Comparison of high-resolution structures of the diphtheria toxin repressor in complex with cobalt and zinc at the cation-anion binding site

The diphtheria toxin repressor (DtxR) from Corynebacterium diphtheriae is a divalent-metal activated repressor of chromosomal genes responsible for siderophore-mediated iron-uptake and of a gene on several corynebacteriophages that encodes diphtheria toxin. Even though DtxR is the best characterized iron-dependent repressor to date, numerous key properties of the protein still remain to be explained. One is the role of the cation-anion pair discovered in its first metal-binding site. A second is the reason why zinc exhibits its activating effect only at a concentration 100-fold higher than other divalent cations. In the presently reported 1.85 Angstrom resolution Co-DtxR structure at 100K, the sulfate anion in the cation-anion-binding site interacts with three side chains that are all conserved in the entire DtxR family which points to a possible physiological role of the anion. A comparison of the 1.85 Angstrom Cobalt-DtxR structure at 100K and the 2.4 Angstrom Zinc-DtxR structure at room temperature revealed no significant differences. Hence, the difference in efficiency of Co2+ and Zn2+ to activate DtxR remains a mystery and might be hidden in the properties of the intriguing second metal-binding site. Our studies do, however, provide a high resolution view of the cation-anion-binding site that has most likely evolved to interact not only with a cation but also with the anion in a very precise manner.