Enzyme-Catalyzed Oxidative Degradation of Ergothioneine.

Ergothioneine is a sulfur-containing metabolite that is produced by bacteria and fungi, and is absorbed by plants and animals as a micronutrient. Ergothioneine reacts with harmful oxidants, including singlet oxygen and hydrogen peroxide, and may therefore protect cells against oxidative stress. Herein we describe two enzymes from actinobacteria that cooperate in the specific oxidative degradation of ergothioneine. The first enzyme is an iron-dependent thiol dioxygenase that produces ergothioneine sulfinic acid. A crystal structure of ergothioneine dioxygenase from Thermocatellispora tengchongensis reveals many similarities with cysteine dioxygenases, suggesting that the two enzymes share a common mechanism. The second enzyme is a metal-dependent ergothioneine sulfinic acid desulfinase that produces Nα-trimethylhistidine and SO2 . The discovery that certain actinobacteria contain the enzymatic machinery for O2 -dependent biosynthesis and O2 -dependent degradation of ergothioneine indicates that these organisms may actively manage their ergothioneine content.

Structure and Substrate Specificity of S-Methyl Thiourocanate Hydratase.

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) is a common cofactor in enzyme-catalyzed reactions that involve hydride transfers. In contrast, urocanase and urocanase-like enzymes use NAD+ for covalent electrophilic catalysis. Deciphering avenues by which this unusual catalytic strategy has diversified by evolution may point to approaches for the design of novel enzymes. In this report, we describe the S-methyl thiourocanate hydratase (S-Me-TUC) from Variovorax sp. RA8 as a novel member of this small family of NAD+-dependent hydratases. This enzyme catalyzes the 1,4-addition of water to S-methyl thiourocanate as the second step in the catabolism of S-methyl ergothioneine. The crystal structure of this enzyme in complex with the cofactor and a product analogue identifies critical sequence motifs that explain the narrow and nonoverlapping substrate scopes of S-methyl thiourocanate-, urocanate-, thiourocanate-, and Nτ-methyl urocanate-specific hydratases. The discovery of a S-methyl ergothioneine catabolic pathway also suggests that S-methylation or alkylation may be a significant activity in the biology of ergothioneine.