Propionyl CoA carboxylation

The propionyl CoA carboxylation is another reaction in which the energy required to synthesize a car-bon-to-carbon bond is provided by ATP. Thus, the free energy of the pyrophosphate bond is transferred to CO2, which forms an N-carboxy bond with the biotin enzyme complex. Some of the molecular details of the propionyl carboxylation reaction are presented in Fig. 1-27. The isomerization of methylmalonyl CoA to succinyl CoA also involves vitamin B12. At first it was demonstrated that the activity of the isomerase was considerably decreased in the liver of vitamin B 12-deficient rats. Later the stimulating effect of 5,6-dimethylbenzimidazole carbamide coenzyme was demonstrated with partially purified preparations of the liver enzyme. The methylmalonate CoA-isomerase complex purified from sheep liver has been divided into two different protein fractions, one with isomerase and the other racemase activity. The isomerase acts on only one of the enantiomorphs of methylmalonyl CoA, but the absolute formula of the enantiomorph that serves as substrate for the isomerase is unknown. A racemase catalyzes the conversion of the alternate enantiomorph to the substrate of the isomerase. 

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