Steroid biosyntheses

Cytochrome P450s are iron-containing enzymes that function in steroid biosyntheses and xenobiotic oxidative metabolism. P450cam is a water-soluble P450 isolated from the bacterium Pseudomonas putida that catalyzes the hy-droxylation of camphor. P450cam was the first member of this family to have its crystal structure solved. 

Cholesterol is biosynthesized in the liver trans ported throughout the body to be used in a va riety of ways and returned to the liver where it serves as the biosynthetic precursor to other steroids But cholesterol is a lipid and isn t soluble in water How can it move through the blood if it doesn t dis solve in if The answer is that it doesn t dissolve but IS instead carried through the blood and tissues as part of a lipoprotein (lipid + protein = lipoprotein) The proteins that carry cholesterol from the liver are called low density lipoproteins or LDLs those that return it to the liver are the high-density lipoproteins or HDLs If too much cholesterol is being transported by LDL or too little by HDL the extra cholesterol builds up on the walls of the arteries caus mg atherosclerosis A thorough physical examination nowadays measures not only total cholesterol con centration but also the distribution between LDL and HDL cholesterol An elevated level of LDL cholesterol IS a risk factor for heart disease LDL cholesterol is bad cholesterol HDLs on the other hand remove excess cholesterol and are protective HDL cholesterol IS good cholesterol... 

Bile acids (Section 26 13) Steroid derivatives biosynthesized in the liver that aid digestion by emulsifying fats Bimolecular (Section 4 8) A process in which two particles re act in the same elementary step Biological isoprene unit (Section 26 8) Isopentenyl pyrophos phate the biological precursor to terpenes and steroids... 

Cholesterol is biosynthesized in the liver, transported throughout the body to be used in a variety of ways, and returned to the liver where it serves as the biosynthetic precursor to other steroids. But cholesterol is a lipid and isn t soluble in water. How can it move through the blood if it doesn t dissolve in it The answer is that it doesn t dissolve, but is instead carried through the blood and tissues as part of a lipoprotein (lipid + protein = lipoprotein). 

Bile acids (Section 26.13) Steroid derivatives biosynthesized in the liver that aid digestion by emulsifying fats. 

Squalene (Section 26.11) A naturally occurring triterpene from which steroids are biosynthesized. 

Terpenes (and terpenoids) are further classified according to the number of 5-carbon units they contain. Thus, monoterpenes are 10-carbon substances biosynthesized from two isoprene units, sesquiterpenes are 15-carbon molecules from three isoprene units, diterpenes are 20-carbon substances from four isoprene units, and so on. Monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes are found primarily in plants, but the higher terpenoids occur in both plants and animals, and many have important biological roles. The triterpenoid lanosterol, for example, is the precursor from which all steroid hormones are made. 

Steroids are heavily modified triterpenoids that are biosynthesized in living organisms from farnesyl diphosphate (Cl5) by a reductive dimerization to the acyclic hydrocarbon squalene (C30), which is converted into lanosterol (Figure 27.12). Further rearrangements and degradations then take place to yield various steroids. The conversion of squalene to lanosterol is among the most... 

Knowledge regarding biosyntheses has induced several biomimetic approaches towards steroids, the first examples being described by van Tamelen [10] and Corey [11]. A more efficient process was developed by Johnson [12] who, to synthesize progesterone 0-10 used an acid-catalyzed polycyclization of the tertiary allylic alcohol 0-7 in the presence of ethylene carbonate, which led to 0-9 via 0-8 (Scheme 0.3). The cyclopentene moiety in 0-9 is then transformed into the cyclohexanone moiety in progesterone (0-10). 

It is well known that the steroid hormones in mammals are biosynthesized from cholesterol. This compound is derived from the acetate-mevalonate pathway through the monoterpene geranyl pyrophosphate, which undergoes several enzymatic reactions to form the triterpene squalene. 

Steroids are important lipids whose structures are based on a tetracyclic system. Most steroids function as hormone chemical messengers, and thus these molecules have been discussed in detail in chapter 5. Structurally, steroids are heavily modified triterpenes that are biosynthesized starting from the acyclic hydrocarbon squalene and progressing through cholesterol to the final steroid product Bloch and Cornforth, who were awarded Nobel Prizes in medicine (1964), contributed greatly to the elucidation of this remarkable biosynthetic transformation. 

The all-tra 5 -squalene (C30H50), discovered in shark liver oil in the 1920s, is a triterpene, but one in which the isoprene rule at violated in one point. Rather than a head-to-tail arrangement of six units of isoprene, there appear to be farnesyl units that have been connected tail to tail. Almost aU steroids are biosynthesized from cholesterol. Cholesterol is biosynthesized from squalene, which is first converted to lanosterol. The conversion of squalene to the steroid skeleton is an oxirane, squalene-2,3-oxide, which is transformed by enzymes into lanosterol, a steroid alcohol naturally found in wool fat. The whole process is highly stereoselective. 

Isoprenoid structures for carotenoids, phytol, and other terpenes start biosynthetically from acetyl coenzyme A (89) with successive additions giving mevalonate, isopentyl pyrophosphate, geranyl pyrophosphate, farnesyl pyrophosphate (from which squalene and steroids arise), with further build-up to geranyl geranyl pyrophosphate, ultimately to a- and /3-carotenes, lutein, and violaxanthin and related compounds. Aromatic hydrocarbon nuclei are biosynthesized in many instances by the shikimic acid pathway (90). More complex polycyclic aromatic compounds are synthesized by other pathways in which naphthalene dimerization is an important step (91). 

Isoprene is also a precursor of steroids and terpenes. This relationship becomes clear when we examine the biosynthesis of these compounds (see chapter 20). Vitamin A is either biosynthesized from /3-carotene (see fig. S2.4) or absorbed in the diet. Vitamin A is stored in the liver predominantly as an ester of palmitic acid. For many decades, it has been... 

Steroid hormones are biosynthesized from cholesterol in the adrenal cortex, gonads, and placenta. These steroids are important hormones for many specific physiological processes. 

Oenocytes have been shown to biosynthesize hydrocarbons in several insect species in which the oenocytes are within the hemocoel and could be readily separated from other tissues (Diehl, 1973, 1975 Romer, 1980, 1991). These cells are characteristically very large, among the largest somatic cells in insects, and are rich in mitochondria and SER, as are steroidal cells in mammalian systems, suggesting participation in lipid synthesis (Rinterknecht and Matz, 1983). In the German and American cockroaches, however, the oenocytes are... 

Our study on the distribution of electron transferring proteins in animal sources is still in progress. From present knowledge, adrenodoxin can be found in adrenal cortexes from pig, beef, and rat. Further, a similar protein was isolated from pig testis (see II-A-2), and it was also found in the ovary. However, brain, heart, liver, kidney, and pancreas appear to lack adrenodoxin-like protein. If this is correct, the proteins of the ferredoxin family are located solely in the glands which directly act in the biosynthesis of steroid hormones. It is of interest that adrenodoxin-like protein does not participate in the steroid hydroxylation involved in cholesterol and cholic acid biosyntheses. All of these reactions without the participation of adrenodoxin are similar to enzymes responsible for microsomal non-specific hydroxylation, which consist of the following sequence of electron transfer ... 

The first step in the biosynthesis of cholesterol (83) from lanosterol is the reduction of the A24,25-bond, and this involves addition of a 24-pro-S proton and overall ds-stereospecificity in the rat liver system in vitro. This result has been confirmed with rat liver in vivo139 and contrasts with the situation, previously reported and now fully described in detail,140 for the steroidal triterpenoid tigogenin biosynthesized by... 

Further work in the phylum Echinodermata shows a variable ability to biosynthesize steroids. In the class Holothuroidea and Echinoidea, the representatives examined could synthesize squalene but not triterpenoids or sterols from acetate. However, several examples from the class Asteroidea were able to synthesize squalene, lanosterol, and other steroids. In the later stages of steroid metabolism it was shown that cholesterol was converted into cholest-7-enol via cholestanol. 

Aldastenme is a steroid hormone secreted by the zona glomerulosa of the adrenal gland (Figure 10.5). The steroid hormones are biosynthesized from cholesterol. Aldosterone is called a mineralocorlicoid because it regulates the transport of minerals, Na and K- Aldosterone received its name because it contains an aldehyde group —CH=0. 

Steroids are heavily modified triterpenes that are biosynthesized in living organisms from the acyclic hydrocarbon squalene (Section 27.6). The exact pathway by which this remarkable transformation is accomplished is lengthy and complex, but the key steps have now been worked out, wilh notable contributions made by Konrad Bloch and John Cornforth, who received Nobel Prizes for their efforts. 

The metabolic functions of pantothenic acid in human biochemistry are mediated through the synthesis of CoA. Pantothenic acid is a structural component of CoA. which is necessary for many important metabolic processes. Pantothenic acid is incorporated into CoA by a. series of five enzyme-catalyzed reactions. CoA is involved in the activation of fatty acids before oxidation, which requires ATP to form the respective fatty ocyl-CoA derivatives. Pantothenic acid aI.so participates in fatty acid oxidation in the final step, forming acetyl-CoA. Acetyl-CoA is also formed from pyruvate decarboxylation, in which CoA participates with thiamine pyrophosphate and lipoic acid, two other important coenzymes. Thiamine pyrophosphate is the actual decarboxylating coenzyme that functions with lipoic acid to form acetyidihydrolipoic acid from pyruvate decarboxylation. CoA then accepts the acetyl group from acetyidihydrolipoic acid to form acetyl-CoA. Acetyl-CoA is an acetyl donor in many processes and is the precursor in important biosyntheses (e.g.. those of fatty acids, steroids, porphyrins, and acetylcholine). 

Terpenes are are a class of compounds whose chemical structures are based on a number of isoprene units , derived from the hydrocarbon CH2=C(CH3)-CH=CH2 they may themselves be hydrocarbons, but may also contain alcohol (OH), aldehyde/ketone (CO) and carboxylic acid (COOH) groups. Monoterpenes are Cm compounds derived from two isoprene units, sesquiterpenes (Cu) are derived from three isoprene units, diterpenes (C20) from four and tritepenes (C30) from six. Terpenes are widespread in plants, where they are largely responsible for the odor, and they are the major constituents of plant-derived essential oUs . Among the best known terpenes are 3-pinene (turpentine), camphor, menthol and citroneUal (aU monoterpenes) and farnesol (a sesquiterpene that is a constituent of the essential oils of many plants). Certain terpenes have important biological roles vitamin A, for example, is a diterpene, and steroid hormones have a structure related to triterpenes (and are biosynthesized by a similar route). 

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