Reconstitution of ThiC in thiamine pyrimidine biosynthesis expands the radical SAM superfamily. Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • 4-Amino-5-hydroxymethyl-2-methylpyrimidine phosphate (HMP-P) synthase catalyzes a complex rearrangement of 5-aminoimidazole ribonucleotide (AIR) to form HMP-P, the pyrimidine moiety of thiamine phosphate. We determined the three-dimensional structures of HMP-P synthase and its complexes with the product HMP-P and a substrate analog imidazole ribotide. The structure of HMP-P synthase reveals a homodimer in which each protomer comprises three domains: an N-terminal domain with a novel fold, a central (betaalpha)(8) barrel and a disordered C-terminal domain that contains a conserved CX(2)CX(4)C motif, which is suggestive of a [4Fe-4S] cluster. Biochemical studies have confirmed that HMP-P synthase is iron sulfur cluster-dependent, that it is a new member of the radical SAM superfamily and that HMP-P and 5'-deoxyadenosine are products of the reaction. Mssbauer and EPR spectroscopy confirm the presence of one [4Fe-4S] cluster. Structural comparisons reveal that HMP-P synthase is homologous to a group of adenosylcobalamin radical enzymes. This similarity supports an evolutionary relationship between these two superfamilies.

published proceedings

  • Nat Chem Biol

altmetric score

  • 10

author list (cited authors)

  • Chatterjee, A., Li, Y., Zhang, Y., Grove, T. L., Lee, M., Krebs, C., ... Ealick, S. E.

citation count

  • 128

complete list of authors

  • Chatterjee, Abhishek||Li, Yue||Zhang, Yang||Grove, Tyler L||Lee, Michael||Krebs, Carsten||Booker, Squire J||Begley, Tadhg P||Ealick, Steven E

publication date

  • January 2008