Publication Abstract from PubMed
BACKGROUND: The crystal structure of precorrin-8x methyl mutase (CobH), an enzyme of the aerobic pathway to vitamin B12, provides evidence that the mechanism for methyl migration can plausibly be regarded as an allowed [1,5]-sigmatropic shift of a methyl group from C-11 to C-12 at the C ring of precorrin-8x to afford hydrogenobyrinic acid. RESULTS: The dimeric structure of CobH creates a set of shared active sites that readily discriminate between different tautomers of precorrin-8x and select a discrete tautomer for sigmatropic rearrangement. The active site contains a strictly conserved histidine residue close to the site of methyl migration in ring C of the substrate. CONCLUSION: Analysis of the structure with bound product suggests that the [1,5]-sigmatropic shift proceeds by protonation of the ring C nitrogen, leading to subsequent methyl migration.
Crystal structure of precorrin-8x methyl mutase.,Shipman LW, Li D, Roessner CA, Scott AI, Sacchettini JC Structure. 2001 Jul 3;9(7):587-96. PMID:11470433[1]
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
