b) and rat liver showed magnetic CD spectra ascribable to a high spin protohemoprotein at neutral pH, whereas the ferric indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase from rabbit intestine exhibited a spectrum due to a mixture of high and low spin states under comparable conditions. Upon addition of L-tryptophan, the spectra of the former enzymes changed to another type of high spin spectra, while the latter showed a marked increase in the low spin component. From these findings and effects of pH on the spectra, it is suggested that the sixth ligand of ferric L-tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenases is water at a neutral pH and that for the ferric indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase is a strong field ligand such as an imidazole nitrogen. The mixed spin state observed for the latter enzyme was ascribable to a thermal equilibrium between high and low spin states as judged by low temperature spectroscopy. With the ferrous form, the Soret magnetic CD spectra of these enzymes were all similar, giving those of a typical high spin ferrous protohemoprotein, whereas visible spectra were different from one another, suggesting differences in the electronic structure of the heme and its vicinity. The natural CD spectra of both ferric and ferrous forms of each enzyme showed negative Cotton effects in the Soret region. Their intensities were different from one another, presumably due to some differences in the interaction of the heme with nearby aromatic amino acid residue(s).