Formation of Iron Oxide Nanoparticles in the Internal Cavity of Ferritin-Like Dps Protein: Studies by Anomalous X-Ray Scattering

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Eleonora V. Shtykova^1,a*, Maxim V. Petoukhov^1,2, and Andrey A. Mozhaev^1,3,4,5

¹Shubnikov Institute of Crystallography, Crystallography and Photonics Federal Scientific Research Centre, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119333 Moscow, Russia

²Frumkin Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119071 Moscow, Russia

³Shemyakin–Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117997 Moscow, Russia

⁴Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, 117997 Moscow, Russia

⁵National Research University Higher School of Economics, 101000 Moscow, Russia

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received April 12, 2022; Revised April 26, 2022; Accepted April 26, 2022

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DNA-binding protein from starved cells (Dps) takes a special place among dodecamer mini-ferritins. Its most important function is protection of bacterial genome from various types of destructive external factors via in cellulo Dps–DNA co-crystallization. This protective response results in the emergence of bacterial resistance to antibiotics and other drugs. The protective properties of Dps have attracted a significant attention of researchers. However, Dps has another equally important functional role. Being a ferritin-like protein, Dps acts as an iron depot and protects bacterial cells from the oxidative damage initiated by the excess of iron. Here we investigated formation of iron oxide nanoparticles in the internal cavity of the Dps dodecamer. We used anomalous small-angle X-ray scattering as the main research technique, which allows to examine the structure of metal-containing biological macromolecules and to analyze the size distribution of metal nanoparticles formed in them. The contributions of protein and metal components to total scattering were distinguished by varying the energy of the incident X-ray radiation near the edge of the metal atom absorption band (the K-band for iron). We examined Dps specimens containing 50, 500, and 2000 iron atoms per protein dodecamer. Analysis of the particle size distribution showed that, depending on the iron content in the solution, the size of the nanoparticles formed inside the protein molecule was 2 to 4 nm and the growth of metal nanoparticles was limited by the size of the protein inner cavity. We also found some amount of iron ions in the Dps surface layer. This layer is very important for the protein to perform its protective functions, since the surface-located N-terminal domains determine the nature of interactions between Dps and DNA. In general, the results obtained in this work can be useful for the next step in studying the Dps phenomenon, as well as in creating biocompatible and solution-stabilized metal nanoparticles.

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KEY WORDS: ferritin-like proteins, Dps, iron oxide, anomalous SAXS, size distribution

DOI: 10.1134/S0006297922060037

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