Interaction of thiocyanate with horseradish peroxidase. ¹H and ¹⁵N nuclear magnetic resonance studies

Abstract

Interaction of thiocyanate with horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was investigated by relaxation rate measurements (at 50.68 MHz) of the ¹⁵N resonance of thiocyanate nitrogen and by following the hyperfine shifted ring methyl proton resonances (at 500 MHz) of the heme group of SCN-.HRP solutions. At pH 4.0, the apparent dissociation constant (K_D) for thiocyanate binding to HRP was deduced to be 158 mM from the relaxation rate measurements. Chemical shift changes of 1- and 8-ring methyl proton resonances in the presence of various amounts of thiocyanate at pH 4.0 yielded KD values of 166 and 136 mM, respectively. From the pH dependence of K_D and the 15N resonance line width, it was observed that thiocyanate binds to HRP only under acidic conditions (pH < 6). The binding was found to be facilitated by protonation of an acid group on the enzyme with pK_a 4.0. The pH dependence of the ¹⁵N line width as well as the apparent dissociation constant were quantitatively analyzed on the basis of a reaction scheme in which thiocyanate in deprotonated ionic form binds to the enzyme in protonated acidic form. The K_D for thiocyanate binding to HRP was also evaluated in the presence of an excess of exogenous substrates such as resorcinol, cyanide, and iodide ions. It was found that the presence of cyanide (which binds to heme iron at the sixth coordination position) and resorcinol did not have any effect on the binding of thiocyanate, indicating that the binding site of the thiocyanate ion is located away from the ferric center as well as from the aromatic donor binding site. The K_D in the presence of iodide, however, showed that iodide competes with thiocyanate for binding at the same site. The distance of the bound thiocyanate ion from the ferric center was deduced from the ¹⁵N relaxation time measurements and was found to be a 6.8 Å. From the distance as well as the change in the chemical shifts and line width of 1- and 8-methyl proton resonances, it is suggested that the binding site of thiocyanate may be located near heme, placed symmetrically with respect to 1- and 8-methyl groups of the heme of HRP. Similarity in the modes of binding of iodide and thiocyanate suggests that the oxidation of thiocyanate ion by H₂O₂ may also proceed via the two-electron transfer pathway under acidic conditions, as is the case for iodide.