Molybdenum selenium containing

Under unusual circumstances, toxicity may arise from ingestion of excess amounts of minerals. This is uncommon except in the cases of fluorine, molybdenum, selenium, copper, iron, vanadium, and arsenic. Toxicosis may also result from exposure to industrial compounds containing various chemical forms of some of the minerals. Aspects of toxicity of essential elements have been pubhshed (161). 

The first biochemical analysis of a selenium-containing XDH was reported in 1999 by Andreesen s group. This preparation was specific for xanthine and did not hydroxylate nicotinic acid. Moreover, the enzyme contained FAD, acid-labile sulfur, iron, and a dinucleotide molybdenum cofactor. Most intriguing was the near-equimolar presence of tungsten and molybdenum. It should be noted that the culture medium contained nearly equimolar levels of these metals, making one wonder whether the specificity of this enzyme for metal may be relaxed (i.e., can use Mo or W). Selenium was also found in the preparation and could be released by treatment with cyanide indicating it was also a labile cofactor. This further confirmed the chemical nature of the cofactor from the NAH enzyme from the same strain. ... 

Another selenium-containing molybdenum hydroxylase that has been isolated from Clostridium barkeri (identical to Eubacterium barkeri) is nicotinic acid hydroxylase (NAH). Clostridium barkeri was isolated initially as a fermentor of nicotinic acid and thus NAH is a key enzyme in the efficient fermentation of nicotinic acid as a source of carbon and energy. NAH contained selenium when purified from cells labeled with Se-selenite. However, this label was lost during denaturing gel electrophoresis and also on heating of the enzyme (Dilworth 1982). Exhaustive analysis of selenium-labeled alkylation products of NAH under various conditions revealed selenium was bound as a labile cofactor (Dilworth 1982), and not as seleno-cysteine. This report was the first to describe a selenium-dependent enzyme that did not contain selenium in the form of selenocysteine. 

As indicated in Fig. 25-18, free adenine released from catabolism of nucleic acids can be deaminated hydrolytically to hypoxanthine, and guanine can be deaminated to xanthine.328 The molybdenum-containing xanthine oxidase (Chapter 16) oxidizes hypoxanthine to xanthine and the latter on to uric acid. Some Clostridia convert purine or hypoxanthine to xanthine by the action of a selenium-containing purine hydroxylase.3283 Another reaction of xanthine occurring in some plants is conversion to the trimethylated derivative caffeine. 328b One of the physiological effects of caffeine in animals is inhibition of pyrimidine synthesis.329 However, the effect most sought by coffee drinkers may be an increase in blood pressure caused by occupancy of adenosine receptors by caffeine.330... 

Metallocenter Biosynthesis Assembly Metallo-chaperones Metal Ion Homeostasis Metalloprotein Design Engineering Molybdenum MPT-containing Enzymes Nickel Enzymes Cofactors Selenium Inorganic Chemistry Selenium Organoselenium Chemistry Sulfur Inorganic Chemistry. 

Until 1950, 13 mineral elements were classified as essential these comprised the major elements (calcium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, chlorine, sulphur, magnesium) and the micro or trace elements (iron, iodine, copper, manganese, zinc and cobalt). By 1970, molybdenum, selenium, chromium and fluorine had been added to the list subsequently, arsenic, boron, lead, lithium, nickel, silicon, tin, vanadium, rubidium and aluminium have also been included, the list varying slightly according to the different authorities. Plant and animal tissues contain a further 30 mineral elements, in small quantities, for which no essential function has been found. They may be acquired from the environment, but it has been suggested that as many as 40 or more elements may have metabolic roles in mammalian tissues. Fortunately, many of these trace elements, especially those of more recent discovery, are required in such minute quantities, or are so widely distributed in foods for animals, that deficiencies are likely to be extremely rare under normal practical conditions. 

A number of substances, such as the most commonly used sulfur dioxide, can reduce selenous acid solution to an elemental selenium precipitate. This precipitation separates the selenium from most elements and serves as a basis for gravimetry. In a solution containing both selenous and teUurous acids, the selenium may be quantitatively separated from the latter by performing the reduction in a solution which is 8 to 9.5 W with respect to hydrochloric acid. When selenic acid may also be present, the addition of hydroxylamine hydrochloride is recommended along with the sulfur dioxide. A simple method for the separation and deterrnination of selenium(IV) and molybdenum(VI) in mixtures, based on selective precipitation with potassium thiocarbonate, has been developed (69). 

Upon purification of the XDH from C. purinolyticum, a separate Se-labeled peak appeared eluting from a DEAE sepharose column. This second peak also appeared to contain a flavin based on UV-visible spectrum. This peak did not use xanthine as a substrate for the reduction of artificial electron acceptors (2,6 dichlor-oindophenol, DCIP), and based on this altered specificity this fraction was further studied. Subsequent purification and analysis showed the enzyme complex consisted of four subunits, and contained molybdenum, iron selenium, and FAD. The most unique property of this enzyme lies in its substrate specificity. Purine, hypoxanthine (6-OH purine), and 2-OH purine were all found to serve as reductants in the presence of DCIP, yet xanthine was not a substrate at any concentration tested. The enzyme was named purine hydroxylase to differentiate it from similar enzymes that use xanthine as a substrate. To date, this is the only enzyme in the molybdenum hydroxylase family (including aldehyde oxidoreductases) that does not hydroxylate the 8-position of the purine ring. This unique substrate specificity, coupled with the studies of Andreesen on purine fermentation pathways, suggests that xanthine is the key intermediate that is broken down in a selenium-dependent purine fermentation pathway. ... 

NAH is composed of four subunits (SDS-PAGE) and contains a molybdenum cofactor (Dilworth 1983). Analysis of the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra of the molybdenum center of NAH revealed a coordination of molybdenum to selenium (Gladyshev et al. 1994b). Apparently NAH is much like other selenium-dependent molybdenum hydroxylases such as XDH from C. barkeri and other purinolytic Clostridia. Whether or not the selenium is present as a ligand of molybdenum or is coordinated to molybdenum while being bound to another molecule (e.g., sulfur of cysteine) is still not known. The nature of the selenium cofactor and the mechanism of its incorporation into NAH are most likely similar to XDH and thus also require more study. 

Many proteins, including many enzymes, contain hghtly bound metal ions. These may be inhmately involved in enzyme catalysis or may serve a purely structural role. The most common tightly bound metal ions found in metalloproteins include copper (Cu+ and Cu +), zinc (Zn +), iron (Fe + and Fe +), and manganese (Mn +). Other proteins may contain weakly bound metal ions that generally serve as modulators of enzyme activity. These include sodium (Na+), potassium (K+), calcium (Ca +), and magnesium (Mg +). There are also exotic cases for which enzymes may depend on nickel, selenium, molybdenum, or silicon for activity. These account for the very small requirements for these metals in the human diet. 

Fe2S2] clusters are part of the molybdenum containing hydroxylases. Typically, apart from molybdenum and two EPR-distinct iron-sulfur centres there can be FAD as additional cofactor. In Chlostridium purinolyticum a selenium-dependent purine hydroxylase has been characterized as molybdenum hydroxylase. The EPR of the respective desulfo molybdenum (V) signal indicated that the Mo-ligands should differ from those of the well known mammalian corollary xanthine oxidase.197 For the bacterial molybdenum hydroxylase quinoline oxidoreductase from Pseudomonas putida an expression system was developed in order to be able to construct protein mutants for detailed analysis. EPR was used to control the correct insertion of the cofactors, specifically of the two [Fe2S2] clusters.198... 

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