Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:4.2.1.22 (cystathionine beta-synthase)
 965 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Genome mining and biochemical analyses have shown that Leishmania major possesses two pathways for cysteine synthesis--the de novo biosynthesis pathway comprising SAT (serine acetyltransferase) and CS (cysteine synthase) and the RTS (reverse trans-sulfuration) pathway comprising CBS (cystathionine beta-synthase) and CGL (cystathionine gamma-lyase). The LmjCS (L. major CS) is similar to the type A CSs of bacteria and catalyses the synthesis of cysteine using O-acetylserine and sulfide with Kms of 17.5 and 0.13 mM respectively. LmjCS can use sulfide provided by the action of MST (mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase) on 3-MP (3-mercaptopyruvate). LmjCS forms a bi-enzyme complex with Leishmania SAT (and Arabidopsis SAT), with residues Lys222, His226 and Lys227 of LmjCS being involved in the complex formation. LmjCBS (L. major CBS) catalyses the synthesis of cystathionine from homocysteine, but, unlike mammalian CBS, also has high cysteine synthase activity (but with the Km for sulfide being 10.7 mM). In contrast, LmjCS does not have CBS activity. CS was up-regulated when promastigotes were grown in medium with limited availability of sulfur amino acids. Exogenous methionine stimulated growth under these conditions and also the levels of intracellular cysteine, glutathione and trypanothione, whereas cysteine had no effect on growth or the intracellular cysteine levels, correlating with the low rate of transport of cysteine into the cell. These results suggest that cysteine is generated endogenously by promastigotes of Leishmania. The absence of CS from mammals and the clear differences between CBS of mammals and Leishmania suggest that each of the parasite enzymes could be a viable drug target.
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PMID:Two pathways for cysteine biosynthesis in Leishmania major. 1929 28

Trichomonas vaginalis is a protozoan parasite of humans that is able to synthesize cysteine de novo using cysteine synthase but does not produce glutathione. In this study, high pressure liquid chromatography analysis confirmed that cysteine is the major intracellular redox buffer by showing that T. vaginalis contains high levels of cysteine ( approximately 600 mum) comprising more than 70% of the total thiols detected. To investigate possible mechanisms for the regulation of cysteine levels in T. vaginalis, we have characterized enzymes of the mercaptopyruvate pathway. This consists of an aspartate aminotransferase (TvAspAT1), which transaminates cysteine to form 3-mercaptopyruvate (3-MP), and mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase (TvMST), which transfers the sulfur of 3-MP to a nucleophilic acceptor, generating pyruvate. TvMST has high activity with 3-MP as a sulfur donor and can use several thiol compounds as sulfur acceptor substrates. Our analysis indicated that TvMST has a k(cat)/K(m) for reduced thioredoxin of 6.2 x 10(7) m(-1) s(-1), more than 100-fold higher than that observed for beta-mercaptoethanol and cysteine, suggesting that thioredoxin is a preferred substrate for TvMST. Thiol trapping and mass spectrometry provided direct evidence for the formation of thioredoxin persulfide as a product of this reaction. The thioredoxin persulfide could serve a biological function such as the transfer of the persulfide to a target protein or the sequestered release of sulfide for biosynthesis. Changes in MST activity of T. vaginalis in response to variation in the supply of exogenous cysteine are suggestive of a role for the mercaptopyruvate pathway in the removal of excess intracellular cysteine, redox homeostasis, and antioxidant defense.
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PMID:The mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase of Trichomonas vaginalis links cysteine catabolism to the production of thioredoxin persulfide. 1976 67