Molybdopterin structure

Ultimately, the proposed molybdopterin structure in Fig. 5 was verified by protein crystallography that finally revealed the pyran ring whose signature was lost during the degradation studies (42). Conclusive evidence for a dithiolene chelate at the active site came first from the protein crystal structure of a... 

The pterin component of Moco has been fascinating - why did Nature make such a complicated heterocyclic substituent for the dithiolene tether to molybdenum The original molybdopterin structure (Figure 2.1, center structure)... 

The three known crystal structures of molybdopterin-containing enzymes are from members of the first two families the aldehyde oxido-reductase from D. gigas (MOP) belongs to the xanthine oxidase family (199, 200), whereas the DMSO reductases from Rhodobacter (R.) cap-sulatus (201) and from/ , sphaeroides (202) and the formate dehydrogenase from E. coli (203) are all members of the second family of enzymes. There is a preliminary report of the X-ray structure for enzymes of the sulfite oxidase family (204). 

The aldehyde oxidoreductase from Desulfovibrio gigas shows 52% sequence identity with xanthine oxidase (199, 212) and is, so far, the single representative of the xanthine oxidase family. The 3D structure of MOP was analyzed at 1.8 A resolution in several states oxidized, reduced, desulfo and sulfo forms, and alcohol-bound (200), which has allowed more precise definition of the metal coordination site and contributed to the understanding of its role in catalysis. The overall structure, composed of a single polypeptide of 907 amino acid residues, is organized into four domains two N-terminus smaller domains, which bind the two types of [2Fe-2S] centers and two much larger domains, which harbor the molybdopterin cofactor, deeply buried in the molecule (Fig. 10). The pterin cofactor is present as a cytosine dinucleotide (MCD) and is 15 A away from the molecular surface,... 

Molybdopterin is a component of four enzyme families all of which contain Mo(VI) the xanthine oxidase and the sulfite oxidase families with one molybdopterin and the DMSO family with two molybdopterins. There are a number of tungsten-containing enzymes with structures analogous... 

FIGURE 3.37 Structure of molybdopterin conjugated with cytidine diphosphate. 

Tungsten-containing enzymes have been found to mediate a variety of reactions both in aerobic and anaerobic bacteria, and their structure may plausibly be assumed to be analogous to the molybdopterins ... 

Boyington JC, VN Gladyshev, SV Khangulov, TC Stadtman, PD Sun (1997) Crystal structure of formate dehydrogenase H catalysis involving Mo, molybdopterin, selenocysteine, and an Fe4S4 cluster. Science 275 1305-1308. 

Rudolph, M. J., Wuebbens, M. M., Rajagopalan, K. V., and Schindelin, H. Crystal structure of molybdopterin synthase and its evolutionary relationship to ubiquitin activation,... 

X-ray crystallography, 40 20-21 synthetic models, 40 23-48 xanthane oxidase, 40 21-23 chalcogenide halides, 23 370-377, 413 Chevrel phases, 23 376-377 metal-metal bonding, 23 330, 373 structural data, 23 373-376 as superconductors, 23 376 synthesis, 23 371-372 chloride, 46 4-24, 35-44 heterocations of, 9 290, 291 cluster compounds, 44 45-46 octahedral, 44 47-49, 53-63 electronic structure, 44 55-63 molecular structure, 44 53-54 synthesis, 44 47-49 rhomboidal, 44 75-82 solid-state clusters and, 44 66-72, 74-75, 80-82, 85-87 tetrahedral, 44 72-75 triangular, 44 82-87 cofactor, 40 2, 4-12 anaerobic isolation, 40 5 molybdopterin and, 40 4-8 reduced form, 40 12 synthesis, 40 8-12 xanthine oxidase, 45 60-63 complexes... 

Figure 16-31 (A) Structure of molybdopterin cytosine dinucleotide complexed with an atom of molybdenum. (B) Stereoscopic ribbon drawing of the structure of one subunit of the xanthine oxidase-related aldehyde oxidoreductase from Desulfo-vibrio gigas. Each 907-residue subunit of the homodimeric protein contains two Fe2S2 clusters visible at the top and the molybdenum-molybdopterin coenzyme buried in the center. (C) Alpha-carbon plot of portions of the protein surrounding the molybdenum-molybdopterin cytosine dinucleotide and (at the top) the two plant-ferredoxin-like Fe2S2 clusters. Each of these is held by a separate structural domain of the protein. Two additional domains bind the molybdopterin coenzyme and there is also an intermediate connecting domain. In xanthine oxidase the latter presumably has the FAD binding site which is lacking in the D. gigas enzyme. From Romao et al.633 Courtesy of R. Huber.

The active site structures of the three classes of molybdenum-containing enzymes are compared in Fig. 16-32. In the DMSO reductase family there are two identical molybdopterin dinucleotide coenzymes complexed with one molybdenum. However, only one of these appears to be functionally linked to the Fe2S2 center. 

The aldehyde ferredoxin oxidoreductase from the hyperthermophile Pyrococcus furiosus was the first molybdopterin-dependent enzyme for which a three-dimensional structure became available.683,684 The tungstoenzyme resembles that of the related molybdo-enzyme (Fig. 16-31). A similar ferredoxin-dependent enzyme reduces glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate.685 Another member of the tungstoenzyme aldehyde oxidoreductase family is carboxylic acid reductase, an enzyme found in certain acetogenic clostridia. It is able to use reduced ferredoxin to convert unactivated carboxylic acids into aldehydes, even though E° for the acetaldehyde/acetate couple is -0.58 V.686... 

Aromatic compounds arise in several ways. The major mute utilized by autotrophic organisms for synthesis of the aromatic amino acids, quinones, and tocopherols is the shikimate pathway. As outlined here, it starts with the glycolysis intermediate phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) and erythrose 4-phosphate, a metabolite from the pentose phosphate pathway. Phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan are not only used for protein synthesis but are converted into a broad range of hormones, chromophores, alkaloids, and structural materials. In plants phenylalanine is deaminated to cinnamate which yields hundreds of secondary products. In another pathway ribose 5-phosphate is converted to pyrimidine and purine nucleotides and also to flavins, folates, molybdopterin, and many other pterin derivatives. 

The cofactor appears to include a novel pterin.996-998 The properties of the pterin depend upon the nature of the side-chain in the 6-position. The structure shown in Figure 39 has been proposed997 on the basis that molybdopterin is related to urothione, oxidized to pterin-6-carboxylic acid, and contains in the side-chain two sulfur groups, a double bond, a hydroxyl function and a terminal phosphate group. Two stable fluorescent derivatives of molybdopterin have been characterized,999 which may be of value in view of the extreme instability of the native molybdoprotein when released from the enzyme. 

Fig. 4. Structure of molybdopterin and MoCo and its suggested attachment to plant NR apoenzyme. This model is adapted from Kramer et al. (1987) for the molybdopterin, Gardlik Rajagopalan (1990) for the pterin reduction state (shown here as a 5,6-dihydropterin, one of the three possible structures) and Neame Barber (1989) for the hypothetical thiol ligand from the side chain of Cysl80 of tobacco NR. A, Molybdopterin. B, MoCo.

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