A new method for extraction of iron-molybdenum cofactor (FeMoco) from nitrogenase adsorbed to DEAE-cellulose. 1. Effects of anions, cations, and preextraction treatments

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Abstract
A convenient and rapid method of obtaining the cofactor of nitrogenase (FeMoco) with a low and apparently limiting Fe/Mo ratio has been developed. FeMoco can be extracted from the MoFe protein bound to DEAE-cellulose. The cofactor is eluted in either N-methylformamide (NMF), N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), or mixtures of these solvents by use of salts such as Et4NBr, Bu4NBr, Ph4PCl, and Ph4AsCl. The method is simple, is rapid (45 min), yields concentrated cofactor, and, unlike the original method [Shah, V. K., and Brill, W. J. (1977) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 74, 3249-3253] which requires anaerobic centrifugation, is easily scaled up. Furthermore, it gives yields of cofactor in excess of 70%. Its disadvantages are a high Fe:Mo ratio when DMF is the extracting solvent and a high salt concentration in the resultant FeMoco solution. These disadvantages are easily overcome by removing excess Fe by pretreating the cofactor with bipyridyl while still on the column. This gives Fe:Mo ratios of (6 .+-. 1):1 (11 trials) with specific activities ranging from 170-220 nmol of C2H4/[min .cntdot. (nmol of Mo)]. Chromatography on Sephadex LH-20 removes ca. 99% of the excess salt. The adsorption of MoFe protein to DEAE-cellulose seems to facilitate denaturation by organic solvents so that pretreatment of the protein with acid, used in earlier methods, is unnecessary. There is an apparent dependence on the charge density of the anion employed for elution of FeMoco bound to DEAE-cellulose, such that Cl- > Br-.mchgt. I-, PF6- is the order of effectiveness of the Bu4N+ salts of these anions. The extraction of cofactor in DMF with a comparable specific activity to that obtained in NMF proves that the two amides are equally good solvents for the cofactor and coordination of deprotonated solvent may not be necessary for extraction.