Flavin-Dependent Monooxygenases NotI and NotI' Mediate Spiro-Oxindole Formation in Biosynthesis of the Notoamides.

The fungal indole alkaloids are a unique class of complex molecules that have a characteristic bicyclo[2.2.2]diazaoctane ring and frequently contain a spiro-oxindole moiety. While various strains produce these compounds, an intriguing case involves the formation of individual antipodes by two unique species of fungi in the generation of the potent anticancer agents (+)- and (-)-notoamide A. NotI and NotI' have been characterized as flavin-dependent monooxygenases that catalyze epoxidation and semi-pinacol rearrangement to form the spiro-oxindole center within these molecules. This work elucidates a key step in the biosynthesis of the notoamides and provides an evolutionary hypothesis regarding a common ancestor for production of enantiopure notoamides.

Unveiling sequential late-stage methyltransferase reactions in the meleagrin/oxaline biosynthetic pathway.

Antimicrobial and anti-proliferative meleagrin and oxaline are roquefortine C-derived alkaloids produced by fungi of the genus Penicillium. Tandem O-methylations complete the biosynthesis of oxaline from glandicoline B through meleagrin. Currently, little is known about the role of these methylation patterns in the bioactivity profile of meleagrin and oxaline. To establish the structural and mechanistic basis of methylation in these pathways, crystal structures were determined for two late-stage methyltransferases in the oxaline and meleagrin gene clusters from Penicillium oxalicum and Penicillium chrysogenum. The homologous enzymes OxaG and RoqN were shown to catalyze penultimate hydroxylamine O-methylation to generate meleagrin in vitro. Crystal structures of these enzymes in the presence of methyl donor S-adenosylmethionine revealed an open active site, which lacks an apparent base indicating that catalysis is driven by proximity effects. OxaC was shown to methylate meleagrin to form oxaline in vitro, the terminal pathway product. Crystal structures of OxaC in a pseudo-Michaelis complex containing sinefungin and meleagrin, and in a product complex containing S-adenosyl-homocysteine and oxaline, reveal key active site residues with His313 serving as a base that is activated by Glu369. These data provide structural insights into the enzymatic methylation of these alkaloids that include a rare hydroxylamine oxygen acceptor, and can be used to guide future efforts towards selective derivatization and structural diversification and establishing the role of methylation in bioactivity.

Structural insights into the mechanism of four-coordinate Cob(II)alamin formation in the active site of the Salmonella enterica ATP:Co(I)rrinoid adenosyltransferase enzyme: critical role of residues Phe91 and Trp93.

ATP:co(I)rrinoid adenosyltransferases (ACATs) are enzymes that catalyze the formation of adenosylcobalamin (AdoCbl, coenzyme B(12)) from cobalamin and ATP. There are three families of ACATs, namely, CobA, EutT, and PduO. In Salmonella enterica, CobA is the housekeeping enzyme that is required for de novo AdoCbl synthesis and for salvaging incomplete precursors and cobalamin from the environment. Here, we report the crystal structure of CobA in complex with ATP, four-coordinate cobalamin, and five-coordinate cobalamin. This provides the first crystallographic evidence of the existence of cob(II)alamin in the active site of CobA. The structure suggests a mechanism in which the enzyme adopts a closed conformation and two residues, Phe91 and Trp93, displace 5,6-dimethylbenzimidazole, the lower nucleotide ligand base of cobalamin, to generate a transient four-coordinate cobalamin, which is critical in the formation of the AdoCbl Co-C bond. In vivo and in vitro mutational analyses of Phe91 and Trp93 emphasize the important role of bulky hydrophobic side chains in the active site. The proposed manner in which CobA increases the redox potential of the cob(II)alamin/cob(I)alamin couple to facilitate formation of the Co-C bond appears to be analogous to that utilized by the PduO-type ACATs, where in both cases the polar coordination of the lower ligand to the cobalt ion is eliminated by placing that face of the corrin ring adjacent to a cluster of bulky hydrophobic side chains.

Structure and mutational analysis of the archaeal GTP:AdoCbi-P guanylyltransferase (CobY) from Methanocaldococcus jannaschii: insights into GTP binding and dimerization.

In archaea and bacteria, the late steps in adenosylcobalamin (AdoCbl) biosynthesis are collectively known as the nucleotide loop assembly (NLA) pathway. In the archaeal and bacterial NLA pathways, two different guanylyltransferases catalyze the activation of the corrinoid. Structural and functional studies of the bifunctional bacterial guanylyltransferase that catalyze both ATP-dependent corrinoid phosphorylation and GTP-dependent guanylylation are available, but similar studies of the monofunctional archaeal enzyme that catalyzes only GTP-dependent guanylylation are not. Herein, the three-dimensional crystal structure of the guanylyltransferase (CobY) enzyme from the archaeon Methanocaldococcus jannaschii (MjCobY) in complex with GTP is reported. The model identifies the location of the active site. An extensive mutational analysis was performed, and the functionality of the variant proteins was assessed in vivo and in vitro. Substitutions of residues Gly8, Gly153, or Asn177 resulted in ≥94% loss of catalytic activity; thus, variant proteins failed to support AdoCbl synthesis in vivo. Results from isothermal titration calorimetry experiments showed that MjCobY(G153D) had 10-fold higher affinity for GTP than MjCobY(WT) but failed to bind the corrinoid substrate. Results from Western blot analyses suggested that the above-mentioned substitutions render the protein unstable and prone to degradation; possible explanations for the observed instability of the variants are discussed within the framework of the three-dimensional crystal structure of MjCobY(G153D) in complex with GTP. The fold of MjCobY is strikingly similar to that of the N-terminal domain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis GlmU (MtbGlmU), a bifunctional acetyltransferase/uridyltransferase that catalyzes the formation of uridine diphosphate-N-acetylglucosamine (UDP-GlcNAc).

Mechanism of double-base lesion bypass catalyzed by a Y-family DNA polymerase.

As a widely used anticancer drug, cis-diamminedichloroplatinum(II) (cisplatin) reacts with adjacent purine bases in DNA to form predominantly cis-[Pt(NH(3))(2){d(GpG)-N7(1),-N7(2)}] intrastrand cross-links. Drug resistance, one of the major limitations of cisplatin therapy, is partially due to the inherent ability of human Y-family DNA polymerases to perform translesion synthesis in the presence of DNA-distorting damage such as cisplatin-DNA adducts. To better understand the mechanistic basis of translesion synthesis contributing to cisplatin resistance, this study investigated the bypass of a single, site-specifically placed cisplatin-d(GpG) adduct by a model Y-family DNA polymerase, Sulfolobus solfataricus DNA polymerase IV (Dpo4). Dpo4 was able to bypass this double-base lesion, although, the incorporation efficiency of dCTP opposite the first and second cross-linked guanine bases was decreased by 72- and 860-fold, respectively. Moreover, the fidelity at the lesion decreased up to two orders of magnitude. The cisplatin-d(GpG) adduct affected six downstream nucleotide incorporations, but interestingly the fidelity was essentially unaltered. Biphasic kinetic analysis supported a universal kinetic mechanism for the bypass of DNA lesions catalyzed by various translesion DNA polymerases. In conclusion, if human Y-family DNA polymerases adhere to this bypass mechanism, then translesion synthesis by these error-prone enzymes is likely accountable for cisplatin resistance observed in cancer patients.