Substrate specificity of NovM: implications for novobiocin biosynthesis and glycorandomization.

[reaction: see text] In an effort to expand the scope of natural product in vitro glycorandomization (IVG), the substrate specificity of NovM was investigated. A test of four aglycon analogues and over 40 nucleotide sugars revealed NovM has a surprisingly stringent substrate specificity and provided only three new "unnatural" natural products. On the basis of the determined substrate specificity, an alternative to the sugar nucleotide biosynthetic dogma and a cautionary note for the general applicability of IVG are introduced.

Involvement of oxidative mechanisms in blue-light-induced damage to A2E-laden RPE.

Purpose: The lipofuscin fluorophore A2E is known to be an initiator of blue-light-induced apoptosis in retinal pigment epithelial cells (RPE). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of oxidative mechanisms in mediating the cellular damage.

Methods: Human RPE (ARPE-19) cells that had accumulated A2E were exposed to blue light in the presence and absence of oxygen, and nonviable cells were quantified.

Biosynthetic studies of A2E, a major fluorophore of retinal pigment epithelial lipofuscin.

We have examined questions related to the biosynthesis of A2E, a fluorophore that accumulates in retinal pigment epithelial cells with aging and in some retinal disorders. The use of in vitro preparations revealed that detectable levels of A2-PE, the A2E precursor, are formed within photoreceptor outer segments following light-induced release of endogenous all-trans-retinal. Moreover, experiments in vivo demonstrated that the formation of A2-PE in photoreceptor outer segment membrane was augmented by exposing rats to bright light.