Methionine is an essential amino acid in humans. As the precursor of other amino acids such as cysteine and taurine, versatile compounds such as SAM-e, and the important antioxidant glutathione, methionine plays a critical role in the metabolism and health of many species, including humans. It is encoded by the codon AUG.
In the chemical sciences, methylation denotes the addition of a methyl group on a substrate, or the substitution of an atom by a methyl group. Methylation is a form of alkylation, with a methyl group replacing a hydrogen atom. These terms are commonly used in chemistry, biochemistry, soil science, and the biological sciences.
Post-translational modification (PTM) is the covalent process of changing proteins following protein biosynthesis. PTMs may involve enzymes or occur spontaneously. Proteins are created by ribosomes translating mRNA into polypeptide chains, which may then change to form the mature protein product. PTMs are important components in cell signalling, as for example when prohormones are converted to hormones.
Histone methyltransferases (HMT) are histone-modifying enzymes, that catalyze the transfer of one, two, or three methyl groups to lysine and arginine residues of histone proteins. The attachment of methyl groups occurs predominantly at specific lysine or arginine residues on histones H3 and H4. Two major types of histone methyltranferases exist, lysine-specific and arginine-specific. In both types of histone methyltransferases, S-Adenosyl methionine (SAM) serves as a cofactor and methyl donor group.
The genomic DNA of eukaryotes associates with histones to form chromatin. The level of chromatin compaction depends heavily on histone methylation and other post-translational modifications of histones. Histone methylation is a principal epigenetic modification of chromatin that determines gene expression, genomic stability, stem cell maturation, cell lineage development, genetic imprinting, DNA methylation, and cell mitosis.
Spermidine synthase is an enzyme that catalyzes the transfer of the propylamine group from S-adenosylmethioninamine to putrescine in the biosynthesis of spermidine. The systematic name is S-adenosyl 3-(methylthio)propylamine:putrescine 3-aminopropyltransferase and it belongs to the group of aminopropyl transferases. It does not need any cofactors. Most spermidine synthases exist in solution as dimers.
Methyltransferases are a large group of enzymes that all methylate their substrates but can be split into several subclasses based on their structural features. The most common class of methyltransferases is class I, all of which contain a Rossmann fold for binding S-Adenosyl methionine (SAM). Class II methyltransferases contain a SET domain, which are exemplified by SET domain histone methyltransferases, and class III methyltransferases, which are membrane associated. Methyltransferases can also be grouped as different types utilizing different substrates in methyl transfer reactions. These types include protein methyltransferases, DNA/RNA methyltransferases, natural product methyltransferases, and non-SAM dependent methyltransferases. SAM is the classical methyl donor for methyltransferases, however, examples of other methyl donors are seen in nature. The general mechanism for methyl transfer is a SN2-like nucleophilic attack where the methionine sulfur serves as the leaving group and the methyl group attached to it acts as the electrophile that transfers the methyl group to the enzyme substrate. SAM is converted to S-Adenosyl homocysteine (SAH) during this process. The breaking of the SAM-methyl bond and the formation of the substrate-methyl bond happen nearly simultaneously. These enzymatic reactions are found in many pathways and are implicated in genetic diseases, cancer, and metabolic diseases. Another type of methyl transfer is the radical S-Adenosyl methionine (SAM) which is the methylation of unactivated carbon atoms in primary metabolites, proteins, lipids, and RNA.
Isoaspartic acid is an aspartic acid residue isomeric to the typical α peptide linkage. It is a β-amino acid, with the side chain carboxyl moved to the backbone. Such a change is caused by a chemical reaction in which the nitrogen atom on the N+1 following peptide bond nucleophilically attacks the γ-carbon of the side chain of an asparagine or aspartic acid residue, forming a succinimide intermediate. Hydrolysis of the intermediate results in two products, either aspartic acid or isoaspartic acid, which is a β-amino acid. The reaction also results in the deamidation of the asparagine residue. Racemization may occur leading to the formation of D-aminoacids.
Phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PNMT) is an enzyme found primarily in the adrenal medulla that converts norepinephrine (noradrenaline) to epinephrine (adrenaline). It is also expressed in small groups of neurons in the human brain and in selected populations of cardiomyocytes.
In enzymology, a calmodulin-lysine N-methyltransferase (EC 2.1.1.60) is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction
In enzymology, a methylated-DNA-[protein]-cysteine S-methyltransferase is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction
In enzymology, a protein-glutamate O-methyltransferase is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction
The isoprenylcysteine o-methyltransferase carries out carboxyl methylation of cleaved eukaryotic proteins that terminate in a CaaX motif. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae this methylation is carried out by Ste14p, an integral endoplasmic reticulum membrane protein. Ste14p is the founding member of the isoprenylcysteine carboxyl methyltransferase (ICMT) family, whose members share significant sequence homology.
In enzymology, an aspartate-semialdehyde dehydrogenase is an enzyme that is very important in the biosynthesis of amino acids in prokaryotes, fungi, and some higher plants. It forms an early branch point in the metabolic pathway forming lysine, methionine, leucine and isoleucine from aspartate. This pathway also produces diaminopimelate which plays an essential role in bacterial cell wall formation. There is particular interest in ASADH as disabling this enzyme proves fatal to the organism giving rise to the possibility of a new class of antibiotics, fungicides, and herbicides aimed at inhibiting it.
Enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) is a histone-lysine N-methyltransferase enzyme encoded by EZH2 gene, that participates in histone methylation and, ultimately, transcriptional repression. EZH2 catalyzes the addition of methyl groups to histone H3 at lysine 27, by using the cofactor S-adenosyl-L-methionine. Methylation activity of EZH2 facilitates heterochromatin formation thereby silences gene function. Remodeling of chromosomal heterochromatin by EZH2 is also required during cell mitosis.
Calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase type II beta chain is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the CAMK2B gene.
Protein-L-isoaspartate(D-aspartate) O-methyltransferase is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the PCMT1 gene.
Steven G. Clarke, an American biochemist, is a director of the UCLA Molecular Biology Institute, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at UCLA biochemistry department. Clarke heads a laboratory at UCLA's department of chemistry and biochemistry. Clarke is famous for his work on molecular damage and discoveries of novel molecular repair mechanisms.
S-Adenosylmethionine synthetase, also known as methionine adenosyltransferase (MAT), is an enzyme that creates S-adenosylmethionine by reacting methionine and ATP.
Methyl halide transferase is an enzyme with systematic name S-adenosylmethionine:iodide methyltransferase. This enzyme catalyses the following chemical reaction
Protein methylation is a type of post-translational modification featuring the addition of methyl groups to proteins. It can occur on the nitrogen-containing side-chains of arginine and lysine, but also at the amino- and carboxy-termini of a number of different proteins. In biology, methyltransferases catalyze the methylation process, activated primarily by S-adenosylmethionine. Protein methylation has been most studied in histones, where the transfer of methyl groups from S-adenosyl methionine is catalyzed by histone methyltransferases. Histones that are methylated on certain residues can act epigenetically to repress or activate gene expression.
