Flavin agents

The second step involves the transfer of electrons from the reduced [FMNHg] to a series of Fe-S proteins, including both 2Fe-2S and 4Fe-4S clusters (see Figures 20.8 and 20.16). The unique redox properties of the flavin group of FMN are probably important here. NADH is a two-electron donor, whereas the Fe-S proteins are one-electron transfer agents. The flavin of FMN has three redox states—the oxidized, semiquinone, and reduced states. It can act as either a one-electron or a two-electron transfer agent and may serve as a critical link between NADH and the Fe-S proteins. 

Like the examples above, dihydroxyacetanilide epoxidase (DHAE) uses an olefin as the substrate for epoxidation. Its mechanism, however, is fundamentally different from those of cytochrome P450 or flavin-dependent enzymes. Dihydroxyacetanilide is an intermediate in the biosynthesis of the epoxyquinones LL-C10037a, an antitumor agent produced by the actinomycete Streptomyces LL-C10037 [75, 76], and MM14201, an antibiotic produced by Streptomyces MPP 3051 (Scheme 10.20) [77]. The main structural difference between the two antibiotics lies in the opposite stereochemistry of the oxirane ring. 

Most likely the flavin triplet is the photochemically active species and the flavin semiquinone is the reducing agent for the b-type cytochrome. 

If flavin triplet excitation were involved in photosensory transduction of an organism, then substances that quench this excited state, and thus compete with the normal transduction sequence, should selectively inhibit photomovement in this organism. On the other hand, no effect on such an agent would be expected if the chromophore were a carotenoid. 

Flavins and their analogues (vitamin B2 family) bound to a cationic hydrophobic aggregate serve as efficient oxidizing agents for carbanions and thiols (see Section 7). 

Using a purified bNOS, Campos and collaborators97 studied the hydroxylation of L-arginine by the enzyme minus NADPH. They found 0.16 mole of NOH per mol of NOS. The presence of reducing agents in the purified bNOS was measured as much less than the NOH formed. Possible reagents that could have been responsible are flavin and BH4. 

Rebeccamycin is an antitumor or antibiotic agent isolated from bacteria " and contains a maleimide indolocarbazole framework. The Trp units in this molecule are chlorinated at the C-7 position and a flavin-dependent halogenase was identified as the enzyme that carries out this chlorination (Scheme 10). " There are many other halogenating enzymes known in the literature and these enzymes are responsible for the syntheses of metabolites containing bromine, chlorine, and fluorine. ... 

So what does riboflavin do As such riboflavin does nothing. Like thiamine, riboflavin must undergo metabolic change to become effective as a coenzyme. It fact, it undergoes two reactions. The first converts riboflavin to riboflavin-5-phosphate (commonly known as flavin adenine mononucleotide, FMN), about which we will say no more, and the second converts it to flavin adenine dinucleotide, FAD. The flavins are a class of redox agents of very general importance in biochemistry. FAD is the oxidized form and FADH2 is the reduced form. ... 

The first generation of antidepressants, MAO (monoamine oxidase) inhibitors, inhibited neurotransmitter degradation by inhibiting monoamine deoxidase, a flavin containing enzyme, found in the mitochondria of neurons and other cell types, that oxidatively deaminates naturally occurring sympathomimetic monoamines, such as norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin within the presynapse. In 1952, isoniazid and its isopropyl derivative, iproniazid (1), were developed for the treatment of tuberculosis, where it was subsequently found that these agents had a mood enhancing effect on... 

Flash photolysis has proven to be a useful technique for investigating the reactivity of flavin radicals. This approach takes advantage of the fact that illumination of flavins in the presence of suitable reducing agents (e.g. EDTA, phenols, indoles) leads to a one-electron reduction of the flavin triplet state Through the... 

The properties of the semiquinone from of the ETF isolated from the methylotrophic bacterium resemble those of the bacterial flavodoxins with the exception that flavodoxins form neutral semiquinones whereas this ETF forms an anionic semiquinone. Nearly quantitative anionic semiquinone formation is observed either in the presence of excess dithionite or when excess trimethylamine and a catalytic amount of trimethylamine dehydrogenase are added. Of interest is the apparent stability of the anionic semiquinone towards oxidation by O2 but not to oxidizing agents such as ferricyanide. This appears to be the first example of an air-stable protein-bound anionic flavin semiquinone. Future studies on the factors involved in imparting this resistance to O2 oxidation by the apoprotein are looked forward to with great interest. 

Reduced flavins, unlike reduced nicotinamides, are reactive towards molecular oxygen, and an intermediate produced in this reaction is a more potent oxygenating agent than molecular oxygen is itself. A number of enzymes have evolved which utilize this intermediate to oxygenate certain metabolites. These reactions usually entail monooxygenation (Scheme 5). There are, however, at least two examples of dioxygenation that have been reported... 

Why are there four major hydrogen transfer coenzymes, NAD+, NADP+, FAD, and riboflavin phosphate (FMN), instead of just one Part of the answer is that the reduced pyridine nucleotides NADPH and NADH are more powerful reducing agents than are reduced flavins (Table 6-7). Conversely, flavin coenzymes are more powerful oxidizing agents than are... 

Three facts account for the need of cells for both the flavin and pyridine nucleotide coenzymes (1) Flavins are usually stronger oxidizing agents than is NAD+. This property fits them for a role in the electron transport chains of mitochondria where a sequence of increasingly more powerful oxidants is needed and makes them ideal oxidants in a variety of other dehydrogenations. (2) Flavins can be reduced either by one- or two-electron processes. This enables them to participate in oxidation reactions involving free radicals and in reactions with metal ions. (3) Reduced flavins... 

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