Article

Prenyl transfer to aromatic substrates in the biosynthesis of aminocoumarins, meroterpenoids and phenazines: the ABBA prenyltransferase family.

Pharmazeutische Biologie, Pharmazeutisches Institut, Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
Phytochemistry (impact factor: 3.35). 07/2009; 70(15-16):1728-38. DOI:10.1016/j.phytochem.2009.05.009
Source: PubMed

ABSTRACT Aromatic prenyltransferases transfer prenyl moieties onto aromatic acceptor molecules, catalyzing an electrophilic substitution of the aromatic ring under formation of carbon-carbon bonds. They give rise to an astounding diversity of primary and secondary metabolites in plants, fungi and bacteria. This review describes a recently discovered family of aromatic prenyltransferases. The structure of these enyzmes shows a type of beta/alpha fold with antiparallel beta strands. Due to the alpha-beta-beta-alpha architecture of this fold, this group of enzymes was designated as ABBA prenyltransferases. They lack the (N/D)DxxD motif which is characteristic for many other prenyltransferases. At present, 14 genes with sequence similarity to ABBA prenyltransferases can be identified in the database. A phylogenetic analysis of these genes separates them into two clades. One of them comprises the 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate 3-dimethylallyltransferases CloQ and NovQ involved in aminocoumarin antibiotic biosynthesis in Streptomyces strains, as well as four genes of unknown function from fungal genomes. The other clade comprises genes involved in the biosynthesis of prenylated naphthoquinones and prenylated phenazines in different streptomycetes. ABBA prenyltransferases are soluble biocatalysts which can easily be obtained as homogeneous proteins in significant amounts. Their substrates are accommodated in a surprisingly spacious central cavity which explains their promiscuity for different aromatic substrates. Therefore, the enzymes of this family represent attractive tools for the chemoenzymatic synthesis of bioactive molecules.

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    Article: Structure-based engineering increased the catalytic turnover rate of a novel phenazine prenyltransferase.
    Georg Zocher, Orwah Saleh, Joel B Heim, Dominik A Herbst, Lutz Heide, Thilo Stehle
    [show abstract] [hide abstract]
    ABSTRACT: Prenyltransferases (PTs) catalyze the regioselective transfer of prenyl moieties onto aromatic substrates in biosynthetic pathways of microbial secondary metabolites. Therefore, these enzymes contribute to the chemical diversity of natural products. Prenylation is frequently essential for the pharmacological properties of these metabolites, including their antibiotic and antitumor activities. Recently, the first phenazine PTs, termed EpzP and PpzP, were isolated and biochemically characterized. The two enzymes play a central role in the biosynthesis of endophenazines by catalyzing the regiospecific prenylation of 5,10-dihydrophenazine-1-carboxylic acid (dhPCA) in the secondary metabolism of two different Streptomyces strains. Here we report crystal structures of EpzP in its unliganded state as well as bound to S-thiolodiphosphate (SPP), thus defining the first three-dimensional structures for any phenazine PT. A model of a ternary complex resulted from in silico modeling of dhPCA and site-directed mutagenesis. The structural analysis provides detailed insight into the likely mechanism of phenazine prenylation. The catalytic mechanism suggested by the structure identifies amino acids that are required for catalysis. Inspection of the structures and the model of the ternary complex furthermore allowed us to rationally engineer EpzP variants with up to 14-fold higher catalytic reaction rate compared to the wild-type enzyme. This study therefore provides a solid foundation for additional enzyme modifications that should result in efficient, tailor-made biocatalysts for phenazines production.
    PLoS ONE 01/2012; 7(10):e48427. · 4.09 Impact Factor
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Keywords

4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate 3-dimethylallyltransferases CloQ
 
alpha-beta-beta-alpha architecture
 
aminocoumarin antibiotic biosynthesis
 
antiparallel beta strands
 
aromatic acceptor molecules
 
aromatic prenyltransferases
 
Aromatic prenyltransferases transfer prenyl moieties
 
aromatic ring
 
attractive tools
 
chemoenzymatic synthesis
 
different aromatic substrates
 
discovered family
 
electrophilic substitution
 
genes separates
 
N/D)DxxD motif
 
phylogenetic analysis
 
prenylated naphthoquinones
 
prenylated phenazines
 
secondary metabolites
 
spacious central cavity
 

Orwah Saleh