The glutamine ligand in the ferrous iron active site of isopenicillin N synthase of Streptomyces jumonjinensis is not essential for catalysis

Orna Landman, Ilya Borovok, Yair Aharonowitz, Gerald Cohen*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

31 Scopus citations

Abstract

Isopenicillin N synthase (IPNS) is a non-heme ferrous iron dependent dioxygenase that catalyses the ring closure of δ-(L-α-aminoadipoyl)-L-cysteinyl-D-valine (ACV) to isopenicillin N. We previously used site-directed mutagenesis to identify in the IPNS of Streptomyces jumonjinensis two histidines and one aspartic acid that are essential for activity. The recent crystal structure of the IPNS of Aspergillus nidulans establishes that these amino acids are iron ligands and reveals that the fourth ligand is the penultimate glutamine. The two histidines and one aspartic acid are conserved in several classes of non-heme ferrous iron dioxygenases, whereas the glutamine is present only in IPNSs. In this paper we show that the penultimate glutamine in S. jumonjinensis IPNS Gln-328 is not essential for catalysis. In contrast, Gln-230 which is highly conserved among the above dioxygenases and is proximal to the active site is crucial for activity.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)172-174
Number of pages3
JournalFEBS Letters
Volume405
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 24 Mar 1997

Funding

FundersFunder number
United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation93-00097

    Keywords

    • Isopenicillin N synthase
    • Mutagenesis
    • Nonheme iron dioxygenase
    • Protein ligand

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