Putrescine is an organic compound with the formula (CH2)4(NH2)2. It is a colorless solid that melts near room temperature. It is classified as a diamine. Together with cadaverine, it is largely responsible for the foul odor of putrefying flesh, but also contributes to other unpleasant odors.
Arginine is the amino acid with the formula (H2N)(HN)CN(H)(CH2)3CH(NH2)CO2H. The molecule features a guanidino group appended to a standard amino acid framework. At physiological pH, the carboxylic acid is deprotonated (−CO2−) and both the amino and guanidino groups are protonated, resulting in a cation. Only the l-arginine (symbol Arg or R) enantiomer is found naturally. Arg residues are common components of proteins. It is encoded by the codons CGU, CGC, CGA, CGG, AGA, and AGG. The guanidine group in arginine is the precursor for the biosynthesis of nitric oxide. Like all amino acids, it is a white, water-soluble solid.
Ornithine is a non-proteinogenic α-amino acid that plays a role in the urea cycle. Ornithine is abnormally accumulated in the body in ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency. The radical is ornithyl.
The enzyme ornithine decarboxylase catalyzes the decarboxylation of ornithine to form putrescine. This reaction is the committed step in polyamine synthesis. In humans, this protein has 461 amino acids and forms a homodimer.
A biogenic amine is a biogenic substance with one or more amine groups. They are basic nitrogenous compounds formed mainly by decarboxylation of amino acids or by amination and transamination of aldehydes and ketones. Biogenic amines are organic bases with low molecular weight and are synthesized by microbial, vegetable and animal metabolisms. In food and beverages they are formed by the enzymes of raw material or are generated by microbial decarboxylation of amino acids.
Agmatine, also known as 4-aminobutyl-guanidine, was discovered in 1910 by Albrecht Kossel. It is a chemical substance which is naturally created from the amino acid arginine. Agmatine has been shown to exert modulatory action at multiple molecular targets, notably: neurotransmitter systems, ion channels, nitric oxide (NO) synthesis and polyamine metabolism and this provides bases for further research into potential applications.
Spermidine is a polyamine compound found in ribosomes and living tissues and having various metabolic functions within organisms. It was originally isolated from semen.
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.
SpeF is a putative cis-acting element identified in several gram negative alpha proteobacteria. It is proposed to be involved in regulating expression of genes involved in polyamide biosynthesis.
The enzyme adenosylmethionine decarboxylase catalyzes the conversion of S-adenosyl methionine to S-adenosylmethioninamine. Polyamines such as spermidine and spermine are essential for cellular growth under most conditions, being implicated in many cellular processes including DNA, RNA and protein synthesis. S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase (AdoMetDC) plays an essential regulatory role in the polyamine biosynthetic pathway by generating the n-propylamine residue required for the synthesis of spermidine and spermine from putrescein. Unlike many amino acid decarboxylases AdoMetDC uses a covalently bound pyruvate residue as a cofactor rather than the more common pyridoxal 5'-phosphate. These proteins can be divided into two main groups which show little sequence similarity either to each other, or to other pyruvoyl-dependent amino acid decarboxylases: class I enzymes found in bacteria and archaea, and class II enzymes found in eukaryotes. In both groups the active enzyme is generated by the post-translational autocatalytic cleavage of a precursor protein. This cleavage generates the pyruvate precursor from an internal serine residue and results in the formation of two non-identical subunits termed alpha and beta which form the active enzyme.
Diamine acetyltransferase 1 is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the SAT1 gene found on the X chromosome.
Spermine oxidase is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the SMOX gene.
A ureohydrolase is a type of hydrolase enzyme. The ureohydrolase superfamily includes arginase, agmatinase, formiminoglutamase and proclavaminate amidinohydrolase. These enzymes share a 3-layer alpha-beta-alpha structure, and play important roles in arginine/agmatine metabolism, the urea cycle, histidine degradation, and other pathways.
The biosynthesis of cocaine has long attracted the attention of biochemists and organic chemists. This interest is partly motivated by the strong physiological effects of cocaine, but a further incentive was the unusual bicyclic structure of the molecule. The biosynthesis can be viewed as occurring in two phases, one phase leading to the N-methylpyrrolinium ring, which is preserved in the final product. The second phase incorporates a C4 unit with formation of the bicyclic tropane core.
A polyamine is an organic compound having more than two amino groups. Alkyl polyamines occur naturally, but some are synthetic. Alkylpolyamines are colorless, hygroscopic, and water soluble. Near neutral pH, they exist as the ammonium derivatives. Most aromatic polyamines are crystalline solids at room temperature.
N1-acetylpolyamine oxidase (EC 1.5.3.13, hPAO-1, mPAO, hPAO) is an enzyme with systematic name N1-acetylpolyamine:oxygen oxidoreductase (3-acetamidopropanal-forming). This enzyme catalyses the following chemical reaction
Spermine oxidase (EC 1.5.3.16, PAOh1/SMO, AtPAO1, AtPAO4, SMO) is an enzyme with systematic name spermidine:oxygen oxidoreductase (spermidine-forming). This enzyme catalyses the following chemical reaction
Non-specific polyamine oxidase (EC 1.5.3.17, polyamine oxidase, Fms1, AtPAO3) is an enzyme with systematic name polyamine:oxygen oxidoreductase (3-aminopropanal or 3-acetamidopropanal-forming). This enzyme catalyses the following chemical reaction
Polyamines (PAs) are small, positively charged, organic molecules that are ubiquitous in all living organisms. These are considered as one of the oldest group of substances known in biochemistry. There are three common types of polyamines, putrescine, spermidine, hermospermine according to structure, universal distribution in all cellular compartments, and presumed involvement in physiological activities. Polyamine is found in all cellular compartments and physiological activities due to their simple structures. The function of polyamine is very diverse in that it performs a key macromolecule to cellular membrane. Because of their essential roles in plant, mutation of polyamines can cause critical damage on plants. Furthermore, some polyamines like putrescine inhibit biosynthetic activities in plants. The activity of polyamines can be categorized to some parts due to its signalling and growing activity.
BpsA is a single-module non-ribosomal peptide synthase (NRPS) located in the cytoplasm responsible for the process of creating branched-chain polyamines, and producing spermidine and spermine. It has a singular ligand in its structure involved with Fe3+ and PLIP interactions. As seen by its EC number, it is a transferase (2) that transfers an alkyl or aryl group other than methyl groups (5) (2.5.1). BpsA was first discovered in the archaea Methanococcus jannaschii and thermophile Thermococcus kodakarensis and since then has been used in a variety of applications such as being used as a reporter, researching phosphopantetheinyl transferase (PPTase), and for NRPS domain recombination experiments it can be used as a model. Both (hyper)thermophilic bacteria and euryarchaeotal archaea seem to conserve BpsA and orthologs as branches chains polyamines are crucial for survival. There is also a second type of BpsA also known as Blue-pigment indigoidine synthetase that produces the pigment indigoidine and is found in organisms like Erwinia chrysanthemi. However, not much seems to be known about this variant except that it is a synthase, and it does not yet appear to be classified under an EC number.
