| Budget Amount *help |
¥3,920,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥420,000)
Fiscal Year 2007: ¥1,820,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥420,000)
Fiscal Year 2006: ¥2,100,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,100,000)
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| Research Abstract |
Photosynthetic organisms utilize phytobilins, linear tetrapyrrole pigments, for photosynthesis and light sensing. Such organisms develop light harvesting systems to accomplish efficient photosynthesis in their living environments. Red algae and cyanobacteria have giant protein-pigment complexes called phycobilisomes as a light-harvesting system, in which phycobilins (one of phytobilins) are utilized for light-harvesting pigments. Phytobilins are biosynthesized from heme by heme oxygenase and ferredoxin dependent bilin reductases (FDBRs). PcyA, a member of FDBR family, is unique in reducing biliverdin Xiα (BV) to phycocyanobilin by two sequential steps, in which electrons are supplied by ferredoxin. We previously determined the crystal structure of PcyA from cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 in complex with BV. To shed light on the molecular mechanism of PcyA reaction, we synthesized the pigment, the product of the first step of PcyA reduction, and determined the crystal structure of PcyA-pigment complex. On the basis of the structure site directed mutagenesis and functional analysis are under way.
γ-Glutamyltranspeptidase (GGT) catalyzes the cleavage of such γ-glutamyl compounds as glutathione, and transfer of their γ-glutamyl group to water or to other amino acids and peptides. Azaserine and acivicin are classical and irreversible inhibitors of GGT, but their binding sites and the inhibition mechanisms remained to be defined. We have determined the crystal structures of GGT from Eacherichia coil in complex with azaserine and acivicin at 1.65 A resolution. They form a covalent bond with the Oγ atom of Thr391, the catalytic residue of GGT. Notably, in the azaserine complex the carbonyl of azaserine is attacked by Thr391 to form a tetrahedral intermediate. When acivicin is bound to GGT, a migration of the single and double bonds occurs in its dihydroisoxazole ring.
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