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Biochemistry

Unexpected role for vitamin B2

Nature volume 522, pages 427–428 (2015)Cite this article

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An enzyme has been found that alters the molecular structure of vitamin B2, adding a fourth ring to its existing three-ring system. The product catalyses new types of chemistry in concert with certain other enzymes. See Letters p.497 & p.502

Many vitamins work by expanding the biochemical repertoire of enzyme-catalysed reactions. For example, riboflavin (vitamin B2) does this for a wide variety of flavoproteins, which catalyse many of the redox reactions in central metabolic pathways and act in the electron-transport chains of cells. Two papers in this issue, by White et al.1 (page 502) and Payne et al.2 (page 497), report a previously unknown cofactor derived from riboflavin. The findings solve the long-standing mystery of how a pair of bacterial enzymes — and their counterparts in yeast — catalyse crucial reactions known as decarboxylations, and further expand the repertoire of enzymatic reactions.

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Figure 1: Prenylated riboflavin.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Catherine F. Clarke and Christopher M. Allan are in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA.,

    Catherine F. Clarke & Christopher M. Allan

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  1. Catherine F. Clarke
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  2. Christopher M. Allan
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Correspondence to Catherine F. Clarke.

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Clarke, C., Allan, C. Unexpected role for vitamin B2. Nature 522, 427–428 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14536

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