Sulfhydryl groups acylation

We can descnbe the major elements of fatty acid biosynthesis by considering the for mation of butanoic acid from two molecules of acetyl coenzyme A The machinery responsible for accomplishing this conversion is a complex of enzymes known as fatty acid synthetase Certain portions of this complex referred to as acyl carrier protein (ACP), bear a side chain that is structurally similar to coenzyme A An important early step m fatty acid biosynthesis is the transfer of the acetyl group from a molecule of acetyl coenzyme A to the sulfhydryl group of acyl carrier protein... 

A comparison of the structures of penicillin and Dalanyl-Dalanine (cf. structures 41 and 42) shows that there is a great deal of similarity between the two molecules. Penicillin is essentially an acylated cyclic dipeptide of Dcysteine and Dvaline (84). As such, it contains a peptide bond, that of the /3-lactam ring, that can acylate the enzyme. Labeling studies of the peptidoglycan transpeptidase of Bacillus subtilis indicate that radioactive penicillin reacts with a sulfhydryl group of a cysteine residue of the enzyme (86). 

The reaction of Ccf -ATPase with dicyclohexylcarbodiimide Carbodiimides readily react in aqueous solutions with protein amino, carboxyl and sulfhydryl groups slower reactions with tyrosine and serine have also been reported [369,370]. The primary reaction product of carboxyl groups with dicyclohexylcarbodiimide is dicyclohexyl-O-acyl isourea [370]. Dicyclohexyl-O-acyl isourea is susceptible to nucleophilic attack either by water or by endogenous or exogenous nucleophiles, yielding a complex series of reaction products [369-371]. 

Figure 1.10 Sulfhydryl groups may undergo a number of additional reactions, including acylation and alkylation. Thiols also may participate in redox reactions, which generate reversible disulfide linkages.

Protein functional groups able to react with anhydrides include the oc-amines at the N-terminals, the s-amine of lysine side chains, cysteine sulfhydryl groups, the phenolate ion of tyrosine residues, and the imidazolyl ring of histidines. However, acylation of cysteine, tyrosine, and histidine side chains forms unstable complexes that are easily reversible to regenerate the original group. Only amine functionalities of proteins are stable to acylation with anhydride reagents (Fraenkel-Conrat, 1959 Smyth, 1967). 

Boyer, P.D. Segal, H.L. (1954). Sulfhydryl groups and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase and acyl-enzyme formation. In Metabolic Pathways. (Greenberg, D.M., Ed.), 2nd ed., Vol. 1, pp. 520-532. Academic Press, New York. 

An acyl-transfer and redox coenzyme containing two sulfhydryl groups that form a dithiolane ring in the oxidized (disulfide) form. The redox potential at pH 7 is -0.29 volts. Lipoic acid is attached to the e-amino group of lysyl residues of transacetylases (subunit of a-ketoacid dehydrogenase complexes), thereby permitting acyl... 

During the reaction, acetate, or the growing fatty acyl chain is initially esteri-fied to the sulfhydryl group of a cysteine residue of the enzyme. 

Figure 8-2. Pathway for synthesis of palmitate by the fatty acid synthase (FAS) complex. Schematic representation of a single cycle adding two carbons to the growing acyl chain. Formation of the initial acetyl thioester with a cysteine residue of the enzyme preceded the first step shown. Acyl carrier protein (ACP) is a component of the FAS complex that carries the malonate covalently attached to a sulfhydryl group on its phosphopantatheine coenzyme (-SH in the scheme).

Additional examples of type d (Scheme 5.1) bifunctional reactants are provided by the alkaline-earth metal ion complexes of lariat ethers 8-10, bearing a sulfhydryl side arm, instead ofthe phenolic hydroxyl of a calixcrown [23,24]. Here the acyl-receiving and acyl-releasing unit, like in papain and ficin, is a sulfhydryl group. 

The formation of mixed enzyme-CoA or enzyme-acyl carrier protein disulfides was supported by the fact that the activation by these compounds was readily reversed by treatment with glutathione or cysteine (49). Preliminary experiments (50) with radioactive CoA or by titration of sulfhydryl groups in the protein suggest that maximum activation is associated with the incorporation of 4 equivalents of CoA per mole of protein (one per subunit). 

FIGURE 16.10 Hapten determinants formed by penicillins that contain a p-lactam ring linked to various side chains (R). The primary route of haptenation involves acylation of the E-amino group of lysine residues of serum or cell surface proteins to form a penicilloyl or major antigenic determinant. Isomerization of penicillin leads to the generation of compounds that form disulfide bonds wdth the cysteine sulfhydryl groups of proteins. These epitopes are termed minor determinants. 

Eugene Kennedy and Albert Lehninger showed in 1949 that fatty acids are oxidized in mitochondria. Subsequent work demonstrated that they are activated before they enter the mitochondrial matrix. Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) drives the formation of a thioester linkage between the carboxyl group of a fatty acid and the sulfhydryl group of CoA. This activation reaction takes place on the outer mitochondrial membrane, where it is catalyzed by acyl CoA synthetase (also called fatty acid thiokinase). 

Paul Berg showed that the activation of a fatty acid is accomplished in two steps. First, the fatty acid reacts with ATP to form an acyl adenylate. In this mixed anhydride, the carboxyl group of a fatty acid is bonded to the phosphoryl group of AMP. The other two phosphoryl groups of the ATP substrate are released as pyrophosphate. The sulfhydryl group of CoA then attacks the acyl adenylate, which is tightly bound to the enzyme, to form acyl CoA and AMP. 

Intermediates in fatty acid synthesis are covalently linked to the sulfhydryl groups of an acyl carrier protein (ACP), whereas intermediates in fatty acid breakdovm are covalently attached to the sulfhydryl group of coenzyme A. 

The final step in fatt acid synthesis is the dischar ge of the fatty acid from the sulfhydryl group of fatty acid synthase. This discharge involves the attack of a molecule of coenzyme A, resulting in the release of the fatly acid as fatty acyl-CoA, as shown in Figure 5.14. 

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