Structure-Based Demystification of Radical Catalysis by a Coenzyme B Dependent Enzyme-Crystallographic Study of Glutamate Mutase with Cofactor Homologues.

Catalysis by radical enzymes dependent on coenzyme B (AdoCbl) relies on the reactive primary 5'-deoxy-5'adenosyl radical, which originates from reversible Co-C bond homolysis of AdoCbl. This bond homolysis is accelerated roughly 10-fold upon binding the enzyme substrate. The structural basis for this activation is still strikingly enigmatic.

Structure-Based Demystification of Radical Catalysis by a Coenzyme B Dependent Enzyme-Crystallographic Study of Glutamate Mutase with Cofactor Homologues.

Catalysis by radical enzymes dependent on coenzyme B (AdoCbl) relies on the reactive primary 5'-deoxy-5'adenosyl radical, which originates from reversible Co-C bond homolysis of AdoCbl. This bond homolysis is accelerated roughly 10 -fold upon binding the enzyme substrate. The structural basis for this activation is still strikingly enigmatic.

Hydroxynitrile lyases with α/β-hydrolase fold: two enzymes with almost identical 3D structures but opposite enantioselectivities and different reaction mechanisms.

Hydroxynitrile lyases (HNLs) catalyze the cleavage of cyanohydrins to yield hydrocyanic acid (HCN) and the respective carbonyl compound and are key enzymes in the process of cyanogenesis in plants. In organic syntheses, HNLs are used as biocatalysts for the formation of enantiopure cyanohydrins. We determined the structure of the recently identified, R-selective HNL from Arabidopsis thaliana (AtHNL) at a crystallographic resolution of 2.