Flavin-containing Baeyer–Villiger monooxygenases employ NADPH and molecular oxygen to catalyze the insertion of an oxygen atom into a carbon–carbon bond of a carbonylic substrate. These enzymes can potentially be exploited in a variety of biocatalytic applications given the wide use of Baeyer–Villiger reactions in synthetic organic chemistry. The catalytic activity of these enzymes involves the formation of two crucial intermediates: a flavin peroxide generated by the reaction of the reduced flavin with molecular oxygen and the “Criegee” intermediate resulting from the attack of the flavin peroxide onto the substrate that is being oxygenated. The crystal structure of phenylacetone monooxygenase, a Baeyer–Villiger monooxygenase from the thermophilic bacterium Thermobifida fusca , exhibits a two-domain architecture resembling that of the disulfide oxidoreductases. The active site is located in a cleft at the domain interface. An arginine residue lays above the flavin ring in a position suited to stabilize the negatively charged flavin-peroxide and Criegee intermediates. This amino acid residue is predicted to exist in two positions; the “IN” position found in the crystal structure and an “OUT” position that allows NADPH to approach the flavin to reduce the cofactor. Domain rotations are proposed to bring about the conformational changes involved in catalysis. The structural studies highlight the functional complexity of this class of flavoenzymes, which coordinate the binding of three substrates (molecular oxygen, NADPH, and phenylacetone) in proximity of the flavin cofactor with formation of two distinct catalytic intermediates.

Dioxygen (O ₂ ) and other gas molecules have a fundamental role in a variety of enzymatic reactions. However, it is only poorly understood which O ₂ uptake mechanism enzymes employ to promote efficient catalysis and how general this is. We investigated O ₂ diffusion pathways into monooxygenase and oxidase flavoenzymes, using an integrated computational and experimental approach. Enhanced-statistics molecular dynamics simulations reveal spontaneous protein-guided O ₂ diffusion from the bulk solvent to preorganized protein cavities. The predicted protein-guided diffusion paths and the importance of key cavity residues for oxygen diffusion were verified by combining site-directed mutagenesis, rapid kinetics experiments, and high-resolution X-ray structures. This study indicates that monooxygenase and oxidase flavoenzymes employ multiple funnel-shaped diffusion pathways to absorb O ₂ from the solvent and direct it to the reacting C4a atom of the flavin cofactor. The difference in O ₂ reactivity among dehydrogenases, monooxygenases, and oxidases ultimately resides in the fine modulation of the local environment embedding the reactive locus of the flavin.

Flavin-containing monooxygenases (FMOs) are, after cytochromes P450, the most important monooxygenase system in humans and are involved in xenobiotics metabolism and variability in drug response. The x-ray structure of a soluble prokaryotic FMO from Methylophaga sp. strain SK1 has been solved at 2.6-Å resolution and is now the protein of known structure with the highest sequence similarity to human FMOs. The structure possesses a two-domain architecture, with both FAD and NADP ⁺ well defined by the electron density maps. Biochemical analysis shows that the prokaryotic enzyme shares many functional properties with mammalian FMOs, including substrate specificity and the ability to stabilize the hydroperoxyflavin intermediate that is crucial in substrate oxygenation. On the basis of their location in the structure, the nicotinamide ring and the adjacent ribose of NADP ⁺ turn out to be an integral part of the catalytic site being actively engaged in the stabilization of the oxygenating intermediate. This feature suggests that NADP(H) has a moonlighting role, in that it adopts two binding modes that allow it to function in both flavin reduction and oxygen reactivity modulation, respectively. We hypothesize that a relative domain rotation is needed to bring NADP(H) to these distinct positions inside the active site. Localization of mutations in human FMO3 that are known to cause trimethylaminuria (fish-odor syndrome) in the elucidated FMO structure provides a structural explanation for their biological effects.

p -Hydroxyphenylacetate hydroxylase from Acinetobacter baumannii is a two-component system consisting of a NADH-dependent FMN reductase and a monooxygenase (C ₂ ) that uses reduced FMN as substrate. The crystal structures of C ₂ in the ligand-free and substrate-bound forms reveal a preorganized pocket that binds reduced FMN without large conformational changes. The Phe-266 side chain swings out to provide the space for binding p -hydroxyphenylacetate that is oriented orthogonal to the flavin ring. The geometry of the substrate-binding site of C ₂ is significantly different from that of p -hydroxybenzoate hydroxylase, a single-component flavoenzyme that catalyzes a similar reaction. The C ₂ overall structure resembles the folding of medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase. An outstanding feature in the C ₂ structure is a cavity located in front of reduced FMN; it has a spherical shape with a 1.9-Å radius and a 29-Å ³ volume and is interposed between the flavin C4a atom and the substrate atom to be hydroxylated. The shape and position of this cavity are perfectly fit for housing the oxygen atoms of the flavin C4a-hydroperoxide intermediate that is formed upon reaction of the C ₂ -bound reduced flavin with molecular oxygen. The side chain of His-396 is predicted to act as a hydrogen-bond donor to the oxygen atoms of the intermediate. This architecture promotes the nucleophilic attack of the substrate onto the terminal oxygen of the hydroperoxyflavin. Comparative analysis with the structures of other flavoenzymes indicates that a distinctive feature of monooxygenases is the presence of specific cavities that encapsulate and stabilize the crucial hydroperoxyflavin intermediate.