Biomaterial Database

Molybdenum cofactors, enzymes and pathways. 2009

Günter Schwarz, and Ralf R Mendel, and Markus W Ribbe

Institute of Biochemistry, Department of Chemistry & Centre for Molecular Medicine, University of Cologne, 47 Zuelpicher Street, 50674 Cologne, Germany. gschwarz@uni-koeln.de

The trace element molybdenum is essential for nearly all organisms and forms the catalytic centre of a large variety of enzymes such as nitrogenase, nitrate reductases, sulphite oxidase and xanthine oxidoreductases. Nature has developed two scaffolds holding molybdenum in place, the iron-molybdenum cofactor and pterin-based molybdenum cofactors. Despite the different structures and functions of molybdenum-dependent enzymes, there are important similarities, which we highlight here. The biosynthetic pathways leading to both types of cofactor have common mechanistic aspects relating to scaffold formation, metal activation and cofactor insertion into apoenzymes, and have served as an evolutionary 'toolbox' to mediate additional cellular functions in eukaryotic metabolism.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007501	Iron	A metallic element with atomic symbol Fe, atomic number 26, and atomic weight 55.85. It is an essential constituent of HEMOGLOBINS; CYTOCHROMES; and IRON-BINDING PROTEINS. It plays a role in cellular redox reactions and in the transport of OXYGEN.	Iron-56,Iron 56
D008667	Metalloproteins	Proteins that have one or more tightly bound metal ions forming part of their structure. (Dorland, 28th ed)	Metalloprotein
D009711	Nucleotides	The monomeric units from which DNA or RNA polymers are constructed. They consist of a purine or pyrimidine base, a pentose sugar, and a phosphate group. (From King & Stansfield, A Dictionary of Genetics, 4th ed)	Nucleotide
D011621	Pteridines	Compounds based on pyrazino[2,3-d]pyrimidine which is a pyrimidine fused to a pyrazine, containing four NITROGEN atoms.	1,3,5,8-Tetraazanaphthalene,Pteridine,Pteridinone,Pyrazino(2,3-d)pyrimidine,Pyrazinopyrimidine,Pyrazinopyrimidines,Pyrimido(4,5-b)pyrazine,Pteridinones
D011622	Pterins	Compounds based on 2-amino-4-hydroxypteridine.	Pterin
D003067	Coenzymes	Small molecules that are required for the catalytic function of ENZYMES. Many VITAMINS are coenzymes.	Coenzyme,Enzyme Cofactor,Cofactors, Enzyme,Enzyme Cofactors,Cofactor, Enzyme
D003300	Copper	A heavy metal trace element with the atomic symbol Cu, atomic number 29, and atomic weight 63.55.	Copper-63,Copper 63
D004798	Enzymes	Biological molecules that possess catalytic activity. They may occur naturally or be synthetically created. Enzymes are usually proteins, however CATALYTIC RNA and CATALYTIC DNA molecules have also been identified.	Biocatalyst,Enzyme,Biocatalysts
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000090006	Molybdenum Cofactors	Enzyme co-factors that contain MOLYBDENUM. They play an essential role in a variety of cellular REDOX reactions.	Molybdenum-Containing Cofactors,Pterin-based Molybdenum Cofactor,Pterin-based Molybdenum Cofactors,Cofactor, Pterin-based Molybdenum,Cofactors, Molybdenum,Cofactors, Molybdenum-Containing,Cofactors, Pterin-based Molybdenum,Molybdenum Cofactor, Pterin-based,Molybdenum Cofactors, Pterin-based,Molybdenum Containing Cofactors,Pterin based Molybdenum Cofactor,Pterin based Molybdenum Cofactors