SnoaL belongs to a family of small polyketide cyclases, which catalyse ring closure steps in the biosynthesis of polyketide antibiotics produced in Streptomyces. Several of these antibiotics are among the most used anti-cancer drugs currently in use. The crystal structure of SnoaL, involved in nogalamycin biosynthesis, with a bound product, has been determined to 1.35 Å resolution. The fold of the subunit can be described as a distorted a þ b barrel, and the ligand is bound in the hydrophobic interior of the barrel. The 3D structure and site-directed mutagenesis experiments reveal that the mechanism of the intramolecular aldol condensation catalysed by SnoaL is different from that of the classical aldolases, which employ covalent Schiff base formation or a metal ion cofactor. The invariant residue Asp121 acts as an acid/base catalyst during the reaction. Stabilisation of the enol(ate) intermediate is mainly achieved by the delocalisation of the electron pair over the extended p system of the substrate. These polyketide cyclases thus form of family of enzymes with a unique catalytic strategy for aldol condensation.
One of the final steps in the biosynthesis of the widely used anti-tumor drug daunorubicin in Streptomyces peucetius is the methylation of the 4-hydroxyl group of the tetracyclic ring system. This reaction is catalyzed by the S-adenosyl-L-methionine-dependent carminomycin 4-Omethyltransferase DnrK. The crystal structure of the ternary complex of this enzyme with the bound products S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine and 4-methoxy-⑀-rhodomycin T has been determined to a 2.35-Å resolution. DnrK is a homodimer, and the subunit displays the typical fold of small molecule O-methyltransferases. The structure provides insights into the recognition of the anthracycline substrate and also suggests conformational changes as part of the catalytic cycle of the enzyme. The position and orientation of the bound ligands are consistent with an S N 2 mechanism of methyl transfer. Mutagenesis experiments on a putative catalytic base confirm that DnrK most likely acts as an entropic enzyme in that rate enhancement is mainly due to orientational and proximity effects. This contrasts the mechanism of DnrK with that of other O-methyltransferases where acid/base catalysis has been demonstrated to be an essential contribution to rate enhancement.Daunorubicin and doxorubicin are aromatic polyketide antibiotics that exhibit high cytotoxicity and are widely applied in the chemotherapy of a variety of cancers (1, 2). These and related anthracyclines consist of a cyclic polyketide backbone, 7,8,9,10-tetrahydrotetracene-5,12-quinone, glycosylated at position C7 or C10 (Fig. 1). Diversity is generated by variations in the modification of the aglycone moiety and the composition of the attached carbohydrate. Biosynthesis of daunorubicin/doxorubicin starts with the formation of the polyketide backbone catalyzed by a class II polyketide synthase with subsequent cyclization of the polyketide chain (3). These steps lead to the formation of aklavinone, a common intermediate in the synthesis of most anthracyclines. This aglycone is then further modified through a series of steps, i.e. hydroxylation, glycosylation, methylester hydrolysis, decarboxylation, methylation, and, in
Bacterial secondary metabolic pathways are responsible for the biosynthesis of thousands of bioactive natural products. Many enzymes residing in these pathways have evolved to catalyze unusual chemical transformations, which is facilitated by an evolutionary pressure promoting chemical diversity. Such divergent enzyme evolution has been observed in S-adenosyl-l-methionine (SAM)-dependent methyltransferases involved in the biosynthesis of anthracycline anticancer antibiotics; whereas DnrK from the daunorubicin pathway is a canonical 4-O-methyltransferase, the closely related RdmB (52% sequence identity) from the rhodomycin pathways is an atypical 10-hydroxylase that requires SAM, a thiol reducing agent, and molecular oxygen for activity. Here, we have used extensive chimeragenesis to gain insight into the functional differentiation of RdmB and show that insertion of a single serine residue to DnrK is sufficient for introduction of the monooxygenation activity. The crystal structure of DnrK-Ser in complex with aclacinomycin T and S-adenosyl-l-homocysteine refined to 1.9-Å resolution revealed that the inserted serine S297 resides in an α-helical segment adjacent to the substrate, but in a manner where the side chain points away from the active site. Further experimental work indicated that the shift in activity is mediated by rotation of a preceding phenylalanine F296 toward the active site, which blocks a channel to the surface of the protein that is present in native DnrK. The channel is also closed in RdmB and may be important for monooxygenation in a solvent-free environment. Finally, we postulate that the hydroxylation ability of RdmB originates from a previously undetected 10-decarboxylation activity of DnrK.
Aclacinomycin 10-hydroxylase is a methyltransferase homologue that catalyzes a S-adenosyl-L-methionine (AdoMet)-dependent hydroxylation of the C-10 carbon atom of 15-demethoxy-⑀-rhodomycin, a step in the biosynthesis of the polyketide antibiotic -rhodomycin. SAdenosyl-L-homocysteine is an inhibitor of the enzyme, whereas the AdoMet analogue sinefungin can act as cofactor, indicating that a positive charge is required for catalysis.18 O 2 experiments show that the hydroxyl group is derived from molecular oxygen.
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