Making Methionine: A Love Affair with Folate

  • Chapter
Chemistry and Biology of Pteridines and Folates
  • 41 Accesses

Abstract

I am deeply honored to be chosen as the Frederick Gowland Hopkins lecturer by my friends and colleagues. The honor is particularly special for me because my father traveled from New York to Cambridge to do his Ph.D. dissertation research in Hopkins laboratory. My father received his Ph.D. in 1934, at a time when biochemistry in the States was in its infancy. Hopkins’ brilliant research on vitamins and cofactors, and on cellular metabolism, made his laboratory the place to study biochemistry.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
EUR 32.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or Ebook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
EUR 29.95
Price includes VAT (Spain)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
EUR 117.69
Price includes VAT (Spain)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
EUR 155.99
Price includes VAT (Spain)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free ship** worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
EUR 155.99
Price includes VAT (Spain)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free ship** worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Taylor R.T., Weissbach H. Escherichia coli B N5-methyltetrahydrofolate-homocysteine methytransferase: Sequential formation of bound methylcobalamin with S-adenosyl-L-methionine and N5-methyltetrahydrofolate. Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 129: 728–744, 1969.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Fujii K., Huennekens F.M. Activation of methionine synthetase by a reduced triphosphopyridine nucleotide-dependent flavoprotein system. J. Biol. Chem. 249: 6745–6753, 1974.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Taylor R.T., Weissbach H. Escherichia coli B N5-methyltetrahydrofolate-homocysteine vitamin-B12 transmethylase: formation and photolability of a methylcobalamin enzyme. Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 123: 109–126, 1968.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Doukov T., Seravelli J., Stezowski J.J., Ragsdale S.W. Crystal structure of a methyltetrahydrofolate- and corrinoid-dependent methyl transferase. Structure. 8: 817–830, 2000.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Smith A.E., Matthews R.G. 2000. The protonation state of methyltetrahydrofolate in a binary complex with cobalamin-dependent methionine synthase. Biochemistry. 39:13880–13890.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Drummond J.T., Huang S., Blumenthal R.M., Matthews R.G. Assignment of enzymatic function to specific protein regions of cobalamin-dependent methionine synthase from Escherichia coli. Biochemistry. 32: 9290–9295, 1993.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Goulding C.W., Matthews R.G. Cobalamin-dependent methionine synthase from Escherichia coli: involvement of zinc in homocysteine activation. Biochemistry. 36: 15749–15757, 1997.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Goulding C.W., Postigo D., Matthews R.G. Cobalamin-dependent methionine synthase is a modular protein with distinct regions for binding homocysteine, methyltetrahydrofolate, cobalamin, and adenosylmethionine. Biochemistry. 36: 8082–8091, 1997.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Taylor R.T. Methylcobalamin as a substrate at a separate site on Escherichia coli B N5-methyltetrahydrofolate-homocysteine cobalamin methyltransferase. Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 144:352–362, 1971.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Roberts D.L., Zhao S., Doukov T., Ragsdale S.W. The reductive acetyl-CoA pathway: sequence and heterologous expression of active CH3-H4 folatexorrinoid/iron sulfur protein methyltransferase from Clostridium thermoaceticum. J. Bacteriol. 176: 6127–6130, 1994.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Goulding C.W., Matthews R.G. Cobalamin-dependent methionine synthase from Escherichia coli: zinc is required for methyl transfer from methylcobalamin to homocysteine. Biochemistry. 36: 15749–15757, 1997.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Drennan C. L., Huang S., Drummond J.T., Matthews R.G. Ludwig M.L. How a protein binds B12: A 3.0 Å x-ray structure of the B12 binding domains of methionine synthase. Science. 266: 1669–1674, 1994.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Jarrett J.T., Choi C.Y., Matthews R.G. Changes in protonation associated with substrate binding and cob(I)alamin formation in cobalamin-dependent methionine synthase. Biochemistry. 36: 15739–15748, 1997.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Drummond J.T., Matthews R.G. Nitrous oxide degradation by cobalamin-dependent methionine synthase: characterization of the reactants and products in the inactivation reaction. Biochemistry. 33: 3732–3741, 1994.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Drummond J.T., Matthews R.G. “Cobalamin-dependent methionine synthase: dissection of a large protein into functional and structural domains.” In B. Golden (ed.), Proceedings of the Conference on Organic Reactivity: Physical and Biological Aspects. Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, pp. 58–72, 1993.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Hall D.E., Jordan-Starck T.C., Loo R.O., Ludwig M.L., Matthews R.G. Interaction of flavodoxin with cobalamin-dependent methionine synthase. Biochemisty. 39: 10711–10719, 2000.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Jarrett J. T., Drennan C. L., Amaratunga M., Schölten J.D., Ludwig M.L., Matthews R.G. A protein radical cage slows photolysis of methylcobalamin in methionine synthase from Escherichia coli. J. Bioorgan. Med. Chem. 4: 1237–1246, 1996.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Bandarian V., Matthews R.G. Quantitation of rate enhancements attained by the binding of cobalamin to methionine synthase. Biochemistry. 40: 5056–5064, 2001.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Sheldon Milstien Gregory Kapatos Robert A. Levine Barry Shane

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2002 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Matthews, R.G. (2002). Making Methionine: A Love Affair with Folate. In: Milstien, S., Kapatos, G., Levine, R.A., Shane, B. (eds) Chemistry and Biology of Pteridines and Folates. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0945-5_1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0945-5_1

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-5317-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-0945-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Navigation