Publications

• Structure of the thiamine- and flavin-dependent enzyme pyruvate oxidase.

  Muller Y.A., Schulz G.E.

  Pyruvate oxidase from Lactobacillus plantarum is a tetrameric enzyme that decarboxylates pyruvate, producing hydrogen peroxide and the energy-storage metabolite acetylphosphate. Structure determination at 2.1 angstroms showed that the cofactors thiamine pyrophosphate (TPP) and flavin adenine dinuc ... >> More

  Pyruvate oxidase from Lactobacillus plantarum is a tetrameric enzyme that decarboxylates pyruvate, producing hydrogen peroxide and the energy-storage metabolite acetylphosphate. Structure determination at 2.1 angstroms showed that the cofactors thiamine pyrophosphate (TPP) and flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) are bound at the carboxyl termini of six-stranded parallel beta sheets. The pyrophosphate moiety of TPP is bound to a metal ion and to a beta alpha alpha beta unit corresponding to an established sequence fingerprint. The spatial arrangement of TPP and FAD suggests that the oxidation of the oxyethyl intermediate does not occur by hydride displacement but rather by a two-step transfer of two electrons. << Less

  Science 259:965-967(1993) [PubMed] [EuropePMC]

• Radical phosphate transfer mechanism for the thiamin diphosphate- and FAD-dependent pyruvate oxidase from Lactobacillus plantarum. Kinetic coupling of intercofactor electron transfer with phosphate transfer to acetyl-thiamin diphosphate via a transient FAD semiquinone/hydroxyethyl-ThDP radical pair.

  Tittmann K., Wille G., Golbik R., Weidner A., Ghisla S., Hubner G.

  The thiamin diphosphate (ThDP)- and flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD)-dependent pyruvate oxidase from Lactobacillus plantarum catalyses the conversion of pyruvate, inorganic phosphate, and oxygen to acetyl-phosphate, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen peroxide. Central to the catalytic sequence, two red ... >> More

  The thiamin diphosphate (ThDP)- and flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD)-dependent pyruvate oxidase from Lactobacillus plantarum catalyses the conversion of pyruvate, inorganic phosphate, and oxygen to acetyl-phosphate, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen peroxide. Central to the catalytic sequence, two reducing equivalents are transferred from the resonant carbanion/enamine forms of alpha-hydroxyethyl-ThDP to the adjacent flavin cofactor over a distance of approximately 7 A, followed by the phosphorolysis of the thereby formed acetyl-ThDP. Pre-steady-state and steady-state kinetics using time-resolved spectroscopy and a 1H NMR-based intermediate analysis indicate that both processes are kinetically coupled. In the presence of phosphate, intercofactor electron-transfer (ET) proceeds with an apparent first-order rate constant of 78 s(-1) and is kinetically gated by the preceding formation of the tetrahedral substrate-ThDP adduct 2-lactyl-ThDP and its decarboxylation. No transient flavin radicals are detectable in the reductive half-reaction. In contrast, when phosphate is absent, ET occurs in two discrete steps with apparent rate constants of 81 and 3 s(-1) and transient formation of a flavin semiquinone/hydroxyethyl-ThDP radical pair. Temperature dependence analysis according to the Marcus theory identifies the second step, the slow radical decay to be a true ET reaction. The redox potentials of the FAD(ox)/FAD(sq) (E1 = -37 mV) and FAD(sq)/FAD(red) (E2 = -87 mV) redox couples in the absence and presence of phosphate are identical. Both the Marcus analysis and fluorescence resonance energy-transfer studies using the fluorescent N3'-pyridyl-ThDP indicate the same cofactor distance in the presence or absence of phosphate. We deduce that the exclusive 10(2)-10(3)-fold rate enhancement of the second ET step is rather due to the nucleophilic attack of phosphate on the kinetically stabilized hydroxyethyl-ThDP radical resulting in a low-potential anion radical adduct than phosphate in a docking site being part of a through-bonded ET pathway in a stepwise mechanism of ET and phosphorolysis. Thus, LpPOX would constitute the first example of a radical-based phosphorolysis mechanism in biochemistry. << Less

  Biochemistry 44:13291-13303(2005) [PubMed] [EuropePMC]