Generation and modulation of catalytically relevant states of a dye-decolourizing peroxidase using time-resolved serial femtosecond crystallography with drop-on-chip mixing and X-ray-driven reduction

Metalloenzymes containing a heme cofactor catalyse a wide range of oxidative reactions critical to life. Understanding the structure and electronic states of the heme across the catalytic cycle is essential in understanding the oxidative chemistry performed on the substrate. This work demonstrates in crystallo manipulation of the heme-iron oxidation state in a B-type dye-decolourizing peroxidase from Streptomyces lividans (DtpB) using multiple, complementary, serial crystallography approaches. Fixed-target drop-on-chip serial femtosecond crystallography (SFX) together with dose-resolved serial synchrotron crystallography (SSX) allowed DtpB to be driven between multiple iron oxidation states. Drop-on-chip addition of hydrogen peroxide with fixed-target SFX is used to generate a ferryl Fe(IV)=O species, while the X-ray-driven approach modulates the iron oxidation state, with an apparent two-electron reduction leading to a return to a ferric state. The formation and dose response of the Fe(IV)-O state is highly variable between the chemically identical heme groups of the DtpB hexamer, highlighting the importance of understanding the effect of the crystalline lattice on observed changes in time- and dose-resolved crystallography.