Of polyprenyl diphosphates

Substances that interfere with the formation of polyprenyl phosphates are of 3 types (1) those that interfere with the biosynthesis of polyprenyl diphosphate for example, inhibitors of 3-hydroxy-3-meth-ylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase (HMG-CoA reductase), (2) compounds that prevent the recycling of polyprenyl diphosphate (bacitracin), and (3) compounds that prevent the phosphorylation of... 

Inhibitors of HMG-CoA reductase activity (for example compac-tin240), or compounds that lower the levels of the enzyme (including a number of oxygenated cholesterol derivatives,241- 24 la such as 25-liy-droxycholesterol), not only decrease the formation of polyprenyl diphosphate, but also affect the formation of cholesterol and the polyprenyl side-chains of coenzyme Q. Consequently, prolonged treatment with such compounds may cause side effects, for example, changes in membrane fluidity (see also, Section III,5), decreased activity of membrane enzymes,1214,2,3 and inactivation of membrane transport systems,246 and, therefore, indirectly prevent glvcosvlation of proteins. 

The structures of polyprenyl diphosphate-linked intermediates of Salmonella O-specific-polysaccharide biosynthesis were confirmed by chemical synthesis of their analogs derived from the plant polyprenols ficaprenol and moraprenol (structurally related to bacterial polyprenol57) with the following study of their behavior as substrates of enzymic reactions. Synthetic polyprenyl a-D-galactopyranosyl diphosphate291,292 was found to serve as an effective acceptor for the transfer of L-rhamnosyl groups.293"295 Two synthetic, isomeric disaccharide derivatives,292 13 and296 14, were tested as acceptors for enzymic D-mannosyl transfer from GDP-Man, but only the former was found to be an efficient substrate.294... 

When UDP-GlcNAc was incubated with membranes from Bacillussubtilis, synthesis of polyprenyl diphosphate-linked tetra- and hexa-saccharides composed of 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-D-glucosyl residues was observed,399 and the process may be similar to the polymerization of peptidoglycan precursors discussed in the next Section. 

Specificity of the Enzymes of Biosynthesis of Polyprenyl Diphosphate Trisaccharides in Salmonella Serogroups B and E towards the Structure of the Monosaccharide Residues of Substrates... 

The ( )-selective homomeric prenyltransferases are responsible for the formation of polyprenyl diphosphates with product chain lengths from GPP (Cio) up to decaprenyl diphosphate (DecPP, C50). At least one ( )-selective prenyltransferase is essential for every organism as short-chain (all- )-configured polyisoprenoids are the precursors for the pivotal steroids and carotenoids. These ot-helical enzymes... 

The third pathway involved in the quinones biosynthesis is the isoprenoid route. This pathway is primarily important for the formation of prenyl side chains of prenylquinones (ubiquinone, menaquinone, plastoquinones, etc.). The side chains of ubiquinones and prenylated naphthoquinones derive from polyprenyl diphosphates. 

The isoprenoid side chains of quinones are biosynthesized mainly by the mevalonic acid pathway from acetyl-CoA. Another pathway to biosynthesizing isoprenoids is the so-called non-mevalonate ronte by which isopentenyldiphosphate (IPP) is formed from glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate and pyrnvate. The key molecule is the famesyl-diphosphate (FPP) that accepts other IPP molecules to form polyprenyl diphosphates. 

This enzyme [EC 2.5.1.20], also known as rubber allyl-transferase and rubber transferase, catalyzes the reaction of poly-dx-polyprenyl diphosphate (or, rubber particles) with isopentenyl diphosphate to produce a poly-cK-... 

Rubber is synthesized by plants via a side branch of the isoprenoid pathway by the enzyme rubber transferase (dy-prenyl transferase systematic name poly-dy-polyprenyl-diphosphate isopentenyl-diphosphate polyprenylcistransferase EC 2.5.1.20). Surprisingly, although this process has been studied for decades, due to the labile nature of the rubber transferase and the fact that it is a membrane-associated enzyme present in relatively low abundance, the identification of its protein subunits remain elusive. For some recent reviews on rubber biosynthesis, please refer to [248-251]. 

Thiamin is synthesized in bacteria, fungi, and plants from 1-deoxyxylulose 5-phosphate (Eq. 25-21), which is also an intermediate in the nonmevalonate pathway of polyprenyl synthesis. However, thiamin diphosphate is a coenzyme for synthesis of this intermediate (p. 736), suggesting that an alternative pathway must also exist. Each of the two rings of thiamin is formed separately as the esters 4-amino-5-hydroxy-methylpyrimidine diphosphate and 4-methyl-5-((i-hydroxyethyl) thiazole monophosphate. These precursors are joined with displacement of pyrophosphate to form thiamin monophosphate.92b In eukaryotes this is hydrolyzed to thiamin, then converted to thiamin diphosphate by transfer of a diphospho group from ATP.92b c In bacteria thiamin monophosphate is converted to the diphosphate by ATP and thiamin monophosphate kinase.92b... 

Chain elongation during polymerization of prenyl units can be terminated in one of a number of ways. The pyrophosphate group may be hydrolyzed to a monophosphate or to a free alcohol. Alternatively, two polyprenyl compounds may join "head to head" to form a symmetric dimer. The C30 terpene squalene, the precursor to cholesterol, arises in this way from two molecules of famesyl diphosphate as does phy-toene, precursor of the Qo carotenoids, from E,E,E geranylgeranyl diphosphate. The phytanyl groups of archaebacterial lipids (p. 385) arise rather directly from geranylgeranyl diphosphate by transfer of the poly-... 

The 5-epi-aristoIochene synthase of tobacco makes the 5-epimer of aristolochene (Fig. 22-4). It binds the diphosphate group within a central cavity using two Mg2+ ions held by carboxylates, some of which are in the DDXXD sequence found also in polyprenyl diphosphate synthases. The enzyme active sites of both the epi-aristolochene synthase and a pentale-nene synthase from Streptomyces96 are rich in polar groups that form hydrogen-bonded networks and which participate in proton abstraction and donation during the rearrangement reactions that must occur. 

The ability of nucleoside glycosyl diphosphates to serve as glycosyl phosphate donors in the biosynthesis of polyprenyl glycosyl diphosphates (see Section 11,3) is well documented. It is not yet known whether they may function as immediate precursors of glycosyl phosphate residues not infrequently present as components of bacterial polymers, or whether some other intermediates are involved. 

Polyprenyl glycosyl diphosphates operate mainly as membrane-linked glycosyl acceptors in the biosynthesis of carbohydrate chains of bacterial polymers. In reactions of polymerization of repeating units during polysaccharide synthesis, the polyprenyl diphosphate derivatives serve as donors of growing polysaccharide chain, but monosaccharide transfer from a polyprenyl glycosyl diphosphate has never been detected. 

In contrast, introduction of the a-(l - 6)-linked D-glucosyl branches present in polysaccharides 10b and 12b was shown to occur readily at the level of polyprenyl oligosaccharide diphosphates. With enzymic systems from S. senftenberg289 and S. bredeney,286 D-glucosylation was found to take place prior to the polymerization reaction. In the former case, participation... 

The combined action of LiCl, cholate, and EDTA was effective in solubilization of the membranes from B. megaterium. An enzyme that catalyzes the polymerization of the disaccharide-pentapeptide units linked to polyprenyl diphosphate, with formation of glycosidic bonds, was purified... 

It seemed of interest to check whether the type of biosynthetic mechanism involved may be related to the structure of the polymeric chain formed. In the block mechanism of chain assembly, formation of polyprenyl glycosyl diphosphates through transfer of glycosyl phosphate is a necessary step of the process. Thus far, only UDP-activated monosaccharides have been found to participate in this reaction (see Section 11,3). Consequently, the presence of a monosaccharide residue of this group in the main chain of a polymer may be regarded as a necessary condition for assembly of the chain through the block mechanism. 

Figure 11 Biosynthesis of isoprenoid type cofactors. 18, Heme a 39, pyridoxal 5 -phosphate 43, 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate 46, thiamine pyrophosphate 83, acetyl-CoA 84, (S)-3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA 85, mevalonate 86, isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP) 87, dimethylallyl diphosphate (DMAPP) 88, pyruvate 89, D-glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate 90, 2C-methyl-D-erythritol 4-phosphate 91, 2C-methyl-erythritol 2,4-cyclodiphosphate 92, 1-hydroxy-2-methyl-2-( )-butenyl 4-diphosphate 93, polyprenyl diphosphate 94, cholecalciferol 95, fS-carotene 96, retinol 97, ubiquinone 98, menaquinone 99, a-tocopherol.

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