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α-Chiral amines are key intermediates for the synthesis of a plethora of chemical compounds at industrial scale. We present a biocatalytic hydrogen-borrowing amination of primary and secondary alcohols that allows for the efficient and environmentally benign production of enantiopure amines. The method relies on a combination of two enzymes: an alcohol dehydrogenase (from Aromatoleum sp., Lactobacillus sp., or Bacillus sp.) operating in tandem with an amine dehydrogenase (engineered from Bacillus sp.) to aminate a structurally diverse range of aromatic and aliphatic alcohols, yielding up to 96% conversion and 99% enantiomeric excess. Primary alcohols were aminated with high conversion (up to 99%). This redox self-sufficient cascade possesses high atom efficiency, sourcing nitrogen from ammonium and generating water as the sole by-product.

Native amine dehydrogenases offer sustainable access to chiral amines, so the search for scaffolds capable of converting more diverse carbonyl compounds is required to reach the full potential of this alternative to conventional synthetic reductive aminations. Here we report a multidisciplinary strategy combining bioinformatics, chemoinformatics and biocatalysis to extensively screen billions of sequences in silico and to efficiently find native amine dehydrogenases features using computational approaches. In this way, we achieve a comprehensive overview of the initial native amine dehydrogenase family, extending it from 2,011 to 17,959 sequences, and identify native amine dehydrogenases with non-reported substrate spectra, including hindered carbonyls and ethyl ketones, and accepting methylamine and cyclopropylamine as amine donor. We also present preliminary model-based structural information to inform the design of potential ( R )-selective amine dehydrogenases, as native amine dehydrogenases are mostly ( S )-selective. This integrated strategy paves the way for expanding the resource of other enzyme families and in highlighting enzymes with original features. Sustainable chemistry can benefit from biocatalysis, but a high diversity of enzymes is needed. Here, the authors screen billions of protein sequences to provide an overview of the native amine dehydrogenase family for amine synthesis.

Polyamine oxidases (PAOs) are enzymes degrading the polyamine molecules and have important roles in plant growth, development and in stress tolerance. Despite their significance, their genomic organization and functional roles in Sorghum bicolor , a drought-tolerant staple crop, remain largely unexplored. In this study, a comprehensive comparative genomics analysis was conducted and identified six PAO genes in sorghum phylogenetically clustered into four clades, with sorghum exhibiting lineage-specific expansion via segmental and tandem duplications. Structural modelling identified conserved FAD-dependent oxidase cores across all SbPAO proteins and identified a novel motif (GLRLYRTSGDNSVLYDHDLEDYALYDYEGAQVPRETVLK) unique to sorghum PAOs, potentially linked to flavin-dependent oxidoreductase activity. SbPAO5 and SbPAO6 exhibited the most elaborated fold in three-dimentional modeling. SbPAO4 and SbPAO5 possess peroxisomal targeting signals (PTS1). These structural and targeting divergences collectively suggest subfunctionalization within the SbPAO family. Collinearity analysis highlighted strong syntenic conservation with rice and maize suggesting evolutionary and functional conservation of PAOs in grasses. Promoter sequence analysis revealed presence of several stress and hormones responsive elements, aligning with tissue- and genotype-specific expression patterns under drought. In the tolerant genotype Dorado, SbPAO4–6 were dynamically upregulated in leaves and grains, correlating with spermidine accumulation and enhanced stress resilience. Elevated spermidine level in sensitive genotype Giza 15 suggested back conversion of spermine to spermidine by upregulation of SbPAO5 . Co-expression analysis linked SbPAO5 and SbPAO6 to stress signalling and metabolic hubs implicating their roles in integrated stress adaptation. These findings establish a foundation for genomic organization and evolutionary relationships of PAO genes in sorghum and prioritizes SbPAO5 and SbPAO6 as candidates for stress-resistant breeding and enhanced production in sorghum.

Amine oxidases (AOs) including copper containing amine oxidases (CuAOs) and FAD-dependent polyamine oxidases (PAOs) are associated with polyamine catabolism in the peroxisome, apoplast and cytoplasm and play an essential role in growth and developmental processes and response to biotic and abiotic stresses. Here, we identified PAO genes in common wheat (Triticum aestivum), T. urartu and Aegilops tauschii and reported the genome organization, evolutionary features and expression profiles of the wheat PAO genes (TaPAO). Expression analysis using publicly available RNASeq data showed that TaPAO genes are expressed redundantly in various tissues and developmental stages. A large percentage of TaPAOs respond significantly to abiotic stresses, especially temperature (i.e. heat and cold stress). Some TaPAOs were also involved in response to other stresses such as powdery mildew, stripe rust and Fusarium infection. Overall, TaPAOs may have various functions in stress tolerances responses, and play vital roles in different tissues and developmental stages. Our results provided a reference for further functional investigation of TaPAO proteins.

Hypusination is a unique post-translational modification of the eukaryotic translation factor 5A (eIF5A) that is essential for overcoming ribosome stalling at polyproline sequence stretches. The initial step of hypusination, the formation of deoxyhypusine, is catalyzed by deoxyhypusine synthase (DHS), however, the molecular details of the DHS-mediated reaction remained elusive. Recently, patient-derived variants of DHS and eIF5A have been linked to rare neurodevelopmental disorders. Here, we present the cryo-EM structure of the human eIF5A-DHS complex at 2.8 Å resolution and a crystal structure of DHS trapped in the key reaction transition state. Furthermore, we show that disease-associated DHS variants influence the complex formation and hypusination efficiency. Hence, our work dissects the molecular details of the deoxyhypusine synthesis reaction and reveals how clinically-relevant mutations affect this crucial cellular process. eIF5A is the only protein known to contain hypusine. Here, the authors present the cryoEM structure of the eIF5A-DHS complex and provide mechanistic insights to understand the deoxyhypusination reaction and hypusination-related neurodegeneration.

Polyamine oxidases (PAOs) are FAD-dependent enzymes involved in polyamine catabolism. All so far characterized PAOs from monocotyledonous plants, such as the apoplastic maize PAO, oxidize spermine (Spm) and spermidine (Spd) to produce 1,3-diaminopropane, H₂O₂, and an aminoaldehyde, and are thus considered to be involved in a terminal catabolic pathway. Mammalian PAOs oxidize Spm or Spd (and/or their acetyl derivatives) differently from monocotyledonous PAOs, producing Spd or putrescine, respectively, in addition to H₂O₂ and an aminoaldehyde, and are therefore involved in a polyamine back-conversion pathway. In Arabidopsis thaliana, five PAOs (AtPAO1-AtPAO5) are present with cytosolic or peroxisomal localization and three of them (the peroxisomal AtPAO2, AtPAO3, and AtPAO4) form a distinct PAO subfamily. Here, a comparative study of the catalytic properties of recombinant AtPAO1, AtPAO2, AtPAO3, and AtPAO4 is presented, which shows that all four enzymes strongly resemble their mammalian counterparts, being able to oxidize the common polyamines Spd and/or Spm through a polyamine back-conversion pathway. The existence of this pathway in Arabidopsis plants is also evidenced in vivo. These enzymes are also able to oxidize the naturally occurring uncommon polyamines norspermine and thermospermine, the latter being involved in important plant developmental processes. Furthermore, data herein reveal some important differences in substrate specificity among the various AtPAOs, which suggest functional diversity inside the AtPAO gene family. These results represent a new starting point for further understanding of the physiological role(s) of the polyamine catabolic pathways in plants.

Acquisition of new catalytic activity is a relatively rare evolutionary event. A striking example appears in the pathway to the antibiotic lankacidin, as a monoamine oxidase (MAO) family member, LkcE, catalyzes both an unusual amide oxidation, and a subsequent intramolecular Mannich reaction to form the polyketide macrocycle. We report evidence here for the molecular basis for this dual activity. The reaction sequence involves several essential active site residues and a conformational change likely comprising an interdomain hinge movement. These features, which have not previously been described in the MAO family, both depend on a unique dimerization mode relative to all structurally characterized members. Taken together, these data add weight to the idea that designing new multifunctional enzymes may require changes in both architecture and catalytic machinery. Encouragingly, however, our data also show LkcE to bind alternative substrates, supporting its potential utility as a general cyclization catalyst in synthetic biology. The monoamine oxidase family member LkcE is an enzyme from the lankacidin polyketide biosynthetic pathway, where it catalyzes an amide oxidation followed by an intramolecular Mannich reaction, yielding the polyketide macrocycle. Here the authors characterize LkcE and present several of its crystal structures, which explains the unusual dual activity of LkcE.

In contrast to animals, where polyamine (PA) catabolism efficiently converts spermine (Spm) to putrescine (Put), plants have been considered to possess a PA catabolic pathway producing 1,3-diaminopropane, Δ¹-pyrroline, the corresponding aldehyde, and hydrogen peroxide but unable to back-convert Spm to Put. Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) genome contains at least five putative PA oxidase (PAO) members with yet-unknown localization and physiological role(s). AtPAO1 was recently identified as an enzyme similar to the mammalian Spm oxidase, which converts Spm to spermidine (Spd). In this work, we have performed in silico analysis of the five Arabidopsis genes and have identified PAO3 (AtPAO3) as a nontypical PAO, in terms of homology, compared to other known PAOs. We have expressed the gene AtPAO3 and have purified a protein corresponding to it using the inducible heterologous expression system of Escherichia coli. AtPAO3 catalyzed the sequential conversion/oxidation of Spm to Spd, and of Spd to Put, thus exhibiting functional homology to the mammalian PAOs. The best substrate for this pathway was Spd, whereas the N¹-acetyl-derivatives of Spm and Spd were oxidized less efficiently. On the other hand, no activity was detected when diamines (agmatine, cadaverine, and Put) were used as substrates. Moreover, although AtPAO3 does not exhibit significant similarity to the other known PAOs, it is efficiently inhibited by guazatine, a potent PAO inhibitor. AtPAO3 contains a peroxisomal targeting motif at the C terminus, and it targets green fluorescence protein to peroxisomes when fused at the N terminus but not at the C terminus. These results reveal that AtPAO3 is a peroxisomal protein and that the C terminus of the protein contains the sorting information. The overall data reinforce the view that plants and mammals possess a similar PA oxidation system, concerning both the subcellular localization and the mode of its action.

The diheme enzyme MauG catalyzes posttranslational modifications of a methylamine dehydrogenase precursor protein to generate a tryptophan tryptophylquinone cofactor. The MauG-catalyzed reaction proceeds via a bis-Fe(IV) intermediate in which one heme is present as Fe(IV)=O and the other as Fe(IV) with axial histidine and tyrosine ligation. Herein, a unique near-infrared absorption feature exhibited specifically in bis-Fe(IV) MauG is described, and evidence is presented that it results from a charge-resonance-transition phenomenon. As the two hemes are physically separated by 14.5 Å, a hole-hopping mechanism is proposed in which a tryptophan residue located between the hemes is reversibly oxidized and reduced to increase the effective electronic coupling element and enhance the rate of reversible electron transfer between the hemes in bis-Fe(IV) MauG. Analysis of the MauG structure reveals that electron transfer via this mechanism is rapid enough to enable a charge-resonance stabilization of the bis-Fe(IV) state without direct contact between the hemes. The finding of the charge-resonance-transition phenomenon explains why the bis-Fe(IV) intermediate is stabilized in MauG and does not permanently oxidize its own aromatic residues.

We present an atomic-level description of the reaction chemistry of an enzyme-catalyzed reaction dominated by proton tunneling. By solving structures of reaction intermediates at near-atomic resolution, we have identified the reaction pathway for tryptamine oxidation by aromatic amine dehydrogenase. Combining experiment and computer simulation, we show proton transfer occurs predominantly to oxygen O2 of Asp¹²⁸{szligbeta} in a reaction dominated by tunneling over [approximately]0.6 angstroms. The role of long-range coupled motions in promoting tunneling is controversial. We show that, in this enzyme system, tunneling is promoted by a short-range motion modulating proton-acceptor distance and no long-range coupled motion is required.