Ubiquinones

Biosynthesis.—Ubiquinone. The identification of 3,4-dihydroxyhexaprenylben-zoate (162) in a Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutant strain that cannot synthesize ubiquinone suggests that (162) may be an intermediate in ubiquinone-6 biosynthesis in eukaryotes, in contrast to the pathway via 2-polyprenylphenol which operates in prokaryotes. In mammalian systems alternative routes have been discussed for ubiquinone biosynthesis in rats. Some properties of mitochondrial 4-hydroxybenzoate-polyprenol transferase have been described.  

Menaquinone. The incorporation of [2- C]mevalonate and [2- C]-2-methyl-l,4-naphthoquinone into MK-4, normally considered a bacterial quinone, has been demonstrated in marine invertebrates such as crabs and starfish. Incorporation into 2,3-epoxy-MK-4 (163) was also observed. Cell-free extracts have been prepared from Escherichia coli which catalyse the conversion of o-succinylbenzoic acid (164) into l,4-dihydroxy-2-naphthoic acid (165) and menaquinones. In the presence of farnesyl pyrophosphate the major menaquinone produced was MK-3. Genetic studies with mutants of E. coli K12 that require (164) offer support for the generally accepted pathway for MK biosynthesis via (164) and (165). The enzyme system that catalyses the attachment of the polyprenyl side-chain to 1,4-dihydroxy-2-naphthoic acid to form demethylmenaquinone-9 (166) has been isolated from E. colU  

Studies with orientated membrane multilayers have suggested that the Fe-Fe axis of the FeS centre lies in the membrane plane [206,236]. Based on pH-dependent inhibition by a ubiquinone analogue, Harmon and Struble [237] placed the FeS centre on the C side of the membrane. However, their results would also be consistent with a location inside the membrane domain, provided that there is protonic communication with the aqueous C phase. The observed interactions between Q and the FeS cluster (above) suggest, together with the location of ubiquinone in the hydrophobic domain of the membrane (see below), that the FeS centre is buried within this domain. 

Ubiquinone is a substituted (2,3-dimethoxy-5-methyl-(l,4)-)benzoquinone with a long isoprenoid side chain in position 6 (see Ref. 238). The fact that ubiquinol is a donor of two reducing equivalents, while cytochrome c is a one-electron acceptor, requires special arrangements of electron transfer (cf., the analogous but opposite problem in cytochrome oxidase). Although ubisemiquinone is very unstable in most circumstances, it can be stabilised by specific binding to a catalytic site. Two such sites have been identified in Complex III [236,239-244]. Quinone-binding proteins have also been described [194-196,245]. 

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The ready reversibility of this reaction is essential to the role that qumones play in cellular respiration the process by which an organism uses molecular oxygen to convert Its food to carbon dioxide water and energy Electrons are not transferred directly from the substrate molecule to oxygen but instead are transferred by way of an electron trans port chain involving a succession of oxidation-reduction reactions A key component of this electron transport chain is the substance known as ubiquinone or coenzyme Q... 

The name ubiquinone is a shortened form of ubiquitous quinone a term coined to describe the observation that this substance can be found m all cells The length of its side chain varies among different organisms the most common form m vertebrates has n = 10 and ubiquinones m which n = 6 to 9 are found m yeasts and plants... 

The decline in immune function may pardy depend on a deficiency of coenzyme Q, a group of closely related quinone compounds (ubiquinones) that participate in the mitochondrial electron transport chain (49). Concentrations of coenzyme Q (specifically coenzyme Q q) appear to decline with age in several organs, most notably the thymus. 

Two groups of substituted l,4-ben2oquiaones are associated with photosynthetic and respiratory pathways the plastoquinones, eg, plastoquinone [4299-57-4] (34), and the ubiquinones, eg, ubiquinone [1339-63-5] (35), are involved in these processes. Although they are found in all living tissue and are central to life itself, a vast amount remains to be learned about their biological roles. 

Coenzyme Q4 (Ubiquinone-4, 2,3-dimethoxy-5-methyl-6-[3,7,ll,15-tetrametbyl-hexadeca-2/,6/,10/,14-tetraenyl]-[l,4]benzoquinone [4370-62-l]M 454.7, m 30 , 33-45 , A (275nm) 185. A red oil purified by TLC chromatography on Si02 and eluted with Et20-hexane. Purity can be checked by HPLC (silica column using 7% Et20-hexane). It has A- ax 270 nm (e 14,800) in pet ether. [NMR and MS Naruta J Org Chem 45 4097 1980 cf Morton Biochemical Spectroscopy (Adam Hilger, London, 1975) p 491]. It has also been dissolved in MeOH/EtOH (1 1 v/v) and kept at 5 until crystals appear [Lester and Crane Biochim Biophys Acta 32 497 1958]. 

Figure 12.13 Photosynthetic pigments are used hy plants and photosynthetic bacteria to capture photons of light and for electron flow from one side of a membrane to the other side. The diagram shows two such pigments that are present in bacterial reaction centers, bacteriochlorophyll (a) and ubiquinone (b). The light-absorbing parts of the molecules are shown in yellow, attached to hydrocarbon "tails" shown in green.

Coenzyme Q (Section 24.14) Naturally occurring group of related quinones involved in the chemistry of cellular respiration. Also known as ubiquinone. 

FIGURE 8.18 Dolichol phosphate is an initiation point for the synthesis of carbohydrate polymers in animals. The analogous alcohol in bacterial systems, undecaprenol, also known as bactoprenol, consists of 11 isoprene units. Undecaprenyl phosphate delivers sugars from the cytoplasm for the synthesis of cell wall components such as peptidoglycans, lipopolysaccharides, and glycoproteins. Polyprenyl compounds also serve as the side chains of vitamin K, the ubiquinones, plastoquinones, and tocopherols (such as vitamin E). 

Walker, J. E., 1992. The NADH ubiquinone oxidoreducta.se (Complex I) of respiratory chains. Quarterly Reviews of Biophysics 25 253-324. 

Porphyrin-based synthetic receptors for ubiquinone and cytochrome C 98YGK745. 

The resultant fermentation broth was centrifuged to harvest the microbial cells, and they were washed with water and centrifuged a second time, whereupon a living cell paste was obtained. (There was obtained an amount of cells equivalent to 54 parts on a dry basis, which contained 920 /Jg of ubiquinone-10 per gram of dry cells.)... 

The moist cells were suspended in 750 parts of volume of ethanol and extracted by warming at 60°C for 1 hour. A total of 3 extractions were carried out in a similar manner and the extracts were pooled, diluted with water and further extracted three times with 1,000 parts of volume portions of n-hexane. The n-hexane layer was concentrated to dryness under reduced pressure to recover 4.12 parts of a yellow oil. This oily residue was dissolved in 6 parts by volume of benzene and passed through a column (500 parts by volume capacity) packed with Floridil (100 to 200 meshes). Elution was carried out using benzene and the eluate was collected in 10 parts by volume fractions. Each fraction was analyzed by thin-layer chromatography and color reaction and the fractions rich in ubiquinone-10 were pooled and concentrated under reduced pressure. By this procedure was obtained 0.562 part of a yellow oil. This product was dissolved in 5 parts by volume of chloroform, coated onto a thin layer plate of silica gel GF254 (silica gel with calcium sulfate) and developed with benzene. The fractions corresponding to ubiquinone-10 were extracted, whereby 0.054 part of a yellow oil was obtained. This oil was dissolved in 10 parts by volume of ethanol and allowed to cool, whereupon 0.029 part of yellow crystals of ubiquinone-10 were obtained, its melting point 4B°to 50°C. 

The redox properties of quinones are crucial to the functioning of living cells, where compounds called ubiquinones act as biochemical oxidizing agents to mediate the electron-transfer processes involved in energy production. Ubiquinones, also called coenzymes Q, are components of the cells of all aerobic organisms, from the simplest bacterium to humans. They are so named because of their ubiquitous occurrence in nature. 

Ubiquinones function within the mitochondria of cells to mediate the respiration process in which electrons are transported from the biological reducing agent NADH to molecular oxygen. Through a complex series of steps, the ultimate result is a cycle whereby NADH is oxidized to NAD+, O2 is reduced to water, and energy is produced. Ubiquinone acts only as an intermediary and is itself unchanged. 

The search for inhibitors of this pathway began with the first key regulatory enzyme, HMG CoA reductase. Several clinically useful inhibitors of HMG CoA reductase are now known. One of the most successful, Mevacor, produced by Merck, is one of the pharmaceutical industry s best selling products. However, the problem with inhibiting a branched biosynthetic pathway at an early point is that the biosynthesis of other crucial biomolecules may also be inhibited. Indeed, there is some evidence that levels of ubiquinone and the dolichols are affected by some HMG CoA reductase inhibitors. Consequently, efforts have recently been directed towards finding inhibitors of squalene synthase, the enzyme controlling the first step on the route to cholesterol after the FPP branch point. 

Atovaquone, a hydroxynaphthoquinone, selectively inhibits the respiratory chain of protozoan mitochondria at the cytochrome bcl complex (complex III) by mimicking the natural substrate, ubiquinone. Inhibition of cytochrome bcl disrupts the mitochondrial electron transfer chain and leads to a breakdown of the mitochondrial membrane potential. Atovaquone is effective against all parasite stages in humans, including the liver stages. 

Coenzyme Qio (ubiquinone) is a coenzyme in the mitochondrial respiratoiy chain. It has a side chain made up of 10 isoprene units. Its synthesis can be inhibited by... 

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