Terrestrial haloperoxidase

Some haloperoxidases contain vanadium and a review of vanadium peroxidases has been given (Butler 1998). The structure of the vanadium enzyme in the terrestrial fungus Cur-vularia inaequalis has been determined by x-ray analysis (Messerschmidt et al. 1997), and the apochloroperoxidase possesses, in addition, phosphatase activity that can be rationalized on the basis of the isomorphism of phosphate and vanadate (Renirie et al. 2000). 

Many peroxovanadates have potent insulin-mimetic properties [1,2]. Apparently, this functionality derives from the ability of these compounds to rapidly oxidize the active site thiols found in the group of protein tyrosine phosphatases that are involved in regulating the insulin receptor function [3], The discovery of vanadium-dependent haloperoxidases in marine algae and terrestrial lichens provided an additional stimulus in research toward obtaining functional models of peroxidase activity, and there is great interest in duplicating the function of these enzymes (see Section 10.4.2). 

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