Download MendeleyStructural insights into metallocluster trafficking in the nitrogenase assembly scaffold NifEN.
Neumann, B., Brandon, K.A., Quechol, R., Suder, D.S., Lee, C.C., Yang, Y., Gorecki, K., Wiig, J.A., Hu, Y., Gonen, S., Ribbe, M.W.(2026) Nat Catal 9: 281-294
- PubMed: 41908675 Search on PubMedSearch on PubMed Central
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41929-026-01489-9
- Primary Citation Related Structures:
9ONJ, 9ONK - PubMed Abstract:
Nitrogenase catalyses small-molecule activation, and has great relevance to agronomy, environment and energy. Understanding the assembly of the complex nitrogenase cofactor is a decades-long goal in the field, and structural insights into this process remain scarce. Here we report a cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) study of heterologously expressed NifEN, a key player converting the precursor (L-cluster) to a mature cofactor (M-cluster). Structural analyses of apo- and holo-NifEN demonstrate major conformational changes triggered by L-cluster incorporation. Further examinations of NifEN structures with inwardly and outwardly bound L-clusters, coupled with supporting mutational studies, AlphaFold 3 predictions and negative-stain EM analyses of NifEN complexed with upstream (NifB) and downstream (NifH) assembly partners, reveal a tunnel linking NifEN with NifB and NifH, with NifEN serving as a dynamic hub that coordinates L-cluster reception, maturation and delivery via conformation-gated metallocluster trafficking.
- Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, University of California, Irvine, CA USA.
Organizational Affiliation:
