Crystal structures of a [NiFe] hydrogenase large subunit HyhL in an immature state in complex with a Ni chaperone HypA.

Abstract

Ni-Fe clusters are inserted into the large subunit of [NiFe] hydrogenases by maturation proteins such as the Ni chaperone HypA via an unknown mechanism. We determined crystal structures of an immature large subunit HyhL complexed with HypA from <i>Thermococcus kodakarensis</i> Structure analysis revealed that the N-terminal region of HyhL extends outwards and interacts with the Ni-binding domain of HypA. Intriguingly, the C-terminal extension of immature HyhL, which is cleaved in the mature form, adopts a β-strand adjacent to its N-terminal β-strands. The position of the C-terminal extension corresponds to that of the N-terminal extension of a mature large subunit, preventing the access of endopeptidases to the cleavage site of HyhL. These findings suggest that Ni insertion into the active site induces spatial rearrangement of both the N- and C-terminal tails of HyhL, which function as a key checkpoint for the completion of the Ni-Fe cluster assembly.