The long term aims of this research program have been to relate the basic biochemistry of electron transfer flavoprotein (ETF) and electron transfer flavoprotein-ubiquinone oxidoreductase (ETF-Q0) to a human inborn error of metabolism, glutaric acidemia type II (GA2), and to obtain a better understanding of the normal proteins from investigations of defects in these proteins. GA2 results in defective oxidation of fatty acids and amino acids and is often fatal. The objective of the proposed research is to establish the molecular bases, at the nucleotide and protein levels, of ETF deficiency. We will (a) identify mutations in patients with GA2 due to ETF deficiency; (b) express selected mutations in E. coli; (c) investigate the kinetic, redox and structural properties of the mutant ETFs and (d) solve the crystal structure of human ETF. We developed two systems to express ETFs in E. coli. The first expresses Paracoccus denitrificans ETF. Subunits of this bacterial ETF have 72% overall sequence similarity (approximately 60% sequence identity) with the human subunits. This system will be used primarily for spectroscopic investigations to which we have already committed. The second, recently developed system expresses human ETF using the expression vector originally developed for the bacterial protein, and will be used to express human mutations. Other site-directed mutations based on modification of human ETF with photoaffinity and other FAD analogs that bind covalently to the apoprotein will extend these investigations of the basic biochemistry of ETF beyond those indicated by naturally occurring mutations. These investigations aim to define the FAD binding site and of docking sites for the flavoprotein dehydrogenases and electron transfer flavoprotein oxidoreductase. The kinetic and redox behavior of mutant ETFs will be investigated to determine whether mutations affect the rate of electron transfer through the protein or whether they affect the flavin redox potential, so that electron transfer through the protein becomes thermodynamically unfavorable. Structural studies on normal and mutant ETFs will include 13C, 15N and 31P NMR, circular dichroism and fluorescence spectroscopic investigations and will be complemented by crystallographic investigations which are also in progress.
