Cinnamic acid with phenylalanine ammonia lyase

Biosynthesis of flavonoids starts with the conversion of phenylalanine or tyrosine to cinnamic acid by phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) (Hahlbrock and Grisebach, 1975). Subsequent reactions are catalyzed by cinnamic acid 4-hydrolase to form 4-hydroxyl cinnamic acid (p-coumaric acid). The p-coumaric acid is then catalyzed by p-coumarate CoA ligase to form p-coumaroyl CoA. 

L)-Phenylalanine may be generated similarly from ( )-cinnamic acid with an ammonia lyase (for instance from Rhodococcus rubra). This procedure is however not used industrially, due to the availability of a more economic fermentative process. [58]... 

One of the most interesting uses for cinnamic acid in recent years has been as a raw material in the preparation of L-phenylalanine [63-91-2] the key intermediate for the synthetic dipeptide sweetener aspartame (25). Genex has described a biosynthetic route to L-phenylalanine which involves treatment of immobilized ceUs of R rubra containing the enzyme phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAT,) with ammonium cinnamate [25459-05-6] (26). 

The key reaction that links primary and secondary metabolism is provided by the enzyme phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) which catalyzes the deamination of l-phenylalanine to form iran.v-cinnamic acid with the release of NH3 (see Fig. 3.3). Tyrosine is similarly deaminated by tyrosine ammonia lyase (TAL) to produce 4-hydroxycinnamic acid and NH3. The released NH3 is probably fixed by the glutamine synthetase reaction. These deaminations initiate the main phenylpropanoid pathway. 

Catabolism of histidine in most organisms proceeds via an initial elimination of NH3 to form urocanic acid (Eq. 14-44). The absence of the enzyme L-histidine ammonia-lyase (histidase) causes the genetic disease histidinemia 284/285 A similar reaction is catalyzed by the important plant enzyme L-phenylalanine ammonia-lyase. It eliminates -NH3+ along with the pro-S hydrogen in the (3 position of phenylalanine to form frans-cinnamate (Eq. 14-45). Tyrosine is converted to p-coumarate by the same enzyme. Cinnamate and coumarate are formed in higher plants and are converted into a vast array of derivatives (Box 21-E,... 

The general phenylpropanoid pathway begins with the deamination of L-phenylalanine to cinnamic acid catalyzed by phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL), Fig. (1), the branch-point enzyme between primary (shikimate pathway) and secondary (phenylpropanoid) metabolism [5-7]. Due to the position of PAL at the entry point of phenylpropanoid metabolism, this enzyme has the potential to play a regulatory role in phenolic-compound production. The importance of this is illustrated by the high degree of regulation both during development as well as in response to environmental stimuli. 

Figure 2. Reactions catalyzed by BPS and CHS from H. androsaemum cell cultures. Both starter substrates originate from cinnamic acid, itself supplied by phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL). (Reproduced with permission from reference 5. Copyright 2003 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.)...

The biosynthetic pathway for isoflavonoids in soybean and the relationship of the isoflavonoids to several other classes of phenylpropanoids is presented in Fig. 8.2. Production of /i-coumaryl-CoA from phenylalanine requires phenylalanine ammonia lyase to convert phenylalanine to cinnamate, cinnamic acid hydroxylase to convert cinnamate to /7-coumarate, and coumaraterCoA ligase to convert jt -coumarate to -coumaroyl-CoA. Lignins may be produced from j3-coumaroyl-CoA or from />-coumarate. Chalcone synthase catalyzes the condensation of three molecules of malonyl CoA with p-coumaroyl-CoA to form 4, 2 , 4 , 6 -tetrahydroxychalcone, which is subsequently isomerized in a reaction catalyzed by chalcone isomerase to naringenin, the precursor to genistein, flavones, flavonols, condensed tannins, anthocyanins, and others. 

Primary and phenolic metabolism are linked by the well-known enzyme phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) which converts L-phenylalanine into cinnamic acid. This enzyme has been shown to be present in different cellular fractions with other enzymes involved in phenolic metabolism ... 

The first step of flavonone biosynthesis begins with the deamination of the amino acid phenylalanine or tyrosine by a phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) or a tyrosine ammonia-lyase (TAL), which affords cinnamic acid and p-coumaric acid, respectively (Figure 6.36). The formed cinnamic acid is first hydroxylated to p-coumaric acid by a membrane-bound P450 monooxygenase, cinnamate 4-hydroxylase (C4H), and then activated to p-coumaroyl-CoA by a 4-coumarate-CoA ligase (4CL). 4CL catalyzes also the conversion of caffeic acid, feruhc acid, and cinnamic acid to caffeoyl-CoA, feruloyl-CoA, and cinnamoyl-CoA, respectively. 

As an example of a molecule with diastereotopic ligands, consider the amino acid L-phenylalanine. The two protons at C-3 are diastereotopic, since substitution of either of them would generate a molecule with two chiral centers. Because the chiral center already present is 5, the two diastereomers would be the 2S,3R and the 25,35 stereoisomers. As in the case of enantiotopic protons, diastereotopic protons are designated pro-R or pro-S. The enzyme phenylalanine ammonia lyase catalyzes the conversion of phenylalanine to trans-cinnamic acid by a process involving anti elimination of the amino group and the 3-pro-S hydrogen. This stereochemical course has been demonstrated using deuterium-labeled L-phenyl-alanine as shown" ... 

In a related fashion, asymmetric amination of ( )-cinnamic acid yields L-phenylalanine using L-phenylalanine ammonia lyase [EC 4,3,1,5] at a capacity of 10,000 t/year [1274, 1601], A fascinating variant of this biotransformation consists in the use of phenylalanine aminomutase from Taxus chinensis (yew tree), which interconverts ot- to p-phenylalanine in the biochemical route leading to the side chain of taxol [1602], In contrast to the majority of the cofactor-independent C-0 and C-N lyases discussed above, its activity depends on the protein-derived internal cofactor 5-methylene-3,5-dihydroimidazol-4-one (MIO) [1603], Since the reversible a,p-isomerization proceeds via ( )-cinnamic acid as achiral intermediate, the latter can be used as substrate for the amination reaction. Most remarkably, the ratio of a- vs, 3-amino acid produced (which is 1 1 for the natural substrate, R = H) strongly depends on the type and the position of substituents on the aryl moiety While o-substituents favor the formation of a-phenylalanine derivatives, / -substituted substrates predominantly lead to p-amino analogs, A gradual switch between both pathways occurred with m-substituted compounds. With few exceptions, the stereoselectivity remained exceUent (Scheme 2,215) [1604, 1605],... 

Fig. 10. The pathway of aromatic biosynthesis in the cytosol and its point of interface with phenylpropanoid biosynthesis at the reaction catalyzed by phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL). Enzymes sensitive to inhibition by caffeic acid (CAF) are indicated by dark shading. Abbreviations as in Figure 9 additionally, GIN, cinnamic acid COU, coumaric acid.

The amino acid phenylalanine is derived from gallic acid, being this compound biosynthesized in the shikimic acid metabolic route. Most of the phenolic compounds from higher plants are also derived from this amino acid, formed in the phenylpropanoid metabolic route, in the cell cytoplasm, being various enzymes involved in this metabolism. Phenylalanine ammonia lyase interacts with phenylalanine forming cinnamic acid, that is, hydrolyzed by citmamate-4-hydroxylase, rendering p-coumaric acid. Different hydroxylations and/or methoxylations, of this... 

The first step of phenylpropanoid biosynthesis is conversion of phenylalanine into cinnamic acid by cleavage of ammonium group by the enzyme phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL). Reduction of carboxylic acid from the cinnamic acid leads to cinnamaldehyde, which is then acylated with acetate from acetyl-CoA to form coniferyl alcohol [14]. Reductive cleavage of coniferyl alcohol by eugenol synthase yields eugenol [15]. 

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