Heme trafficking in prokaryotic cytochrome c biogenesis - Project Summary Cytochromes c are highly conserved heme proteins that function in electron transport chains for cellular functions such as respiration, photosynthesis and detoxification. The ability of prokaryotes to survive and thrive in diverse, often hostile environments is a direct result of the plasticity of their electron transport chains, of which cytochrome c is an essential component. Much effort has been devoted to studying the roles of individual cytochromes c, but much less is understood about their biogenesis, which requires the covalent attachment of heme at a conserved CXXCH motif for proper folding and function. Despite their diversity, all cytochromes c are made by one of three pathways, System I (prokaryotes), System II (prokaryotes) and System III (eukaryotes), thus elucidation of the molecular mechanisms of these pathways is critical to our understanding of bioenergetics and cellular survival. While the three pathways have evolved different mechanisms to accomplish biogenesis, all must transport heme to a holocytochrome c synthetase. Heme is an essential co-factor in all organisms, functioning not only in electron transport chains for respiration, but also for catalysis, regulation and signaling. Yet our knowledge of heme transporters and heme trafficking is limited due to heme’s cytotoxicity, the transient nature of trafficking and the technical challenges of studying membrane proteins. Thus, we must also address the mechanisms of heme trafficking and here we describe our long-term vision to elucidate the general mechanisms of heme delivery, transport and attachment, beginning with the System I pathway. We propose to 1) identify the cytoplasmic heme receptor and mechanisms of heme delivery, 2) determine the path of heme trafficking by System I, and 3) identify the requirements for periplasmic heme attachment. The System I pathway consists of eight integral membrane proteins (CcmABCDEFGH) and provides a tractable model system to study these fundamental biological questions. CcmABCD are proposed to transport heme across the bacterial membrane and attach it to CcmE, the periplasmic heme chaperone, which trafficks heme to the holocytochrome c synthetase, CcmFH. Utilizing a functional, recombinant E. coli system, the System I proteins purify with endogenous heme, removing many of the technical barriers often associated with membrane proteins. Importantly, the heme attachment reaction occurs in the periplasm, is required for the survival of many pathogens, and likely differs in mechanisms of heme attachment from the eukaryotic synthetase, thus the CcmFH synthetase is a potential target for novel antimicrobials. Our proposed studies on System I will simultaneously provide insights into cytochrome c biogenesis and general mechanisms of heme trafficking, uniquely positioning us to study two fundamental biological processes. A natural extension of this work is to apply the general principles learned and approaches developed to the other cytochrome c biogenesis pathways, as well as to other prokaryotic and eukaryotic heme transporters.
