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[FeFe]-hydrogenases catalyse the reduction of protons to hydrogen at a complex 2Fe[4Fe4S] center called H-cluster. The assembly of this active site is a multistep process involving three proteins, HydE, HydF and HydG. According to the current models, HydF has the key double role of scaffold, upon which the final H-cluster precursor is assembled, and carrier to transfer it to the target hydrogenase. The X-ray structure of HydF indicates that the protein is a homodimer with both monomers carrying two functional domains: a C-terminal FeS cluster-binding domain, where the precursor is assembled, and a N-terminal GTPase domain, whose exact contribution to cluster biogenesis and hydrogenase activation is still elusive. We previously obtained several hints suggesting that the binding of GTP to HydF could be involved in the interactions of this scaffold protein with the other maturases and with the hydrogenase itself. In this work, by means of site directed spin labeling coupled to EPR/PELDOR spectroscopy, we explored the conformational changes induced in a recombinant HydF protein by GTP binding, and provide the first clue that the HydF GTPase domain could be involved in the H-cluster assembly working as a molecular switch similarly to other known small GTPases.

Identifying conformational changes with site-directed spin labeling reveals that the GTPase domain of HydF is a molecular switch