Brief Communication abstract


Nature Chemical Biology 4, 739 - 741 (2008)
Published online: 26 October 2008 | doi:10.1038/nchembio.123

A concerted mechanism for berberine bridge enzyme

Andreas Winkler1, Andrzej L strokeyskowski2,4, Sabrina Riedl1,4, Martin Puhl1, Toni M Kutchan3, Peter Macheroux1 & Karl Gruber2

Top

Berberine bridge enzyme catalyzes the conversion of (S)-reticuline to (S)-scoulerine by formation of a carbon-carbon bond between the N-methyl group and the phenolic ring. We elucidated the structure of berberine bridge enzyme from Eschscholzia californica and determined the kinetic rates for three active site protein variants. Here we propose a catalytic mechanism combining base-catalyzed proton abstraction with concerted carbon-carbon coupling accompanied by hydride transfer from the N-methyl group to the N5 atom of the FAD cofactor.

Top
  1. Institute of Biochemistry, Graz University of Technology, Petersgasse 12/II, 8010 Graz, Austria.
  2. Institute of Molecular Biosciences, University of Graz, Humboldtstras zlige 50/III, 8010 Graz, Austria.
  3. Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, 975 North Warson Road, St. Louis, Missouri 63132, USA
  4. Present addresses: Institute of Biotechnology, PO Box 65, Viikinkaari 1, FIN-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland (A.L.) and Institute of Biophysics and Nanosystems Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Schmiedlstras zlige 6, 8042 Graz, Austria (S.R.).

Correspondence to: Sabrina Riedl1,4 e-mail: peter.macheroux@tugraz.at

Correspondence to: Karl Gruber2 e-mail: karl.gruber@uni-graz.at



MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS

These links to content published by NPG are automatically generated.

NEWS AND VIEWS

Cyclization in concert

Nature Chemical Biology News and Views (01 Dec 2008)


Extra navigation

Subscribe to Nature Chemical Biology

Subscribe

Open Innovation Challenges

naturejobs

natureproducts