3- Amino-5-hydroxyl-coenzyme

In the biosynthesis of compound 72 (Fig. 9) and other ansamycin antibiotics, 3-amino-5-hydroxyl-coenzyme A might act as a starter-molecule. To this seven-carbon amino unit the first propionate unit (via methylmalonyl-CoA), then an acetate unit via malonyl-CoA) and finally another propionate unit are added by condensation and decarboxylation. In the case of 72, the resulting aromatic triketide is then converted into the product P8/1-OG (72) by hydrogenation of the keto group at C-7 and enolization of the keto groups at C-3 and C-5. The CoA is then split off, possibly during the excretion of the product [118]. 

Acetylation is a very common metabolic reaction, which occurs with amino, hydroxyl or sulfhydryl groups. The acetyl group is transferred from acetyl-Coenzyme A, and the reaction is catalyzed by acetyltransferases. An important aspect of this kind of substitution is the genetic polymorphism of one acetyltrans-ferase in humans, who are divided into fast and slow acetyla-tors. In a few cases, the conjugates are further metabolized to toxic compounds, as is seen with isoniazid. Some evidence exists that acetylation of the antitubercular isoniazid leads to enhanced hepatotoxicity of the drug. " Acetylation followed by hydrolysis and CYP-dependent oxidation yields free acetyl... 

Some of the pathways of animal and bacterial metabolism of aromatic amino acids also are used in plants. However, quantitatively more important are the reactions of the phenylpropanoid pathway,173-1743 which is initiated by phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (Eq. 14-45).175 As is shown at the top of Fig. 25-8, the initial product from phenylalanine is trails-cinnam-ate. After hydroxylation to 4-hydroxycinnamate (p-coumarate) and conversion to a coenzyme A ester,1753 the resulting p-coumaryl-CoA is converted into mono-, di-, and trihydroxy derivatives including anthocyanins (Box 21-E) and other flavonoid compounds.176 The dihydroxy and trihydroxy methylated products are the starting materials for formation of lignins and for a large series of other plant products, many of which impart characteristic fragrances. Some of these are illustrated in Fig. 25-8. 

Phosphopantetheine coenzymes are the biochemically active forms of the vitamin pantothenic acid. In figure 10.11, 4 -phosphopantetheine is shown as covalently linked to an adenylyl group in coenzyme A or it can also be linked to a protein such as a serine hydroxyl group in acyl carrier protein (ACP). It is also found bonded to proteins that catalyze the activation and polymerization of amino acids to polypeptide antibiotics. Coenzyme A was discovered, purified, and structurally characterized by Fritz Lipmann and colleagues in work for which Lipmann was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1953. 

The metabolism of phenylalanine will now be considered in some detail, as two inborn errors of metabolism are known that affect this pathway. Phenylalanine is first hydroxylated by phenylalanine hydroxylase to form another aromatic amino acid tyrosine (Fig. 8). The coenzyme for this reaction is the reductant tetrahydrobiopterin which is oxidized to dihydrobiopterin. Phenylalanine hydroxylase is classified as a monooxygenase as one of the atoms of 02 appears in the product and the other in HzO. The tyrosine is then trans-aminated to p-hydroxyphenylpyruvate, which is in turn converted into homogentisate by p-hydroxyphenylpyruvate hydroxylase. This hydroxylase is an example of a dioxygenase, as both atoms of 02 become incorporated into the product (Fig. 8). The homogentisate is then cleaved by homogentisate oxidase, another dioxygenase, before fumarate and acetoacetate are produced... 

Many enzymes use coenzymes to achieve the detailed transformations they catalyze but the enzyme proteins themselves also supply important elements of the catalysis. Enzyme proteins are the source of the entire catalytic effect when coenzymes are not involved. As one common process, acid and base groups in enzymes perform proton transfers that are critical to the catalytic mechanism. A particularly informative example is observed in the enzyme ribonuclease A, which catalyzes the cleavage of RNA (16). The catalytic process (Fig. 4) involves the imidazole ring of the amino acid histidine that removes the proton from the 2-hydroxyl of the ribose. A different protonated histidine transfers a proton to the RNA to promote the cleavage process. Studies with D2O-H2O mixtures established that the two proton transfers occur at the same time (17). 

APH). Chloramphenicol is attacked by chloramphenicol acetyltransferases (CAT). Acetyltransferases attack susceptible amino groups and require acetyl coenzyme A, while AAD or APH enzymes attack susceptible hydroxyl groups and require ATP (or another nucleotide triphosphate). 

Tyrosine is not an essential amino acid in animals because it is synthesized from phenylalanine in a hydroxylation reaction. The enzyme involved, phenylala-nine-4-monoxygenase, requires the coenzyme tetrahydrobiopterin (Section 14.3), a folic acid-like molecule derived from GTP. Because this reaction also is a first step in phenylalanine catabolism, it is discussed further in Chapter 15. 

---