A role for nickel-iron cofactors in biological carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide utilization

• Main Authors: Kung, Yan (Contributor), Drennan, Catherine L (Author)
• Other Authors: move to dc.description.sponsorship (Contributor), Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biology (Contributor), Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemistry (Contributor), Drennan, Catherine L. (Contributor)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier, 2012-08-03T13:06:32Z.
• Subjects: Article
• Online Access: Get fulltext

Ni-Fe containing enzymes are involved in the biological utilization of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen. Interest in these enzymes has increased in recent years due to hydrogen fuel initiatives and concerns over development of new methods for CO2 sequestration. One Ni-Fe enzyme called carbon monoxide dehydrogenase (CODH) is a key player in the global carbon cycle and carries out the interconversion of the environmental pollutant CO and the greenhouse gas CO[subscript 2]. The Ni-Fe center responsible for this important chemistry, the C-cluster, has been the source of much controversy, but several recent structural studies have helped to direct the field toward a unifying mechanism. Here we summarize the current state of understanding of this fascinating metallocluster.
National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (GM69857)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Energy Initiative
Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Investigator