Research Projects
Hydrogenase and Reversible Hydrogen Oxidation
The reversible conversion of molecular hydrogen to protons and electrons is a central reaction in the global biological energy cycle. Hydrogenase enzymes catalyze a large percentage of this reaction, and thus a more detailed understanding of these enzymes is of wide interest in biotechnology, biochemistry, and energy sciences. These enzymes are present in various microorganisms and function either in the utilization of Hydrogen as a growth substrate (Hydrogen uptake) or in certain anaerobic bacteria to dispose of excess electrons by combining them with protons to form Hydrogen. The X-ray crystal structure of the iron-only hydrogenase from the anaerobic soil microorganism Clostridium pasteurianum (CpI) was determined to 1.8 angstrom resolution in the group. CpI is a highly complex protein containing twenty iron atoms arranged into five individual metal cluster assemblies. The active site cluster or "H cluster" is structurally unprecedented among previously characterized biological iron-sulfur clusters. Our ongoing hydrogenase research involves probing the mechanism of hydrogenases by biochemical, structural, and physical methods. We are collaborating with Prof. Joan Broderick of the department on the mechanism of the H cluster. In addition, we are collaborating with investigators throughout the world, probing avenues to produce hydrogen efficiently as renewable energy. This work includes a collaboration here at MSU with Trevor Douglas of the department on the design, synthesis, and characterization of hydrogen producing biomimetic materials.
Publications
J.W. Peters, R. K. Szilagyi, A. Naumov, T. Douglas
, "A radical solution for the biosynthesis of the H cluster of hydrogenase
." FEBS Lett. 2005 Dec 22
B. Bennett, B. J. Lemon, and J. W. Peters
, "Reversible Carbon Monoxide Binding and Inhibition at the Active Site of the Fe-Only Hydrogenase (CpI)
." Biochemistry 39, 7455-7460 (2000)
B. J. Lemon and J. W. Peters
, "Photochemistry at the Active Site of the Carbon Monoxide Inhibited Form of the Iron-Only Hydrogenase (CpI)
." J. Am. Chem. Soc. 122, 3793-3794 (2000)
Y. Nicolet, B. J. Lemon, J. C. Fontecilla-Camps, and J. W. Peters
, "A Novel FeS Cluster in Fe-only Hydrogenases
." Trends in Biochemical Sciences 25, 138-144 (2000)
J.W. Peters
, "Structure and Mechanism of Fe-only Hydrogenase
." Curr. Opin. Struct. Biol. 6, 670-676
(1999)
J. W. Peters and H. D. Bellamy
, "Extension of Fe MAD phases in the structure determination of a multiple [FeS] cluster containing hydrogenase
." J. Appl. Cryst. 32, 1180-1182 (1999)
B. J. Lemon, and J. W. Peters
, "Binding of Exongenously Added Carbon Monoxide at the Active Site of the Fe-Only Hydrogenase from Clostridium pasteurianum
." Biochemistry 38, 12969-12973 (1999)
J.W. Peters, W.N. Lanzilotta, B.J. Lemon, and L.C. Seefeldt
, "The X-ray Crystal Structure of the Fe Hydrogenase (CpI) from Clostridium pasteurianum to 1.8 A Resolution
." Science 282, 1853 1858 (1998)
Z. Varpness, J. W. Peters, M. Young, and T. Douglas
, "Biomimetic synthesis of a H2 catalyst using a protein cage architecture
." Nanoletters 5, 2306-2309 (2005)
T. E. Elgren, O. A. Zadvorny, E. Brecht, T. Douglas, N. A. Zorin, M. J. Maroney, and J. W. Peters
, "Immobilization of Active Hydrogenases by Encapsulation in Polymeric Porous Gels
." Nanoletters 5, 2085-2087 (2005)
L. Girbal, G. von Abendroth, M. Winkler, P. M. C. Benton, I. Meynial-Salles, C. Croux, J. W. Peters, T. Happe, and P. Soucaille
, "Homologous and heterologous over-expression in Clostridium acetobutylicum and characterization of purified clostridial and algal Fe-only hydrogenases
." Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 71, 2777-2781 (2005)
Z. Chen, B. J. Lemon, S. Huang, D. Swartz, J. W. Peters, and K. A. Bagley
, "Infrared Studies of the CO Inhibited form of the Fe-Only Hydrogenase from Clostridium pasteurianum I (CpI): Examination of its Light-Sensitivity at Cryogenic Temperatures
." Biochemistry 41, 2036-2043 (2002)
B. J. Lemon and J. W. Peters
, "Fe-only Hydrogenases
." Handbook of Metalloproteins. (eds. A. Messerschmidt, R. Huber, T. Poulos, & K. Weighardt) pp. 738-750 (2001)
Personnel:
John Peters
Keywords:
Biochemistry
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