@article {454,
	title = {Dehydroalanine-based inhibition of a peptide epimerase from spider venom},
	journal = {Journal of Organic Chemistry},
	volume = {67},
	number = {24},
	year = {2002},
	note = {ISI Document Delivery No.: 620AATimes Cited: 17Cited Reference Count: 42},
	month = {Nov},
	pages = {8389-8394},
	type = {Article},
	abstract = {Ribosomally produced peptides that contain D-amino acids have been isolated from a number of vertebrate and invertebrate sources. In each case, the D-amino acids are introduced by a posttranslational modification of a parent peptide containing only amino acids of the L-configuration. The only known enzyme to catalyze such a reaction is the peptide epimerase (also known as peptide isomerase) from the venom of the funnel web spider, Agelenopsis aperta. This enzyme interconverts two 48-amino-acid-long peptide toxins that differ only by the stereochemistry at a single serine residue. In this paper we report the synthesis and testing of two pentapeptide analogues that contain modified amino acids at the site normally occupied by the substrate serine residue. When the L-chloroalanine-containing peptide 3 was incubated with the epimerase it was converted into the dehydroalanine-containing peptide 4 via an elimination of HCl. The dehydroalanine peptide 4 was independently synthesized and found to act as a potent inhibitor of the epimerase (IC50 = 0.5 muM). These results support a direct deprotonation/reprotonation mechanism in which a carbanionic intermediate is formed. The observed inhibition by 4 can be attributed to the sp(2)-hybridization of the a-carbon in the dehydroalanine unit that mimics the planar geometry of the anionic intermediate.},
	keywords = {ACID, ACTIVE-SITE, ENZYME, GLUTAMATE RACEMASE, GRAMICIDIN-S SYNTHETASE, INFLUENZAE DIAMINOPIMELATE EPIMERASE, INITIATION MODULE PHEATE, MECHANISM, PROLINE RACEMASE, RESIDUES},
	isbn = {0022-3263},
	url = {<Go to ISI>://000179509400011},
	author = {Murkin, A. S. and Tanner, M. E.}
}
@article {5082,
	title = {Active site residues of glutamate racemase},
	journal = {Biochemistry},
	volume = {40},
	number = {21},
	year = {2001},
	note = {ISI Document Delivery No.: 436GCTimes Cited: 44Cited Reference Count: 38},
	month = {May},
	pages = {6199-6204},
	type = {Article},
	abstract = {Glutamate racemase, MurI, catalyzes the interconversion of glutamate enantiomers in a cofactor-independent fashion and provides bacteria with a source of D-Glu for use in peptidoglycan biosynthesis. The enzyme uses a "two-base" mechanism involving a deprotonation of the substrate at the ct-position to form an anionic intermediate, followed by a reprotonation in the opposite stereochemical sense. In the Lactobacillus fermenti enzyme, Cys73 is responsible for the deprotonation of D-glutamate, and Cys184 is responsible for the deprotonation of L-glutamate; however, very little is known about the roles of other active site residues. This work describes the preparation of four mutants in which strictly conserved residues containing ionizable side chains were modified (D10N, D36N, E152Q, and H186N). During the course of this research, the structural analysis of a crystallized glutamate racemase indicated that three of these residues (D10, E152, and H186) are in the active site of the enzyme [Hwang, K. Y., Cho, C.-S., Kim, S. S., Sung, H.-C., Yu, Y. G., and Cho, Y. (1999) Nat. Struct. Biol. 6, 422-426]. Two of the mutants, D10N and H186N, displayed a marked decrease in the values of k(cat), but not K-M, and are therefore implicated as important catalytic residues. Further analysis of the primary kinetic isotope effects observed with a-deuterated substrates showed that a significant asymmetry was introduced into the free energy profile by these two mutations. This is interpreted as evidence that the mutated residues normally assist the catalytic thiols in acting as bases (D10 with C73 and H186 with C184). An alternate possibility is that the residues may serve to stabilize the carbanionic intermediate in the racemization reaction.},
	keywords = {AMINO-ACID RACEMASE, AQUIFEX PYROPHILUS, CARBON ACIDS, ENZYME-CATALYZED REACTIONS, ESCHERICHIA-COLI, INFLUENZAE DIAMINOPIMELATE EPIMERASE, IRREVERSIBLE INHIBITOR, MANDELATE RACEMASE, PROLINE, PROTON ABSTRACTION, RACEMASE},
	isbn = {0006-2960},
	url = {<Go to ISI>://000168927300002},
	author = {Glavas, S. and Tanner, M. E.}
}
