Mevalonate, biosynthesis

Nature uses phosphate and pyrophosphate as good leaving groups, just as organic chemists use sulfonate esters and halides as good leaving groups. In the next step of this biosynthesis, mevalonic acid is phosphorylated ... 

D-Mevalonic acid is the fundamental intermediate in the biosynthesis of the terpenoids and steroids, together classed as poly-isoprenoids. The biogenetic isoprene unit is isopentenyl pyrophosphate which arises by enzymic decarboxylation-dehydration of mevalonic acid pyrophosphate. D-Mevalonic acid is almost quantitatively incorporated into cholesterol synthesized by rat liver homogenates. 

Strategy Problem 6 A labelled compound for biosynthetic studies. Mevaloitic acid (TM 418) is an intermediate in the biosynthesis of terpenes and steroids (Tedder, volume 4, p.217 ff). To study exactly what happens to each carbon atom during its transformation into, say, hmonene (418A), we need separate samples of mevalonic acid labelled with in each carbon atom in the molecule. This turns our normal strategy on its head since we must now look for one carbon discoimections. You can use reagents like Na CN, and... 

The introduction to Section 26 8 pointed out that mevalonic acid is the biosynthetic pre cursor of isopentenyl pyrophosphate The early steps m the biosynthesis of mevalonate from three molecules of acetic acid are analogous to those m fatty acid biosynthesis (Sec tion 26 3) except that they do not involve acyl earner protein Thus the reaction of acetyl coenzyme A with malonyl coenzyme A yields a molecule of acetoacetyl coenzyme A... 

The statins lower cholesterol by inhibiting the en zyme 3 hydroxy 3 methylglutaryl coenzyme A reduc tase which is required for the biosynthesis of meva Ionic acid (see Section 26 10) Mevalonic acid is an obligatory precursor to cholesterol so less mevalonic acid translates into less cholesterol... 

Section 26 10 The biosynthesis of isopentenyl pyrophosphate begins with acetate and proceeds by way of mevalonic acid... 

Since GAs as diterpenes share many intermediates in the biosynthetic steps leading to other terpenoids, eg, cytokinins, ABA, sterols, and carotenoids, inhibitors of the mevalonate (MVA) pathway of terpene synthesis also inhibit GA synthesis (57). Biosynthesis of GAs progresses in three stages, ie, formation of / Akaurene from MVA, oxidation of /-kaurene to GA 2" hyde, and further oxidation of the GA22-aldehyde to form the different GAs more than 70 different GAs have been identified. 

Mevalonic acid (Section 26.10) An intermediate in the biosynthesis of steroids from acetyl coenzyme A. 

Step 1 of Figure 27.7 Claisen Condensation The first step in mevalonate biosynthesis is a Claisen condensation (Section 23.7) to yield acetoacetyl CoA, a reaction catalyzed by acetoacetyl-CoA acetyltransferase. An acetyl group is first bound to the enzyme by a nucleophilic acyl substitution reaction with a cysteine —SH group. Formation of an enolate ion from a second molecule of acetyl CoA, followed by Claisen condensation, then yields the product. 

The mevalonate pathway for the biosynthesis of isopentenyl diphosphate from three molecules of acetyl CoA. Individual steps are explained in the text. 

Assume that acetyl CoA containing a 14C isotopic label in the carboxyl carbon atom is used as starting material for the biosynthesis of mevalonate, as shown in Figure 27.7. At what positions in mevalonate would the isotopic label appear ... 

The carbon skeleton of helminthosporal can be accounted for from three isoprene units (XVI), but they cannot be formed by cyclization of a farnesol precursor, as the three units are not joined head to tail. There is the possibility that the aldehyde carbons were joined in the early stages of biosynthesis to form helminthosporane (XVII, XX) as an intermediate, followed by later oxidation to yield the dialdehydes. As a test of this hypothesis the actively growing fungus was fed mevalonic acid labeled with carbon-14 in the 2-position (mevalonic acid being a precursor of isoprene units) (2). Thus, three units of radioactivity should be incorporated, one being the... 

Ketene dimer (28), made from [ " Cl-labelled acetic acid, has been used to make doubly labelled mevalonic lactone (29) for studies on the biosynthesis of terpenes. Note... 

The biosynthesis of cholesterol may be divided into five steps (l) Synthesis of mevalonate occurs from acetyl-CoA (Figure 26-1). (2) Isoprenoid units are formed... 

Figure 26-1. Biosynthesis of mevalonate. HMG-CoA reductase is inhibited by atorvastatin, pravastatin, and simvastatin. The open and solid circles indicate the fate of each of the carbons in the acetyl moiety ofacetyl-CoA.

Rohmer, M., The discovery of a mevalonate-independent pathway for isoprenoid biosynthesis in bacteria, algae and higher plants, Nat. Prod. Rep., 16, 565, 1999. 

Sprenger, G.A. et al.. Identification of a thiamin-dependent synthase in Escherichia coli required for the formation of the 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate precursor to isoprenoids, thiamin, and pyridoxol, Proc. Natl. Acad Sci. USA 94, 12857, 1997. Lange, B.M. et al., A family of transketolases that directs isoprenoid biosynthesis via a mevalonate-independent pathway, Proc. Natl. Acad Sci. USA 95, 2100, 1998. Lois, L.M. et al., Cloning and characterization of a gene from Escherichia coli encoding a transketolase-like enzyme that catalyzes the synthesis of D-1- deoxyxylulose 5-phosphate, a common precursor for isoprenoid, thiamin, and pyridoxol biosynthesis, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95, 2105, 1998. 

Lichtenthaler, H.K. et al., The non-mevalonate isoprenoid biosynthesis of plants as a test system for new herbicides and drugs against pathogenic bacteria and the malaria parasite, Z. Naturforsch. C 55, 305, 2000. 

Hampel, D., Mosandl, A., and Wust, M., Biosynthesis of mono- and sesquiterpenes in carrot roots and leaves (Daucus carota L.) metabolic cross talk of cytosolic mevalonate and plastidial methylerythritol phosphate pathways, Phytochemistry 66, 305, 2005. 

Walter, M.H., Fester, T., and Strack, D., Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi induce the non-mevalonate methylerythritol phosphate pathway of isoprenoid biosynthesis correlated with accumulation of the yellow pigment and other apocarotenoids. Plant J. 21, 571, 2000. 

The late cannabinoid pathway starts with the alkylation of ohvetolic acid (3.2 in Fig. 4) as polyketide by geranyl diphosphate (3.1) as the terpenoid unit. Terpenoids can be found in all organisms, and in plants two terpenoid pathways are known, the so called mevalonate (MEV) and non-mevalonate (DXP) pathway as described by Eisenrich, lichtenthaler and Rohdich [23,24,29,30]. The mevalonate pathway is located in the cytoplasm of the plant cells [30], whereas the DXP pathway as major pathway is located in the plastids of the plant cells [29] and delivers geranyl diphosphate as one important precursor in the biosynthesis. 

An alternative route to mevalonic acid is also possible, which differs from the former one in that the formation of P-hydroxy-P-methylglutaryl residue occurs on the surface of an acyl carrier protein (like in fatty acid biosynthesis). The intermediary product in this route, P-hydroxy-p-methylglutaryl-S-ACP, is re-duced by another enzyme to mevalonic acid. 

There are two distinct pathways for biosynthesis of the IPP and DMAPP the mevalonate (MVA) pathway and the DXP pathway (Figure 12.3). The MVA pathway functions primarily in eukaryotes, while the DXP pathway is typically present in prokaryotes and the plastids of plants [90,91]. The first reaction in the DXP pathway is the condensation of pyruvate and D-glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate (G3P) to form DXP, which is catalyzed by DXP synthase encoded by the gene dxs [92]. In the second step, DXP is reduced to 2-C-methyl-D-erythritol-4-phosphate (MEP) by DXP reductoisomerase, which is encoded by the gene dxr (ispC) in E. coli. An array of other enzymes encoded by is pi), ispE, ispF, ispG, and ispH act in subsequent sequential reactions, leading to the conversion of MEP to IPP and DMAPP, which are interconverted by the enzyme encoded by idi [93-97],... 

Rohmer, M., Seemann, M., Horbach, S. et al. (1996) Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate and pyruvate as precursors of isoprenic units in an alternative non-mevalonate pathway for terpenoid biosynthesis. Journal of the American... 

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