Physical and Functional Interactions of a Monothiol Glutaredoxin and an Iron Sulfur Cluster Carrier Protein with the Sulfur-donating Radical S-Adenosyl-l-methionine Enzyme MiaB

The biosynthesis of iron sulfur (FeS) clusters, their trafficking from initial assembly on scaffold proteins via carrier proteins to final incorporation into FeS apoproteins, is a highly coordinated process enabled by multiprotein systems encoded in iscRSUAhscBAfdx and sufABCDSE operons in Escherichia coli. Although these systems are believed to encode all factors required for initial cluster assembly and transfer to FeS carrier proteins, accessory factors such as monothiol glutaredoxin, GrxD, and the FeS carrier protein NfuA are located outside of these defined systems. These factors have been suggested to function both as shuttle proteins acting to transfer clusters between scaffold and carrier proteins and in the final stages of FeS protein assembly by transferring clusters to client FeS apoproteins. Here we implicate both of these factors in client protein interactions. We demonstrate specific interactions between GrxD, NfuA, and the methylthiolase MiaB, a radical S-adenosyl-l-methionine-dependent enzyme involved in the maturation of a subset of tRNAs. We show that GrxD and NfuA physically interact with MiaB with affinities compatible with an in vivo function. We furthermore demonstrate that NfuA is able to transfer its cluster in vitro to MiaB, whereas GrxD is unable to do so. The relevance of these interactions was demonstrated by linking the activity of MiaB with GrxD and NfuA in vivo. We observe a severe defect in in vivo MiaB activity in cells lacking both GrxD and NfuA, suggesting that these proteins could play complementary roles in maturation and repair of MiaB. Background: MiaB requires constant regeneration of one of its iron sulfur clusters to perform multiple catalytic cycles. Results: Accessory Escherichia coli iron sulfur cluster biosynthesis factors GrxD and NfuA physically interacts with MiaB and affects its activity in vivo. Conclusion: GrxD and NfuA are functionally linked with MiaB. Significance: GrxD and NfuA could be involved in the repair of the sacrificial cluster in MiaB.