Mechanistic studies on CymD: a tryptophan reverse N-prenyltransferase.

ABSTRACT: The prenyltransferase CymD catalyzes the reverse N-prenylation of tryptophan using dimethylallyl diphosphate (DMAPP) in the biosynthesis of the cyclic peptides cyclomarin and cyclomarazine. The mechanism is of interest because a non-nucleophilic indole nitrogen must be alkylated in this process. Three mechanisms were initially considered, including (A) a direct addition of a carbocation to the nitrogen, (B) an addition of a carbocation to C-3 followed by an aza-Cope rearrangement, and (C) deprotonation of the indole followed by an S(N)2' addition to DMAPP. The use of 4-fluorotryptophan and 6-fluorotryptophan revealed that the reaction kinetics are only modestly affected by these substitutions, consistent with the notion that positive charge does not accumulate on the indole ring during cat

SUBMITTER: Qian Q 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3475536 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature