KYNURENINE FORMAMIDASE FROM NEUROSPORA

Biochemical identification and crystal structure of kynurenine formamidase from Drosophila melanogaster.

KFase (kynurenine formamidase), also known as arylformamidase and formylkynurenine formamidase, efficiently catalyses the hydrolysis of NFK (N-formyl-L-kynurenine) to kynurenine. KFase is the second enzyme in the kynurenine pathway of tryptophan metabolism. A number of intermediates formed in the kynurenine pathway are biologically active and implicated in an assortment of medical conditions, i...

Kynurenine as an Intermediate in the Formation of Nicotinic Acid from Tryptophane by Neurospora.

Structures of bacterial kynurenine formamidase reveal a crowded binuclear zinc catalytic site primed to generate a potent nucleophile

Tryptophan is an important precursor for chemical entities that ultimately support the biosynthesis of key metabolites. The second stage of tryptophan catabolism is catalysed by kynurenine formamidase, an enzyme that is different between eukaryotes and prokaryotes. In the present study, we characterize the catalytic properties and present the crystal structures of three bacterial kynurenine for...

Kynureninase from Neurospora: Purification

As part of a study of kynurenine metabolism in Neurospora crassa, the enzyme, kynureninase, has been investigated. Evidence from studies with mycelial pads suggests that tryptophan gives rise to kynurenine, which may be degraded to anthranilic acid (1). Kynurenine is also oxidized to hydroxykynurenine, which is converted to hydroxyanthranilic acid (2). The similarity of these reactions, i.e. th...

Protoplasts from Neurospora crassa.

Weibull (1953) demonstrated that the intact protoplasts are liberated from cells of Bacillus megaterium after digestion of the cell wall by the enzyme lysozyme, and that these structures persist and exhibit many of the activities of the whole cell provided they are maintained in solutions of appropriate osmotic pressure. Since that time free protoplasts have been obtained from many other gram-p...