Prenyl transferase

OGURA, K., Isomerase and prenyl transferases. In Comprehensive Natural Products Chemistry, Vol 2 Isoprenoids Including Carotenoids and Steroids (D.E. Cane, ed.) Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1999, pp. 69-96. 

Prenyl transferase, which catalyses the addition of an allylic pyrophosphate to iso-pentenyl pyrophosphate, also catalyses the hydrolysis of geranyl pyrophosphate.104 Inorganic pyrophosphate stimulates this hydrolysis, and the C—O bond is broken in... 

Protein prenylation leads to an increased hydrophobicity of proteins, typically resulting in an increased affinity for membranes. In 2004 studies on the cellular location of prenylated RhoB proteins showed that RhoB can undergo farnesylation (RhoB-F) as well as geranylgeranylation (RhoB-GG). With the aid of specific prenyl transferase inhibitors, it was revealed that RhoB-GG is localized to multivesicular late endosomes. 

In pepper as in many plants, there are two sources of isoprene monomers the mevalonic acid pathway and the plastidal pool from pymvate and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate [26], Pepper carotenoid biosynthesis uses the plastidal pathway for the isopentyl pyrophosphate monomers and the resident terpenoid synthases and transferases [27], Using the 5-carbon isoprene pool, the prenyl transferases sequentially... 

This enzyme [EC 2.5.1.1] (also referred to as prenyl-transferase and geranyl-diphosphate synthase) catalyzes the reaction of dimethylallyl diphosphate and isopen-tenyl diphosphate to produce geranyl diphosphate and pyrophosphate (or, diphosphate). The enzyme will not accept larger prenyl diphosphates as substrates. 

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]. 

Prenyltransferases are a class of enzymes that transfer allylic prenyl groups to acceptor molecules. Prenyl transferases commonly refer to prenyl diphosphate synthases (even though the class of prenyl transferases also includes enzymes that catalyze the transfer of prenyl groups to acceptors that include not only isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP) but also aromatic compounds and proteins etc.). 

The prenyl transferases are a class of enzymes that is involved in post-translational modification of membrane-associated proteins. These enzymes catalyze the transfer of a farnesyl (FTase, EC 2.5.1.58, for structural information see References 55-65) or geranyl-geranyl group (GGTase I, EC 2.5.1.59 GGTase n, EC 2.5.1.60, for structural information... 

Reaction type 6B of Table 10-1 is allylic rearrangement with simultaneous condensation with another molecule. The reaction, which is catalyzed by prenyl-transferases,3073 occurs during the polymerization of polyprenyl compounds (Fig. 22-1,Eqs. 22-2,22-3). Experimental evidence favors a carbocation mechanism for all of these reactions.308 309 See Chapter 22. 

The prenyl transferase from avian liver has been crystallized,40 and was found to be a dimer of molecular weight 86 000 dalton the subunits could not be resolved by SDS electrophoresis. The enzyme catalysed the formation of FPP from IPP and either DMAPP or GPP, and this was accompanied by the synthesis of small amounts of geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate (GGPP). This is the first stable crystalline enzyme of the steroid and terpenoid pathways to be prepared. 

Synthetic derivatives and analogs of prenyl diphosphates have historically played a key role in defining key featnres of the mechanism of enzymes that ntilize these key intermediates in the isoprenoid pathway. This has also been the case with the investigation of the protein prenyl-transferases. A brief introduction to the protein prenyltransferase enzymes is given along with outlines on the previous use of prenyl diphosphate tools and key aspects of their synthesis. The development of prenyl diphosphate-based FTase inhibitors is described. The use of prenyl diphosphate derivatives as mechanistic and structural probes is next discussed. In particular, the use of fluorinated, isotopically labeled, and photoaffinity derivatives is presented. An overview of the extensive work on the determination of FTase isoprenoid substrate specificity is then given, and the chapter concludes with a section on the development of prenyl diphosphate tools for proteomic studies. 

Kale TA, Hsieh SJ, Rose MW, Distefano MD. Use of synthetic isoprenoid analogues for understanding protein prenyl-transferase mechanism and structure. Curr. Top. Med. Chem. 2003 3 1043-1074. 

Hemiterpenoids are produced from the isoprenyl diphosphate DMAPP. All other terpenoids are produced from DMAPP and IPP via longer-chain prenyl diphosphate intermediates formed by prenyl transferases. Prenyl transferases (20) catalyze the formation of geranyl diphosphate (GPP), famesyl diphosphate (FPP), and geranylgeranyl diphosphate (GGPP) from one molecule of DMAPP and one, two, or three molecules of IPP, respectively (Fig. 1). Isoprenyl diphosphates are the substrates for all TPS, which lead to the hemiterpenoids, monoterpenoids, sesquiterpenoids, and diterpenoids, which will be highlighted with selected examples in the following sections. 

---