In Cellulo Mossbauer and EPR Studies Bring New Evidence to the Long-Standing Debate on Iron-Sulfur Cluster Binding in Human Anamorsin

Human anamorsin is an iron-sulfur (Fe-S)-cluster-binding protein acting as an electron donor in the early steps of cytosolic iron-sulfur protein biogenesis. Human anamorsin belongs to the eukaryotic CIAPIN1 protein family and contains two highly conserved cysteine-rich motifs, each binding an Fe-S cluster. In vitro works by various groups have provided rather controversial results for the type of Fe-S clusters bound to the CIAPIN1 proteins. In order to unravel the knot on this topic, we used an in cellulo approach combining Mossbauer and EPR spectroscopies to characterize the iron-sulfur-cluster-bound form of human anamorsin. We found that the protein binds two [2Fe-2S] clusters at both its cysteine-rich motifs.