Project Grant R35GM157008

The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) awarded a $350,487 Project Grant under the Biomedical Research and Research Training Program (CFDA 93.859) to the University of Illinois to support research on "Uncovering Novel Heme Chemistry in Microbial Systems." The project aims to expand understanding of how diverse bacterial diheme proteins stabilize high-valent bis-FeIV states and leverage these intermediates for site-specific substrate oxidation. Key focus areas include investigating the formation and stabilization of bis-FeIV, its catalytic capabilities, and the biological roles of this cofactor. The project will study representatives from annotated but uncharacterized protein families, as well as newly identified enzyme clusters, to gain broader insights into the chemical capacity and generalizability of bis-FeIV-containing metalloenzymes. This research is expected to help elucidate fundamental gaps in the understanding of how nature uses such high-valent iron species without causing cellular damage, with potential applications in biocatalysis, pharmaceutical synthesis, and industrial chemical production.