Author(s): Guo, Z (Guo, Zhen); Xu, S (Xu, Shuai); Chen, X (Chen, Xue); Wang, CH (Wang, Changhao); Yang, PL (Yang, Peilin); Qin, SY (Qin, Siying); Zhao, CP (Zhao, Cuiping); Fei, F (Fei, Fan); Zhao, XL (Zhao, Xianglong); Tan, PH (Tan, Ping-Heng); Wang, JF (Wang, Junfeng); Xie, C (Xie, Can)

Source: SCIENTIFIC REPORTS Volume: 11 Issue: 1 Article Number: 23941 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-03344-2 Published: DEC 14 2021

Abstract: Iron-sulfur clusters are essential cofactors found in all kingdoms of life and play essential roles in fundamental processes, including but not limited to respiration, photosynthesis, and nitrogen fixation. The chemistry of iron-sulfur clusters makes them ideal for sensing various redox environmental signals, while the physics of iron-sulfur clusters and its host proteins have been long overlooked. One such protein, MagR, has been proposed as a putative animal magnetoreceptor. It forms a rod-like complex with cryptochromes (Cry) and possesses intrinsic magnetic moment. However, the magnetism modulation of MagR remains unknown. Here in this study, iron-sulfur cluster binding in MagR has been characterized. Three conserved cysteines of MagR play different roles in iron-sulfur cluster binding. Two forms of iron-sulfur clusters binding have been identified in pigeon MagR and showed different magnetic properties: [3Fe-4S]-MagR appears to be superparamagnetic and has saturation magnetization at 5 K but [2Fe-2S]-MagR is paramagnetic. While at 300 K, [2Fe-2S]-MagR is diamagnetic but [3Fe-4S]-MagR is paramagnetic. Together, the different types of iron-sulfur cluster binding in MagR attribute distinguished magnetic properties, which may provide a fascinating mechanism for animals to modulate the sensitivity in magnetic sensing.

Accession Number: WOS:000730779300047

PubMed ID: 34907239

Author Identifiers:

Author        Web of Science ResearcherID        ORCID Number

Tan, Ping-Heng         D-1137-2009         0000-0001-6575-1516

ISSN: 2045-2322

Full Text: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-03344-2