Bioinorganic chemistry articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Methane- and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria use the integral membrane, copper-dependent enzymes particulate methane monooxygenase (pMMO) and ammonia monooxygenase (AMO) to oxidize methane and ammonia. Here the authors structurally characterize the copper-binding protein PmoD, which contains an unusual CuA site and their genetic analyses strongly support a pMMO and AMO related function of PmoD.

    • Oriana S. Fisher
    • , Grace E. Kenney
    •  & Amy C. Rosenzweig

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nitrogenase—whose cofactor consists of a metal–sulfur cluster—catalyzes the production of NH3 from N2, but designing metal–sulfur complexes capable of promoting this conversion remains challenging. Here, the authors report on the activation of N2 by a metal–sulfur cluster containing [Mo3S4Ti] cubes, demonstrating NH3 and N2H4 production.

    • Yasuhiro Ohki
    • , Keisuke Uchida
    •  & Takehiro Ohta

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cytochrome c oxidase (CytcO) is the last enzyme of the electron transport chain, but how the electrochemical membrane potential affects CytcO is unclear. Here the authors show that proton uptake to the catalytic site of CytcO and presumably proton translocation was impaired by the potential, but electron transfer was not affected.

    • Markus L. Björck
    •  & Peter Brzezinski

  • Article
    | Open Access

    NifB is a key enzyme in the biosynthesis pathway of the nitrogenase FeMo cofactor. Here, the authors investigate the maturation of its iron-sulfur clusters by EPR and biochemical analyses, showing how individual precursor clusters participate in the formation of the final iron-sulfur cluster.

    • Lee A. Rettberg
    • , Jarett Wilcoxen
    •  & Yilin Hu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Bacteria possess transcription factors whose DNA-binding activity is altered upon binding to specific metals, but the binding of metals is not specific in vitro. Here, Osman et al. show that tight regulation of buffered intracellular metal concentrations is a prerequisite for metal specificity.

    • Deenah Osman
    • , Andrew W. Foster
    •  & Nigel J. Robinson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Significant challenges exist for structural characterization of enzymes responsible for biomineralization. Here the authors show that native mass spectrometry and high resolution electron microscopy can define the subunit topology and copper binding of a manganese oxidizing complex, and describe early stage formation of its mineral products

    • Christine A. Romano
    • , Mowei Zhou
    •  & Bradley M. Tebo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Carbapenem-resistant bacteria pose a major health threat by expressing metallo-β-lactamases (MβLs), enzymes able to hydrolyse these life-saving drugs. Here the authors use biophysical and computational methods and show that different MβLs share the same reaction mechanism, suggesting new strategies for drug design.

    • María-Natalia Lisa
    • , Antonela R. Palacios
    •  & Alejandro J. Vila

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Lanthanide elements are difficult to separate from aqueous solution with low energy input. Here, the authors design a peptide that recognizes and drives the precipitation of an insoluble lanthanide complex under physiological conditions, introducing a biomineralization-based approach for rare earth recovery.

    • Takaaki Hatanaka
    • , Akimasa Matsugami
    •  & Nobuhiro Ishida

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The mitochondrial proteins ISCA1 and ISCA2 form a complex that is involved in the biogenesis of Fe–S clusters. Here the authors report that ISCA1 and ISCA2 interact differently with proteins of the Fe–S machinery and that under certain conditions, ISCA2 seems dispensable for Fe–S biogenesis.

    • Lena Kristina Beilschmidt
    • , Sandrine Ollagnier de Choudens
    •  & Alain Martelli

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Chiral structures are formed in numerous processes including biomineralization of calcium carbonate. Here, the authors demonstrate that the chiral, hierarchically-organized architecture of the calcium carbonate mineral, vaterite, can be controlled simply by the addition of chiral acidic amino acids.

    • Wenge Jiang
    • , Michael S. Pacella
    •  & Marc D. McKee

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Terminal CoIV-oxo species are key intermediates in various cobalt-mediated oxidation reactions, but little is known about their chemical properties. Here the authors generate and isolate a mononuclear non-haem CoIV-O complex and analyse its structure and reactivity towards a range of catalytic transformations.

    • Bin Wang
    • , Yong-Min Lee
    •  & Wonwoo Nam

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Proteins can template the synthesis of inorganic nanoparticles, but the formation mechanisms remain vague. Here, the authors directly observe, through a sequence of X-ray crystal structures, the stages of gold sub-nanocluster growth within the confined environment of a ferritin cage.

    • Basudev Maity
    • , Satoshi Abe
    •  & Takafumi Ueno

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Proton pumps that are driven by light to pump protons out of the cell are involved in the conversion of sunlight into proton motive force; pumps to drive protons in the other direction have been engineered. Here, the authors report the identification and characterisation of a naturally occurring inward-driven protein pump.

    • Keiichi Inoue
    • , Shota Ito
    •  & Hideki Kandori

  • Article
    | Open Access

    High levels of homocysteine in cells are linked to pathological states. Here, the authors report that homocysteine inactivates catalase by modifying the heme group, impairing cellular redox homeostasis, and show that this modification occurs in cancer cells and in a cellular model of Parkinson’s disease.

    • Dominique Padovani
    • , Assia Hessani
    •  & Isabelle Artaud

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Pathogenic bacteria acquire iron from heme cofactors imported by ABC heme transporters. Here the authors present crystal structures of Burkholderia cenocepaciaheme importer BhuUV with and without the heme-binding protein BhuT, gathering mechanistic insight into the catalytic cycle of heme import.

    • Youichi Naoe
    • , Nozomi Nakamura
    •  & Hiroshi Sugimoto

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The inorganic procoagulant polymer polyphosphate participates in thrombosis via factor XII. Here the authors use recombinant probes that specifically bind or degrade circulating polyphosphate to protect mice in arterial and venous thrombosis models without an increased bleeding risk, the primary complication of all currently used anticoagulants.

    • Linda Labberton
    • , Ellinor Kenne
    •  & Thomas Renné

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Mutations in the extracellular domain of zinc transporter ZIP4 result in a lethal disorder. Here, the authors report the first crystal structure of ZIP4 extracellular domain, unveiling its unprecedented dimerization and two structural independent subdomains that have crucial roles in zinc transport.

    • Tuo Zhang
    • , Dexin Sui
    •  & Jian Hu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Mep2 proteins are tightly regulated fungal ammonium transporters. Here, the authors report the crystal structures of closed states of Mep2 proteins and propose a model for their regulation by comparing them with the open ammonium transporters of bacteria.

    • Bert van den Berg
    • , Anupama Chembath
    •  & Julian C. Rutherford

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Na+,K+-ATPase moves three Na+ ions out of the cell and transfers two K+ ions in the opposite direction. Here the authors use X-ray crystallography to look at the substitution of two bound K+with those in the medium and show that it occurs sequentially through a narrow gate.

    • Haruo Ogawa
    • , Flemming Cornelius
    •  & Chikashi Toyoshima

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Artificial metalloenzymes (ArMs) have the potential to improve transition metal reactivity in complex media. Here, the authors link a dirhodium catalyst to a prolyl oligopeptidase to create an ArM that catalyzes enantioselective olefin cyclopropanation in aqueous solution.

    • Poonam Srivastava
    • , Hao Yang
    •  & Jared C. Lewis

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The investigation of the chemical reactivity of metal centres in metalloproteins in aqueous solution is challenging. Here, the authors demonstrate the use of single molecule force spectroscopy to study the chemical reactivity of the iron-sulfur centre in rubredoxin in aqueous solution.

    • Peng Zheng
    • , Guilherme M. Arantes
    •  & Hongbin Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Carotenes are naturally abundant, widely studied unsaturated hydrocarbon pigments but their metal-binding ability has been virtually unexplored. Here, the authors demonstrate that they can be used to reversibly assemble and align homo- and hetero-metallic decanuclear chain complexes.

    • Shinnosuke Horiuchi
    • , Yuki Tachibana
    •  & Tetsuro Murahashi

  • Article |

    Malaria parasites generate metabolic energy through anaerobic glycolysis, yielding lactate and protons that are then secreted out of the parasite cell by an unknown transporter. Here, the authors identify and characterize a lactate/proton transporter that may be carrying out such function in Plasmodium.

    • Binghua Wu
    • , Janis Rambow
    •  & Eric Beitz

  • Article |

    Secondary multidrug transporters use ion concentration gradients to power the removal of drug molecules from cells. Here, Fluman et al. demonstrate that the bacterial transporter MdfA can catalyse the efflux of divalent cations in two consecutive transport cycles where each charged moiety is transported as if it were a separate substrate.

    • Nir Fluman
    • , Julia Adler
    •  & Eitan Bibi

  • Article |

    Thyroid hormone synthesis requires import of iodide ions through the Na+/I− symporter, however its affinity for iodide is surprisingly low. Using a statistical thermodynamics approach, Nicola et al. show that sodium ion binding enhances iodide affinity, revealing a mechanism for iodide transport.

    • Juan P. Nicola
    • , Nancy Carrasco
    •  & L. Mario Amzel

  • Article |

    Light-driven proton-pumping rhodopsins are widely distributed in microorganisms and convert sunlight energy into proton gradients. Inoue et al. report the discovery of a light-driven sodium ion pump from marine bacteria.

    • Keiichi Inoue
    • , Hikaru Ono
    •  & Hideki Kandori

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Prion proteins are implicated in a range of neurodegenerative diseases, which are, in part, due to a disruption of metal homeostasis. Wattet al.use selective antagonists to show that prion proteins mediate zinc uptake by interacting with GluA2-lacking, GluA1-containing AMPA receptors.

    • Nicole T. Watt
    • , David R. Taylor
    •  & Nigel M. Hooper

  • Article |

    The transport of anions across bilayer membranes is achieved by ion channel proteins, but some small molecules are also able to mediate transmembrane movement of anions. In this study, the halogen bonding of small perfluorinated molecules is shown to allow the transmembrane movement of anions.

    • Andreas Vargas Jentzsch
    • , Daniel Emery
    •  & Stefan Matile

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Na+/K+-ATPase pump exports three Na+ ions for the exchange of two K+ ions, and three transient current components have been associated with Na+ binding and release. Now, these three components are found to be tightly correlated confirming that the binding and release of Na+ions is sequential.

    • David C. Gadsby
    • , Francisco Bezanilla
    •  & Miguel Holmgren

  • Article |

    Proteorhodopsin is used by prokaryotes to generate energy from light. In this study, the authors describe a prokaryote-to-eukaryote horizontal gene transfer of a bacterial proteorhodopsin gene to dinoflagellates, suggesting that these eukaryotes can also use proteorhodopsin to obtain light and produce energy.

    • Claudio H. Slamovits
    • , Noriko Okamoto
    •  & Patrick J. Keeling

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The gastric proton pump, H+,K+-ATPase, contributes to stomach acidification and is a target of acid suppressants. Here, the three-dimensional structure of the pump is determined using electron crystallography, providing the first structural information about the binding of a new class of acid suppressants.

    • Kazuhiro Abe
    • , Kazutoshi Tani
    •  & Yoshinori Fujiyoshi

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