Phenylalanine enzyme

FIGURE 14.115 In the biosynthesis of phenylalanine, enzymes transform a sugar into dehydroquinate (A) and then dehydroshikimate (B). 

Some people lack the enzymes necessary to convert L phenylalanine to L tyrosine Any L phenylalanine that they obtain from their diet is diverted along a different meta bolic pathway giving phenylpyruvic acid... 

Phenylpyruvic acid can cause mental retardation m infants who are deficient m the enzymes necessary to convert l phenylalanine to l tyrosine This disorder is called phenylketonuria, or PKU disease PKU disease can be detected by a simple test rou tmely administered to newborns It cannot be cured but is controlled by restricting the dietary intake of l phenylalanine In practice this means avoiding foods such as meat that are rich m l phenylalanine... 

Chymotrypsin (Section 27 10) A digestive enzyme that cat alyzes the hydrolysis of proteins Chymotrypsin selectively catalyzes the cleavage of the peptide bond between the car boxyl group of phenylalanine tyrosine or tryptophan and some other ammo acid... 

There are thousands of breweries worldwide. However, the number of companies using fermentation to produce therapeutic substances and/or fine chemicals number well over 150, and those that grow microorganisms for food and feed number nearly 100. Lists of representative fermentation products produced commercially and the corresponding companies are available (1). Numerous other companies practice fermentation in some small capacity because it is often the only route to synthesize biochemical intermediates, enzymes, and many fine chemicals used in minor quantities. The large volume of L-phenylalanine is mainly used in the manufacture of the artificial dipeptide sweetener known as aspartame [22389-47-0]. Prior to the early 1980s there was httle demand for L-phenyl alanine, most of which was obtained by extraction from human hair and other nonmicrobiological sources. 

Some chemicals such as iadigo, tryptophan, and phenylalanine are overproduced ia bacteria by pathway engineering (36—38). In this method, the enzymes iavolved ia the entire pathway are overproduced. In addition, the host bacterium is also altered such that the carbon flow is directed toward the engiaeered pathway (38). E. colih.2LS been modified to overproduce iadigo and tryptophan and phenylalanine. CoTjnebacteriumglutamicum has been engiaeered to overproduce tryptophan from 28 to 43 g/L. Similarly, attempts are underway to overproduce several vitamins by pathway engineering (34,38). 

The neurotransmitter must be present in presynaptic nerve terminals and the precursors and enzymes necessary for its synthesis must be present in the neuron. For example, ACh is stored in vesicles specifically in cholinergic nerve terminals. It is synthesized from choline and acetyl-coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA) by the enzyme, choline acetyltransferase. Choline is taken up by a high affinity transporter specific to cholinergic nerve terminals. Choline uptake appears to be the rate-limiting step in ACh synthesis, and is regulated to keep pace with demands for the neurotransmitter. Dopamine [51 -61-6] (2) is synthesized from tyrosine by tyrosine hydroxylase, which converts tyrosine to L-dopa (3,4-dihydroxy-L-phenylalanine) (3), and dopa decarboxylase, which converts L-dopa to dopamine. 

Biosynthesis of Tea Flavonoids. The pathways for the de novo biosynthesis of flavonoids in both soft and woody plants (Pigs. 3 and 4) have been generally elucidated and reviewed in detail (32,51). The regulation and control of these pathways in tea and the nature of the enzymes involved in synthesis in tea have not been studied exhaustively. The key enzymes thought to be involved in the biosynthesis of tea flavonoids are 5-dehydroshikimate reductase (52), phenylalanine ammonia lyase (53), and those associated with the shikimate/arogenate pathway (52). At least 13 enzymes catalyze the formation of plant flavonoids (Table 4). 

One of the most interesting uses for cinnamic acid in recent years has been as a raw material in the preparation of L-phenylalanine [63-91-2] the key intermediate for the synthetic dipeptide sweetener aspartame (25). Genex has described a biosynthetic route to L-phenylalanine which involves treatment of immobilized ceUs of R rubra containing the enzyme phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAT,) with ammonium cinnamate [25459-05-6] (26). 

There are many excellent examples of experiments using isotopic labeling in both organic chemistry and biochemistry. An interesting example is the case of lydroxylation of the amino acid phenylalanine which is carried out by the enzyme phenylalanine hydroxylase. 

FIGURE 27.5 Tyrosine is the biosynthetic precursor to a number of neurotransmitters. Each transformation is enzyme-catalyzed. Hydroxy-lation of the aromatic ring of tyrosine converts it to 3,4-dihydroxy phenylalanine (L-dopa), decarboxylation of which gives dopamine. Hy-droxylation of the benzylic carbon of dopamine converts it to norepinephrine (noradrenaline), and methy-lation of the amino group of norepinephrine yields epinephrine (adrenaline). 

Partial hydrolysis of a peptide can be carried out either chemically with aqueous acid or enzymatically. Acidic hydrolysis is unselective and leads to a more or less random mixture of small fragments, but enzymatic hydrolysis is quite specific. The enzyme trypsin, for instance, catalyzes hydrolysis of peptides only at the carboxyl side of the basic amino acids arginine and lysine chymotrypsin cleaves only at the carboxyl side of the aryl-substituted amino acids phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan. 

Production of phenylalanine starts after depletion of tyrosine at about 6 hours. This is logical since the micro-oiganism needs a certain amount of tyrosine, for example to synthesise key enzymes, but synthesis of L-phenylalanine is feedback regulated if tyrosine is present. 

Reaction 1 is governed by the enzyme phenylalanine ammonia lyase. This enzyme normally conducts the breakdown of L-phenylalanine to from-cinnamic add and ammonia. However, die reaction can be reversed leading to the production of L-phenylalanine from frans-dnnamic add by using excess ammonia. 

The optical resolution of the chemically synthesised N-acetyl-DL-phenylalanine by an acylase enzyme is given in reaction 4 (Figure 8.6). A selective hydrolysis of N-acetyl-L-phenylalanine is performed. 

Two reactions for the production of L-phenylalanine that can be performed particularly well in an enzyme membrane reactor (EMR) are shown in reaction 5 and 6. The recently discovered enzyme phenylalanine dehydrogenase plays an important role. As can be seen, the reactions are coenzyme dependent and the production of L-phenylalanine is by reductive animation of phenylpyruvic add. Electrons can be transported from formic add to phenylpyruvic add so that two substrates have to be used formic add and an a-keto add phenylpyruvic add (reaction 5). Also electrons can be transported from an a-hydroxy add to form phenylpyruvic add which can be aminated so that only one substrate has to be used a-hydroxy acid phenyllactic acid (reaction 6). 

Consider reaction schemes for the production of L-phenylalanine by enzymatic methods. Now match each of the following substrates with the enzyme(s) responsible for L-phenylalanine formation. 

Specific information about the optimum conditions for the synthesis and the activity of the enzyme has been reported for Pseudomonas fluorescens screening of various micro-organisms resulted in the selection of a P. fluorescens strain with an initial rate of conversion of 3 g P h 1 in an imoptimised state. The following conclusions could be made concerning the production of L-phenylalanine by P. fluorescens ... 

To establish the most advantageous conditions for production of L-phenylalanine from acetamidocinnamic add using two micro-organisms the following factors were investigated pH, amino donor and ratio of two enzyme activities. 

Under optimal conditions (pH = 8.0,67 g T1 L-aspartic add, 30°C, 1 1 ratio of enzyme activities) after addition of pyridoxal phosphate, 76 g l 1 L-phenylalanine could be produced within 72 hours (92% conversion). This illustrates how simple biochemical manipulation can increase productivity dramatically. 

Degussa AG uses immobilised acylase to produce a variety of L-amino adds, for example L-methionine (80,000 tonnes per annum). The prindples of the process are the same as those of the Tanabe-process, described above. Degussa uses a new type of reactor, an enzyme membrane reactor, on a pilot plant scale to produce L-methionine, L-phenylalanine and L-valine in an amount of 200 tonnes per annum. 

Enzymes in the pathway to L-phenylalanine are subject to feedback inhibition by products (amino adds) arising from pathway intermediates. 

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