scholarly journals Biosynthesis of ergotamine by Claviceps purpurea (Fr.) Tul

1973 ◽  
Vol 134 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. A. Bassett ◽  
E. B. Chain ◽  
K. Corbett

High-yielding strains of Claviceps purpurea (Fr.) Tul, grown on a defined medium, have been used for a study of the biosynthesis of the peptide ergot alkaloid, ergotamine. l-[U-14C]tryptophan, dl-[2-14C]mevalonic acid lactone, sodium [2-14C]acetate, sodium [14C]formate and the methyl group of l-[methyl-14C]methionine were efficiently incorporated into the peptide alkaloids and specifically labelled the ergoline moiety of ergotamine. These results are the same as previously found for the biosynthesis of other ergot alkaloids. Time-course incubation experiments demonstrated that l-[U-14C]phenylalanine, l-[U-14C]proline and l-[U-14C]alanine were incorporated into the peptide ergot alkaloids. Chemical degradation of the radioactive alkaloid derived from additional precursor incubation experiments showed that phenylalanine and proline function as the most efficient precursors, and specifically label the constitutive side-chain phenylalanyl and prolyl moieties of the alkaloid. The evidence obtained from l-[U-14C]alanine-incorporation experiments was inconclusive. However, degradation of ergotamine isolated after incubation with dl-[1-14C]alanine, showed that the carboxyl group of the labelled amino acid was specifically incorporated into the α-hydroxy-α-amino acid residue of the alkaloid. This, in conjunction with the l-[U-14C]alanine-incorporation results, showed conclusively that all three carbon atoms of alanine were incorporated as a biosynthetic unit into the α-hydroxy-α-amino acid moiety of ergotamine.

1967 ◽  
Vol 105 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Wieckowski ◽  
T W Goodwin

1. The incorporation of dl-[2−14C]mevalonic acid lactone into β-carotene and the phytol side chain of chlorophyll has been investigated in cotyledons of four species of pine seedlings (Pinus silvestris, P. contorta, P. radiata and P. jeffrei) grown in darkness and in light. 2. The relative incorporation of label into β-carotene and the phytol side chain of chlorophyll is similar to that observed in experiments on monocotyledons and dicotyledons. 3. The relative incorporation of 14CO2 into β-carotene and phytol is much higher than the incorporation of [2−14C]mevalonic acid.


1963 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 291-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. C. Vining ◽  
W. A. Taber

DL-Tryptophan-β-C14, but not L-phenylalanine-U-C14 nor L-tyrosine-U-C14, is incorporated into the ergoline moiety of the ergot alkaloids. The high specific activities of the bases isolated from cultures supplemented with a mixture of DL-tryptophan-β-C14and carrier L-tryptophan indicate some contribution from the D-isomer.L-Phenylalanine-U-C14 serves as a precursor of the lysergic acid and isolysergic acid derivatives which contain this amino acid in their peptide moieties. L-Tyrosine-U-C14 is not a precursor. The distribution of activity in the cultures at the end of the growth phase suggests that, in the strain of Claviceps purpurea used in these investigations, none of these aromatic amino acids is extensively degraded. All are incorporated directly into cell protein. A portion of the phenylalanine is hydroxylated to tyrosine and this pathway appears to be of major importance in tyrosine biosynthesis. All three of the amino acids were incorporated extensively into a red-brown pigment which is probably a polymer of the quinone – amino acid type.Under the conditions used in these experiments small but significant amounts of mevalonic acid-2-C14 and formic acid-C14 were used in alkaloid biosynthesis.


1977 ◽  
Vol 164 (3) ◽  
pp. 589-594 ◽  
Author(s):  
E G Brown ◽  
N F Al-Baldowi

The biosynthesis of the pyrimidinyl amino acid lathyrine by seedlings of Lathyrus tingitanus L. was shown to be stimulated by uracil. [6(-14)C]Orotate, [2(-14)C]uracil and [3(-14)C]serine were incorporated into lathyrine; the incorporation of [6(-14)C]orotate was substantially decreased in the presence of uracil. Chemical degradation to locate the 14C incorporated from labelled precursors showed that 90% of the radioactivity incorporated into lathyrine from [3(-14)C]serine could be recovered in the alanine side chain. Over 80% of the radioactivity incorporated from [2(-14)C]uracil was shown to be located in C-2 of lathyrine. It is concluded that under the conditions studied, lathyrine arises from a preformed pyrimidine arising via the orotate pathway. Paradoxically, it was also possible to confirm previous reports that radioactivity from L-[guanidino-14C]homoarginine is incorporated into lathyrine and gamma-hydroxyhomoarginine. However, as homoarginine and gamma-hydroxyhomoarginine are also both labelled by [2(-14)C]uracil, it is suggested that they are products of the ring-opening of lathyrine and that reversibility of this process accounts, at least in part, for their observed experimental incorporation into lathyrine.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele Larocca

<p>Protein folding is strictly related to the determination of the backbone dihedral angles and depends on the information contained in the amino acid sequence as well as on the hydrophobic effect. To date, the type of information embedded in the amino acid sequence has not yet been revealed. The present study deals with these problematics and aims to furnish a possible explanation of the information contained in the amino acid sequence, showing and reporting rules to calculate the backbone dihedral angles φ. The study is based on the development of mechanical forces once specific chemical interactions are established among the side chain of the residues in a polypeptide chain. It aims to furnish a theoretical approach to predict backbone dihedral angles which, in the future, may be applied to computational developments focused on the prediction of polypeptide structures.</p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 451-459 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fortunatus C. Ezebuo ◽  
Ikemefuna C. Uzochukwu

Background: Sulfotransferase family comprises key enzymes involved in drug metabolism. Oxamniquine is a pro-drug converted into its active form by schistosomal sulfotransferase. The conformational dynamics of side-chain amino acid residues at the binding site of schistosomal sulfotransferase towards activation of oxamniquine has not received attention. Objective: The study investigated the conformational dynamics of binding site residues in free and oxamniquine bound schistosomal sulfotransferase systems and their contribution to the mechanism of oxamniquine activation by schistosomal sulfotransferase using molecular dynamics simulations and binding energy calculations. Methods: Schistosomal sulfotransferase was obtained from Protein Data Bank and both the free and oxamniquine bound forms were subjected to molecular dynamics simulations using GROMACS-4.5.5 after modeling it’s missing amino acid residues with SWISS-MODEL. Amino acid residues at its binding site for oxamniquine was determined and used for Principal Component Analysis and calculations of side-chain dihedrals. In addition, binding energy of the oxamniquine bound system was calculated using g_MMPBSA. Results: The results showed that binding site amino acid residues in free and oxamniquine bound sulfotransferase sampled different conformational space involving several rotameric states. Importantly, Phe45, Ile145 and Leu241 generated newly induced conformations, whereas Phe41 exhibited shift in equilibrium of its conformational distribution. In addition, the result showed binding energy of -130.091 ± 8.800 KJ/mol and Phe45 contributed -9.8576 KJ/mol. Conclusion: The results showed that schistosomal sulfotransferase binds oxamniquine by relying on hybrid mechanism of induced fit and conformational selection models. The findings offer new insight into sulfotransferase engineering and design of new drugs that target sulfotransferase.


1985 ◽  
Vol 50 (12) ◽  
pp. 2925-2936 ◽  
Author(s):  
Štěpánka Štokrová ◽  
Jan Pospíšek ◽  
Jaroslav Šponar ◽  
Karel Bláha

Polypeptides (Lys-X-Ala)n and (Lys-X-Gly)n in which X represents residues of isoleucine and norleucine, respectively, and polypeptide (Tle-Lys-Ala)n, were synthesized via polymerization of 1-hydroxysuccinimidyl esters of the appropriate tripeptides to complete previously studied series. Circular dichroism (CD) spectra of the respective polymers were measured as a function of pH and salt concentration of the medium. The results were correlated with those obtained previously with the same series containing different amino acid residues at the X-position. The helix forming ability of the polypeptides (Lys-X-Ala)n with linear X side chain was found to be independent of the length. In the series (Lys-X-Gly)n the unordered conformation was the most probable one except (Lys-Ile-Gly)n. This polymer assumed the β conformation even in low salt solution at neutral pH. An agreement with some theoretical work concerned with the restriction of conformational freedom of amino acid residue branching at Cβ atom with our experimental results is evident.


1994 ◽  
Vol 59 (6) ◽  
pp. 1439-1450 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miroslava Žertová ◽  
Jiřina Slaninová ◽  
Zdenko Procházka

An analysis of the uterotonic potencies of all analogs having substituted L- or D-tyrosine or -phenylalanine in position 2 and L-arginine, D-arginine or D-homoarginine in position 8 was made. The series of analogs already published was completed by the solid phase synthesis of ten new analogs having L- or D-Phe, L- or D-Phe(2-Et), L- or D-Phe(2,4,6-triMe) or D-Tyr(Me) in position 2 and either L- or D-arginine in position 8. All newly synthesized analogs were found to be uterotonic inhibitors. Deamination increases both the agonistic and antagonistic potency. In the case of phenylalanine analogs the change of configuration from L to D in position 2 enhances the uterotonic inhibition for more than 1 order of magnitude. The L to D change in position 8 enhances the inhibitory potency negligibly. Prolongation of the side chain of the D-basic amino acid in position 8 seems to decrease slightly the inhibitory potency if there is L-substituted amino acid in position 2. On the other hand there is a tendency to the increase of the inhibitory potency if there is D-substituted amino acid in position 2.


1991 ◽  
Vol 56 (9) ◽  
pp. 1963-1970 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Hlaváček ◽  
Václav Čeřovský ◽  
Jana Pírková ◽  
Pavel Majer ◽  
Lenka Maletínská ◽  
...  

In a series of analogues of the cholecystokinin octapeptide (CCK-8) the amino acid residues were gradually modified by substituting Gly by Pro in position 4, Trp by His in position 5, Met by Cle in position 6, or the Gly residue was inserted between Tyr and Met in positions 2 and 3 of the peptide chain, and in the case of the cholecystokinin heptapeptide (CCK-7) the Met residues were substituted by Nle or Aib. These peptides were investigated from the point of view of their biological potency in the peripheral and central region. From the results of the biological tests it follows that the modifications carried out in these analogues and in their Nα-Boc derivatives mean a suppression of the investigated biological activities by 2-3 orders of magnitude (at a maximum dose of the tested substance of 2 . 10-2 mg per animal).This means that a disturbance of the assumed biologically active conformation of CCK-8, connected with a considerable decrease of the biological potency of the molecule, takes place not only after introduction of the side chain into its centre (substitution of Gly4), but also after the modification of the side chains of the amino acids or by extension of the backbone in further positions around this central amino acid.


RSC Advances ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (35) ◽  
pp. 21629-21641
Author(s):  
Chao Xia ◽  
Pingping Wen ◽  
Yaming Yuan ◽  
Xiaofan Yu ◽  
Yijing Chen ◽  
...  

The relative number of peptides modified by the amino acid residues of actin from raw beef patties and those cooked at different roasting temperatures.


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