Branched substrate specificity

Xian, M., Alaux, S., Sagot, E. and Gefflaut, T., Chemoenz3fmatic synthesis of glutamic acid analogues substrate specificity and S3mthetic apphcations of branched chain aminotransferase from Escherichia coli. J. Org. Chem., 2007, 72, 7560-7566. 

The 4-coumarate CoA ligase (4CL EC 6.2.1.12) enzyme activates 4-coumaric acid, caffeic acid, ferrulic acid, and (in some cases) sinapic acid by the formation of CoA esters that serve as branch-point metabolites between the phenylpropanoid pathway and the synthesis of secondary metabolites [46, 47]. The reaction has an absolute requirement for Mg " and ATP as cofactors. Multiple isozymes are present in all plants where it has been studied, some of which have variable substrate specificities consistent with a potential role in controlling accumulation of secondary metabolite end-products. Examination of a navel orange EST database (CitEST) for flavonoid biosynthetic genes resulted in the identification of 10 tentative consensus sequences that potentially represent a multi-enzyme family [29]. Eurther biochemical characterization will be necessary to establish whether these genes have 4CL activity and, if so, whether preferential substrate usage is observed. 

Proteasomes of Thermoplasma contain a single type of p subunit but eukaryotic proteasomes contain subunits with at least three distinct substrate preferences.347 M9c They all appear to use the same hydrolytic mechanism but in their substrate specificities they are chymotrypsin-like, peptidylglutamyl-peptide hydrolyzing, branched chain amino acid preferring, and small neutral amino acid preferring based on the P, amino acid residue. In the spleen some of the P subunits of the proteasomes appear to have been replaced by proteins encoded by the major histocompatibility complex of the immune system (Chapter 31).347 This may alter the properties of the proteasome to favor their function in antigen processing. Proteasomes are also ATP- and ubiquitin-dependent, as discussed in Section 6. 

Beauvericin is a structural homolog of enniatins in which the branched-chain L-amino acid is substituted by the aromatic amino acid L-phenylalanine. Beauvericin synthetase, which has been isolated from the fungus Beauveria bassiana [54] and various strains of Fusaria [55], strongly resembles Esyn with respect to its molecular size and the reaction mechanism. In contrast to Esyn, which is only able to incorporate aliphatic amino acids, beauvericin synthetase exhibits high substrate specificity for aromatic amino acids such as phenylalanine. This capability is obviously caused by mutational alterations in the adenylation domain of this enzyme. 

Earlier studies on the properties of phosphorylases isolated from various sources have indicated that their subunits are similar in size with about 100,000 daltons.15-17 The reaction proceeds in a rapid equilibrium random Bi-Bi mechanism as has been shown by kinetic studies with rabbit skeletal muscle phosphorylases a18-20 and b,21,22 rabbit liver enzyme,23 potato tuber enzyme,24 and the enzyme from E. coli.25) In contrast, the substrate specificities for various glucans differ considerably depending on the enzyme sources. The rabbit muscle enzyme has high affinity for branched glucans such as glycogen and amylopectin but low affinity for amylose and maltodextrin.26,27 The potato tuber enzyme can act on amylose, amylopectin, and maltodextrin but only poorly on glycogen,28,29 while the E. coli enzyme shows high affinity for maltodextrin.10 ... 

The branch pathway for anthocyanin biosynthesis starts with the enzymatic reduction of dihydrofiavonols to their corresponding flavan 3,4-diols (leucoanthocyanidins) by substrate-specific dihydroflavonol 4-reductases (DFR). Flavan 3,4-diols are the immediate precursors for the synthesis of catechins and proanthocyanidins. Catechins are formed by enzymatic reduction of the flavan 3,4-diols in the presence of NADPH to leucoanthocyanidins, which are subsequently converted to anthocyanidins by the 2-oxoglutarate-dependant dioxygenase, anthocyanidin synthase. Further glycosylation, methylation, and/or acylation of the latter lead to the formation of the more stable, colored anthocyanins (Scheme 1.1). The details of the individual steps involved in flavonoid and isoflavonoid biosynthesis, including the biochemistry and molecular biology of the enzymes involved, have recently appeared in two excellent reviews.7,8... 

It should also be noted that the amino-acid sequences at the N- and C-termini of the various BEs are dissimilar these regions may be important with respect to substrate specificity as well as to the size of chain transferred and to the extent of branching. 

L-Amino acid transaminases are ubiquitous in nature and are involved, be it directly or indirectly, in the biosynthesis of most natural amino acids. All three common types of the enzyme, aspartate, aromatic, and branched chain transaminases require pyridoxal 5 -phosphate as cofactor, covalently bound to the enzyme through the formation of a Schiff base with the e-amino group of a lysine side chain. The reaction mechanism is well understood, with the enzyme shuttling between pyridoxal and pyridoxamine forms [39]. With broad substrate specificity and no requirement for external cofactor regeneration, transaminases have appropriate characteristics to function as commercial biocatalysts. The overall transformation is comprised of the transfer of an amino group from a donor, usually aspartic or glutamic acids, to an a-keto acid (Scheme 15). In most cases, the equilibrium constant is approximately 1. 

After expressing a hybrid gene consisting of the loading domain (AT and ACP) of the avermectin (73) producer, modules 1 and 2 of EryAI and TE of EryAIII different trice-tide lactones (66,67, 70,71) were produced. The relaxed substrate specificity of the loading domain from the avermectin producing PKS of S. avermitilis, which accepts branched carboxylic acids as starter units, was influencing the formation of the new compounds [53] (Fig. 12.13). 

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