Biosynthesis of Single Thioether c-Type Cytochromes Provides Insight into Mechanisms Intrinsic to Holocytochrome c Synthase (HCCS)

C-type cytochromes (cyts c) are generally characterized by the presence of two thioether attachments between heme and two cysteine residues within a highly conserved CXXCH motif. Most eukaryotes use the System III cyt c biogenesis pathway composed of holocytochrome c synthase (HCCS) to catalyze thioether formation. Some protozoan organisms express a functionally equivalent, natural variant of cyt c with an XXXCH heme-attachment motif, resulting in a single covalent attachment. Previous studies have shown that recombinant HCCS can produce low levels of the XXXCH single thioether variant. However, cyt c variants containing substitutions at the C-terminal cysteine of the heme-attachment site (i.e., resulting in CXXXH) have never been observed in nature, and attempts to biosynthesize a recombinant version of this cyt c variant have been largely unsuccessful. In this study, we report the biochemical analyses of an HCCS-matured CXXXH cyt c variant, comparing its biosynthesis and properties to those of the XXXCH variant. The results indicate that although HCCS mediates heme attachment to the N-terminal cysteine in CXXXH cyt c variants, up to 50% of the cyt c produced is modified in an oxygen-dependent manner, resulting in a mixed population of cyt c. Since this aerobic modification occurs only in the context of CXXXH, we also propose that natural HCCS-mediated heme attachment to CXXCH likely initiates at the C-terminal cysteine.