Linking Structural Dynamics and Functional Diversity in Asymmetric Catalysis

Asymmetric Catalysis.

H ighlighting this issue of PNAS and the forthcoming one* is a Special Feature comprising 8 Perspectives and 44 research articles that cover aspects of asymmetric catalysis, the phenomenon whereby a chiral catalyst promotes the conversion of an achiral substrate to a chiral product with a preference for the formation of one of the mirror image isomers (enantiomers). The demand for chiral compou...

Structural and functional diversity in heme monooxygenases.

Recent advances in understanding structure-function relationships in cytochrome P450 (P450), nitric-oxide synthase (NOS), and heme oxygenase are summarized. Of particular importance is the role that dynamics plays in P450 function, where the active site undergoes large open/close motions to enable substrates to bind and products to leave. In sharp contrast, the heme-containing active site of NO...

Strategies in asymmetric catalysis

The stereochemistry of an organic compound can have a profound influence on many of its most important properties. For example, the enantiomeric forms of a drug molecule can have completely different biological effects, and polymers that differ only in the stereochemistry of their backbones can have quite dissimilar macroscopic physical characteristics. Control over the stereochemical outcome o...

Studies in Asymmetric Catalysis: Supramolecular Catalysis and Borane-assisted Hydrogenation

γ-Protocadherin structural diversity and functional implications

Stochastic cell-surface expression of α-, β-, and γ-clustered protocadherins (Pcdhs) provides vertebrate neurons with single-cell identities that underlie neuronal self-recognition. Here we report crystal structures of ectodomain fragments comprising cell-cell recognition regions of mouse γ-Pcdhs γA1, γA8, γB2, and γB7 revealing trans-homodimers, and of C-terminal ectodomain fragments from γ-Pc...