Metabolism, amino acids

A subclass of lyases, involved in amino acid metabolism, utilizes pyridoxal 5-phosphate (PLP, 3-hydroxy-2-methyl-5-[(phosphonooxy)methyl]-4-pyridinecarbaldehyde) as a cofactor for imine/ enamine-type activation. These enzymes are not only an alternative to standard fermentation technology, but also offer a potential entry to nonnatural amino acids. Serine hydroxymethyl-tansferase (SHMT EC 2.1.2.1.) combines glycine as the donor with (tetrahydrofolate activated) formaldehyde to L-serine in an economic yield40, but will also accept a range of other aldehydes to provide /i-hydroxy-a-amino acids with a high degree of both absolute and relative stereochemical control in favor of the L-erythro isomers41. 

Pyridoxal phosphate mainly serves as coenzyme in the amino acid metabolism and is covalently bound to its enzyme via a Schiff base. In the enzymatic reaction, the amino group of the substrate and the aldehyde group of PLP form a Schiff base, too. The subsequent reactions can take place at the a-, (3-, or y-carbon of the respective substrate. Common types of reactions are decarboxylations (formation of biogenic amines), transaminations (transfer of the amino nitrogen of one amino acid to the keto analog of another amino acid), and eliminations. 

Much of Amino Acid Metabolism Invoives Transamination (Figure 15-4)... 

Brain Coordination of the nervous system Glycolysis, amino acid metabolism Glucose, amino acid, ketone bodies (in starvation) Polyunsaturated fatty acids in neonate Lactate ... 

Be Pyridoxine, pyridoxal, pyridoxamine Coenzyme in transamination and decarboxylation of amino acids and glycogen phosphorylase role in steroid hormone action Disorders of amino acid metabolism, convulsions... 

Pyridoxal phosphate is a coenzyme for many enzymes involved in amino acid metabolism, especially in transamination and decarboxylation. It is also the cofactor of glycogen phosphorylase, where the phosphate group is catalytically important. In addition, vitamin Bg is important in steroid hormone action where it removes the hormone-receptor complex from DNA binding, terminating the action of the hormones. In vitamin Bg deficiency, this results in increased sensitivity to the actions of low concentrations of estrogens, androgens, cortisol, and vitamin D. 

Pantothenic acid is present in coenzyme A and acyl carrier protein, which act as carriers for acyl groups in metabolic reactions. Pyridoxine, as pyridoxal phosphate, is the coenzyme for several enzymes of amino acid metabolism, including the aminotransferases, and of glycogen phosphorylase. Biotin is the coenzyme for several carboxylase enzymes. 

The high toxicity of AOA is due to its very high efficiency as a transaminase inhibitor (K =0.45 pM) as compared to its efficacy as a PAL inhibitor (K. = 120 pM) (48), making it impossible to effectively inhibit PAL iti vivo without also greatly inhibiting amino acid metabolism. Other pyridoxyl phosphate-requiring enzymes, such as ACC synthase (an enzyme involved in ethylene production) (49), are also more sensitive to AOA than to AOPP. 

SA Adibi. In GL Blackburn, JP Grant, NR Young, J Wright, eds. Amino Acids Metabolism and Medical Applications, Boston PSG, 1983, pp 255-263. 

If a vitamin or cofactor is involved in amino acid metabolism, it s most likely pyridoxal phosphate (B6), unless it involves serine, and then it s B6 and folic acid. 

Connections To amino acid metabolism by the requirement for glutamine and aspartate. 

In earlier studies the in vitro transition metal-catalyzed oxidation of proteins and the interaction of proteins with free radicals have been studied. In 1983, Levine [1] showed that the oxidative inactivation of enzymes and the oxidative modification of proteins resulted in the formation of protein carbonyl derivatives. These derivatives easily react with dinitrophenyl-hydrazine (DNPH) to form protein hydrazones, which were used for the detection of protein carbonyl content. Using this method and spin-trapping with PBN, it has been demonstrated [2,3] that protein oxidation and inactivation of glutamine synthetase (a key enzyme in the regulation of amino acid metabolism and the brain L-glutamate and y-aminobutyric acid levels) were sharply enhanced during ischemia- and reperfusion-induced injury in gerbil brain. 

Other leukodystrophies are associated with the lysosomal and peroxisomal disorders in which specific lipids or other substances accumulate due to a deficiency in a catabolic enzyme - for example Krabbe s disease, meta-chromatic leukodystrophy (MLD) and adrenoleuko-dystrophy (ALD) [1,2]. (These are discussed in detail in Ch. 40.) Similarly, disorders of amino acid metabolism can lead to hypomyelination - for example phenylketonuria and Canavan s disease (spongy degeneration) [1, 2, 25] (Ch. 40). The composition of myelin in the genetically... 

DISORDERS OF SULFUR AMINO ACID METABOLISM HOMOCYSTINURIA 674... 

Rothstein, J. D., Tsai, G., Kuncl, R. W. et al. Abnormal excitatory amino acid metabolism in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Ann. Neurol. 28 18-25,1990. 

Sterol biosynthesis Bile acid biosynthesis C2rSteroid hormone metabolism Androgen and estrogen metabolism Nucleotide Metabolism Purine metabolism Pyrimidine metabolism Nucleotide sugar metabolism Amino sugar metabolism Amino Acid Metabolism Glutamate metabolism Alanine and aspartate metabolism Glycine, serine, and threonine metabolism... 

Many of the amino acids originally tested by Krebs were racemic mixtures. When naturally occurring L-amino acids became available the oxidase was found to be sterically restricted to the unnatural, D series. [D-serine occurs in worms free and as D-phosphoryl lombricine (Ennor, 1959)]. It could not therefore be the enzyme used in the liver to release NH3 in amino acid metabolism. D-amino acid oxidase was shown by Warburg and Christian (1938) to be a flavoprotein with FAD as its prosthetic group. A few years later Green found an L-amino acid oxidase in liver. It was however limited in its specificity for amino acid substrates and not very active—characteristics which again precluded its central role in deamination. 

The availability of isotopes has made it possible to complete the descriptions of the steric course of most of the individual reactions of carbohydrate metabolism and steroid metabolism and many of the reactions of fat and amino acid metabolism. The subject has been covered from various angles in several chapters of the third edition of the Enzymes, particularly in the one by Popjack b, in a comprehensive treatise 2>3>, and in numerous recent reviews 4 12>. The wealth of available detail defies any attempt to be complete. I will try, rather, to describe trends in current experimentation, and to fit these trends into historical perspective. In so doing, I will select examples rather arbitrarily, entirely out of my own interests, and I beg the reader s indulgence for this bias. 

The Lac operon is but one example of the genetic adaptations which allow bacteria to respond to their environment. Other examples are to be found in amino acid metabolism, for example the TRP operon which regulates tryptophan metabolism. 

A group of enzymes which is particularly important in amino acid metabolism in the liver (and also in muscle) is the transaminases, (also called aminotransferases). These are vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) dependent enzymes which transfer an amino group from an amino acid to an oxo (keto) acid, thus ... 

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