Cobalamin,

At the time of the first volume of CCC(1987), the biological chemistry of cobalt was almost exclusively concerned with the cobalamins. The field has expanded and developed markedly since then. New cobalt-containing proteins have been characterized and applications of traditional cobalt coordination compounds in biology developed. These developments are illustrated below in some detail, as the field was not reviewed in the first edition. 

Cobalamin chemistry is the best-established area of cobalt biological chemistry. The 15-membered tetraazamacrocyclic corrin ring (incorporating four pyrrole residues) is the binding site for 

Co within all compounds of the so-called cobalamin (or B12) family. The biological functions of cobalamin cofactors are defined by their axial substituents either a methyl or an adenosyl group. Both cofactors participate in biosynthesis the former in methyl transfer reactions while the latter is a free radical initiator, abstracting H atoms from substrates. Decades after their initial characterization, the fascination with the biological chemistry of cobalamins remains.1109 

In mammals and in the majority of bacteria, cobalamin regulates DNA synthesis indirectly through its effect on a step in folate metabolism, catalyzing the synthesis of methionine from homocysteine and 5-methyltetrahydrofolate via two methyl transfer reactions. This cytoplasmic reaction is catalyzed by methionine synthase (5-methyltetrahydrofolate-homocysteine methyl-transferase), which requires methyl cobalamin (MeCbl) (253), one of the two known coenzyme forms of the complex, as its cofactor. 5 -Deoxyadenosyl cobalamin (AdoCbl) (254), the other coenzyme form of cobalamin, occurs within mitochondria. This compound is a cofactor for the enzyme methylmalonyl-CoA mutase, which is responsible for the conversion of T-methylmalonyl CoA to succinyl CoA. This reaction is involved in the metabolism of odd chain fatty acids via propionic acid, as well as amino acids isoleucine, methionine, threonine, and valine. 

As Co-containing organometallic compounds, cobalamins are unique in nature, and they have a genetic history of more than four billion years. Their biosynthesis, absorption, transport, and metabolism have been well documented in organisms of both marine and terrestrial origin.1110-1112 

The corrin ring system is formed from uroporphyrinogen III (D 10.1) by reductive contraction of the porphyrin ring. All seven extra methyl groups of the corrin ring (encircled in the formula given above) are derived from L-methionine. 

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Methylmalonic acid (MMA) in semm is an estabUshed marker of cobalamine deficiency. MMA and other short-chain dicarboxyhc acids react with... 

Dietary deficiency in the absence of absorption defects can be effectively reversed with oral supplementation of 1 p.m of vitamin B 2 daily. If deficiency is related to a defect in vitamin absorption, daily doses of 1 pg adininistered subcutaneously or intramuscularly are effective (33). However, a single intramuscular dose of 100 pg of cobalamin once per month is adequate in patients with chronic gastric or ileal damage. Larger doses are generally rapidly cleared from the plasma into the urine and are not effective unless the patient demonstrates poor vitamin retention. 

Cobalamin should be adininistered parenteraHy by the intramuscular or subcutaneous route. Isolated cases of anaphylaxis have been reported with intravenous administration. 

Transport. Transcobalamin II dehvers the absorbed vitamin 3 2 to cells and is the primary plasma vitamin B22-binding transport protein. It is found in plasma, spinal fluid, semen, and extracellular fluid. Many cells, including the bone marrow, reticulocytes, and the placenta, contain surface receptor sites for the transcobalamin II—cobalamin complex. 

Tissue Uptake and Storage. Cell surface receptors take up the transcobalamin II—cobalamin complex, which is internalized into endosomes. The complex is dissociated and the transcobalamin II released. The mechanism by which cobalamin leaves the endosome is uncertain. 

Metabolism and Mobilization. On entry of vitamin B 2 into the cell, considerable metaboHsm of the vitamin takes place. Co(III)cobalamin is reduced to Co(I)cobalamin, which is either methylated to form methylcobalamin or converted to adenosylcobalamin (coenzyme B>22)- The methylation requires methyl tetrahydrofolate. 

Radioisotope dilution assays are based on the principle of competition between radioactive labeled ( Co) vitamin B 2 and cobalamins extracted from matrices for binding sites on the intrinsic factor (a glycoprotein). Binding is in proportion to the concentration of the radioactive and nonradio active B 2 with the concentration of intrinsic factor as the limiting factor. Free cobalamins are separated from those bound on the intrinsic factor by absorption... 

Spectrophotometric deterrnination at 550 nm is relatively insensitive and is useful for the deterrnination of vitamin B 2 in high potency products such as premixes. Thin-layer chromatography and open-column chromatography have been appHed to both the direct assay of cobalamins and to the fractionation and removal of interfering substances from sample extracts prior to microbiological or radioassay. Atomic absorption spectrophotometry of cobalt has been proposed for the deterrnination of vitamin B 2 in dry feeds. Chemical methods based on the estimation of cyanide or the presence of 5,6-dimethylben2irnida2ole in the vitamin B 2 molecule have not been widely used. 

The total syntheses have yielded cobyric acid and thence cyanocobalamin. Routes to other cobalamins, eg, methylcobalamin and adenosylcobalamin, are known (76—79). One approach to such compounds involves the oxidative addition of the appropriate alkyl haUde (eg, CH I to give methylcobalamin) or tosylate (eg, 5 -A-tosyladenosine to yield adenosylcobalamine) to cobalt(I)alamine. 

Mechanistic aspects of the action of folate-requiring enzymes involve one-carbon unit transfer at the oxidation level of formaldehyde, formate and methyl (78ACR314, 8OMI2I6OO) and are exemplified in pyrimidine and purine biosynthesis. A more complex mechanism has to be suggested for the methyl transfer from 5-methyl-THF (322) to homocysteine, since this transmethylation reaction is cobalamine-dependent to form methionine in E. coli. 

FIGURE 24.21 A mechanism for the methylmalonyl-CoA mntase reaction. In the first step, Co is rednced to Co dne to homolytic cleavage of the Co —C bond in cobalamin. Hydrogen atom transfer from methylmalonyl-CoA yields a methylmalonyl-CoA radical that can undergo rearrangement to form a snccinyl-CoA radical. Transfer of an H atom regenerates the coenzyme and yields snccinyl-CoA. 

Hydroxy- and 8-nitro-4-chloroquinazolines have been incorporated into the nucleotide of vitamin B12. These quinazoline-containing vitamin analogs stimulated the growth of cobalamine requiring cultures. ... 

Cobalamin (vitamin B12) Streptomyces olivaceus Food supplements... 

Vitamin B12 (Fig. 1) is defined as a group of cobalt-containing conoids known as cobalamins. The common features of the vitamers are a corrin ting (four reduced pyrrole rings) with cobalt as the central atom, a nucleotide-like compound and a variable ligand. Vitamin B12 is exceptional in as far as it is the only vitamin containing a metal-ion. The vitamers present in biological systems are hydroxo-, aquo-, methyl-, and 5 -deoxyadenosylcobalamin. 

Vitamin B12 is special in as far as its absorption depends on the availability of several secretory proteins, the most important being the so-called intrinsic factor (IF). IF is produced by the parietal cells of the fundic mucosa in man and is secreted simultaneously with HC1. In the small intestine, vitamin B12 (extrinsic factor) binds to the alkali-stable gastric glycoprotein IF. The molecules form a complex that resists intestinal proteolysis. In the ileum, the IF-vitamin B 12-complex attaches to specific mucosal receptors of the microvilli as soon as the chymus reaches a neutral pH. Then either cobalamin alone or the complex as a whole enters the mucosal cell. 

In cobalamin, vitamin Bu, one of the six ligands forming an octahedral structure around a cobalt atom is an organic molecule attached through a carbon-cobalt bond (red). The bond is weak and easily broken. 

Complexes of the composition RCo (dioximeH)2L (R = alkyl, L = neutral ligand) and their parent complexes with BR2 bridges RCo(dioxime-BR2)2L 127 (Fig. 33) are known as organocobaloximes [173-178] and have received attention being models for vitamin B12 (cobalamines) [183]. A series of related complexes of the composition Fe (dioxime-BR2)LL 128 (Fig. 33) without the metal-carbon bond is also known [179, 180]. 

B-Valet B,2 (Tokyo Tanabe) Cobalamin H (Otsuka) Colsamine (Kanto)... 

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