Structural basis for the promiscuous biosynthetic prenylation of aromatic natural products

Nature. 2005 Jun 16;435(7044):983-7. doi: 10.1038/nature03668.

Abstract

The anti-oxidant naphterpin is a natural product containing a polyketide-based aromatic core with an attached 10-carbon geranyl group derived from isoprenoid (terpene) metabolism. Hybrid natural products such as naphterpin that contain 5-carbon (dimethylallyl), 10-carbon (geranyl) or 15-carbon (farnesyl) isoprenoid chains possess biological activities distinct from their non-prenylated aromatic precursors. These hybrid natural products represent new anti-microbial, anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral and anti-cancer compounds. A small number of aromatic prenyltransferases (PTases) responsible for prenyl group attachment have only recently been isolated and characterized. Here we report the gene identification, biochemical characterization and high-resolution X-ray crystal structures of an architecturally novel aromatic PTase, Orf2 from Streptomyces sp. strain CL190, with substrates and substrate analogues bound. In vivo, Orf2 attaches a geranyl group to a 1,3,6,8-tetrahydroxynaphthalene-derived polyketide during naphterpin biosynthesis. In vitro, Orf2 catalyses carbon-carbon-based and carbon-oxygen-based prenylation of a diverse collection of hydroxyl-containing aromatic acceptors of synthetic, microbial and plant origin. These crystal structures, coupled with in vitro assays, provide a basis for understanding and potentially manipulating the regio-specific prenylation of aromatic small molecules using this structurally unique family of aromatic PTases.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Antioxidants / chemistry
  • Antioxidants / metabolism
  • Biological Products / biosynthesis
  • Biological Products / chemistry
  • Biological Products / metabolism*
  • Cloning, Molecular
  • Crystallography, X-Ray
  • Dimethylallyltranstransferase / chemistry*
  • Dimethylallyltranstransferase / genetics
  • Dimethylallyltranstransferase / metabolism*
  • Genes, Bacterial / genetics
  • Magnesium / pharmacology
  • Models, Molecular
  • Molecular Structure
  • Naphthoquinones / chemistry
  • Naphthoquinones / metabolism*
  • Open Reading Frames / genetics
  • Protein Conformation
  • Streptomyces / enzymology
  • Streptomyces / genetics
  • Substrate Specificity

Substances

  • Antioxidants
  • Biological Products
  • Naphthoquinones
  • naphterpin
  • Dimethylallyltranstransferase
  • Magnesium

Associated data

  • PDB/1ZB6
  • PDB/1ZCW
  • PDB/1ZDW
  • PDB/1ZDY