Research report 2004 - Max Planck Institute of Biophysics

The One-Carbon Carrier Tetrahydromethanopterin in Enzymes

Authors
Ermler, Ulrich; Acharya, Pryamvada
Departments

Molekulare Membranbiologie (Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Hartmut Michel)
MPI für Biophysik, Frankfurt am Main

Summary
The one-carbon (C1) carrier tetrahydromethanopterin (H4MPT), that non-covalently binds as cofactor to proteins, became more and more important in the last years, as it was discovered in several phylogenetically distinct microorganisms where it plays a pronounced role in the C1 metabolism. Interestingly, its structure is highly similar to that of tetrahydrofolate (H4F), the most universal C1 carrier in biochemistry, but most likely H4MPT and H4F were separately developed within a convergent evolutionary process. The mode how H4MPT binds to enzymes was recently established on a structural level for two systems that will be introduced.

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