Molybdenum enzymes reaction mechanisms

A current overall picture of the reaction mechanism of xanthine oxidase, which differs substantially from one proposed earlier (87) is as follows. The enzyme is presumed to have two independent catalytic units, though this has not so far been proved rigorously. Reducing substrates are bound at molybdenum and reduce this from Mo(VI) both to Mo(V) and to Mo (IV). Reducing equivalents are then transferred by intramolecular reactions from molybdenum to iron-sulphur and also, either directly or via this, to flavin. Oxidizing substrates as a class, seem capable of reacting with all three types of centre in the enzyme. Thus, oxygen reacts predominantly with flavin, phenazine methosulphate... 

DNA cleavage by, 43 158-159 reactions, copper proteins, 39 25 Oxo-trichloroselenates(IV), 35 270-271 Oxo-type molybdenum enzyme, see Molybdenum enzymes, pterin-containing Oxovandium (IV), solvent exchange and ligand substitution, 42 47-49 Oxyanions, Groups VIB and VIIB, redox reactions, kinetics and mechanism, 40 269-274... 

Model studies clearly demonstrate that oxo transfer is a viable mechanism for many of the enzyme reactions shown in Table 2d. However, primarily because of difficulties in labeling studies, it has not yet proved possible to validate oxo transfer as a physiologically relevant enzymatic mechanism. Although it has been possible to oxidize and reduce molybdenum centers using certain oxygen atom donors or acceptors, these experiments serve only to demonstrate that such processes are possible and not that they are part of the physiologically relevant pathway [231,233],... 

Mechanisms of action for the metal centers in acetylene hydratase, polysulfide reductase, and formate dehydrogenase have been briefly described in Sections VI.A and VLB. The discussion, in each case, was relatively straightforward insofar as the natures of these reactions lend themselves to simple mechanistic proposals. The mechanism by which the metal centers function in most of the other Mo and W enzymes is not as obvious. We elect to discuss mechanistic roles for the molybdenum centers in xanthine oxidase, sulfite oxidase, and dmso reductase. These enzymes are representative members of each large class of molybdenum enzymes, and the large body of literature on each enzyme makes detailed discussion possible. 

Mo(V) complex disproportionates as it dissociates to produce mononuclear Mo (IV) and Mo (VI). As Mo (IV) and Mo (VI) are directly interconvertible by an oxo transfer reaction, they are viable participants in catalytic cycles. A dinuclear Mo(V) species of this nature can thus supply either the oxidizing or reducing member of this couple and presents a mechanism by which molybdenum enzymes can channel reducing or oxidizing power. Several inorganic reactions have recently been explained using this scheme (80, 81). To date, however, Reaction 12 only applies when the ligand is a dithiocarbamate or dithiophosphate. Nevertheless, were there known dinuclear active sites in enzymes, this would be an important mechanism to consider. 

The electrochemical transformation of a molybdenum nitrosyl complex [Mo(NO)(dttd)J [dttd = 1,2-bis(2-mercaptophenylthio)ethane] (30) is rather interesting (119). Ethylene is released from the backbone of the sulfur ligand upon electrochemical reduction. The resulting nitrosyl bis(dithiolene) complex reacts with O2 to give free nitrite and a Mo-oxo complex. Multielectron reduction of 30 in the presence of protons releases ethylene and the NO bond is cleaved, forming ammonia and a Mo-oxo complex (Scheme 15). The proposed reaction mechanism involves successive proton-coupled electron-transfer steps reminiscent of schemes proposed for Mo enzymes (120). 

With this background information, the three families of molybdenum enzymes will be considered in turn, focusing in each case first on structural aspects followed by a discussion of reaction mechanism. 

The reaction mechanism given in Figure 10 is consistent with the bulk of the presently available information, but raises the interesting question as to how, in the absence of a second (spectator) oxo group, the Mo=0 bond of the oxidized enzyme is made labile. Indeed one possibility is that the oxidized site does possess a spectator oxo (McAlpine et al., 1997 McAlpine et al., 1997), although this presently appears to be a minority opinion in the field. In the context of the mechanism given in Figure 10, the Mo=0 bond of the molybdenum center must be sufficiently labile that... 

The molybdenum-containing oxidoreductases that catalyze Eq. (1) have been variously termed molybdenum hydroxylases (6), oxotransferases (7), and oxo-type molybdenum enzymes (8). Molybdenum hydroxylase aptly describes the conversion of xanthine to uric acid, but the name seems less appropriate for the reactions catalyzed by sulfite oxidase and nitrate reductase oxotransferase implies that the function of these enzymes is to transfer oxo groups, even though relatively little is known about their actual mechanism of action and the name oxo-type molybdenum enzyme recognizes both the apparent oxo transfer chemistry of Eq. (1) and the fact that the molybdenum atom in each of these enzymes contains at least one terminal oxo group. In this chapter, we shall refer to these enzymes as pterin-containing molybdenum enzymes because a 6-substituted pterin appears to be a common chemical feature of all of the enzymes. 

The intimate mechanisms of the molybdenum enzymes have yet to be fully elucidated. Current evidence supports the transfer of an oxygen atom between Mo(IV/VI) and substrate (189) and the regeneration of the active site by two one-electron processes, the first of which generates transient Mo(V) centers (17). In view of the reactions taking place at the Mo center (Eq. (13)) and in an overall sense (Eq. (14)), chemical modeling has naturally concentrated on ... 

An Overview of the Synthetic Strategies, Reaction Mechanisms and Kinetics of Model Compounds Relevant to Molybdenum- and Tungsten-Containing Enzymes... 

Further work has been reported - with Fe-Mo models for nitro-genase, and a molecular mechanism has been proposed for the action of molybdenum in enzymes. In all reactions catalysed by Mo enzymes, the product and substrate differ by two electrons and two protons (or some multiple thereof). The co-ordination chemistry of Mo suggests that there is a distinct relationship between acid-base and redox properties of Mo complexes, and that a coupled electron-proton transfer (to or from substrate) may be mediated by Mo in enzymes. Each of the molybdenum enzymes (nitrogenase, nitrate reductase, xanthine oxidase, aldehyde oxidase, and sulphite oxidase) is discussed and it is shown that a simple molecular mechanism embodying coupled proton-electron transfer can explain many key experimental observations. 

The condensation step is catalyzed by the glycosyltransferase SpcF. Further enzyme-catalyzed oxidation is probably needed for the introduction of the hemiketal linkage between cyclitol and sugar units. The SpcY enzyme, which has a similar counterpart, HygY, among the /lyg-cluster encoded proteins (see Section 2.2.4.3.1), is a candidate enzyme for this reaction. SpcY is a member of the radical SAM superfamily of proteins and relatives of SpcY have been found before all in connection with molybdenum-cofactor biosynthesis but to our knowledge no details of the mechanism involved is known for those. 

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