Malonyl-CoA decarboxylase (MCD), which catalyzes the conversion of malonyl-CoA to acetyl-CoA, is an evolutionarily distinct and highly conserved enzyme. MCD does not share sequence homology with other known decarboxylases, while the enzymes from different species exhibit at least >30% sequence identity to each other. In order to provide a canonical structure of the enzyme for detailed study of ...

Biogenic Amines (BAs) are low molecular weight organic bases with biological activity that are formed in foods by either microbial decarboxylation of the corresponding amino acids or transamination of aldehydes and ketones by amino acid transaminases [1]. The most important BAs including histamine, tyramine, tryptamine, putrescine, and cadaverine are formed from free amino acids namely histidin...

The putrescine-stimulated S-adenosyl-L-methionine decarboxylases from rat liver and yeast were strongly inhibited by Berenil and to a lesser extent by Pentamidine. Ten times greater drug concentrations were needed to achieve a similar level of inhibition of a Mg2+-stimulated bacterial enzyme. The inhibition was irreversible in that extensive dialyses or precipitation with (NH4)2SO4 did not rest...

Midbrain dopamine neurons are an essential component of the basal ganglia circuitry, playing key roles in the control of fine movement and reward. Recently, it has been demonstrated that γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), the chief inhibitory neurotransmitter, is co-released by dopamine neurons. Here, we show that GABA co-release in dopamine neurons does not use the conventional GABA-synthesizing enzy...

Aromatic amines containing an aminobenzene or an aniline moiety comprise versatile natural and artificial compounds including bioactive molecules and resources for advanced materials. However, a bio-production platform has not been implemented. Here we constructed a bacterial platform for para-substituted aminobenzene relatives of aromatic amines via enzymes in an alternate shikimate pathway pr...

We report on a 'green' method for the utilization of carbon dioxide as C1 unit for the regioselective synthesis of (E)-cinnamic acids via regioselective enzymatic carboxylation of para-hydroxystyrenes. Phenolic acid decarboxylases from bacterial sources catalyzed the β-carboxylation of para-hydroxystyrene derivatives with excellent regio- and (E/Z)-stereoselectivity by exclusively acting at the...

Oat arginine decarboxylase is synthesized as a 66-kDa proenzyme, but the soluble enzyme is found in oats as a complex of 42- and 24-kDa polypeptide fragments, both derived from the 66-kDa precursor. We report here that this proteolytic cleavage is the result of a processing enzyme, distinct from arginine decarboxylase itself, that leads to activation of the arginine decarboxylase. The proteolys...

For biosynthesis of bacillamide C by Bacillus atrophaeus C89 associated with South China sea sponge Dysidea avara, it is hypothesized that decarboxylation from L-tryptophan to tryptamine could be performed before amidation by the downstream aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase (AADC) to the non-ribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPS) gene cluster for biosynthesizing bacillamide C. The structural an...