Asymmetric N-alkylations of isatins with enals were shown to be feasible via a prolinol-catalyzed iminium activation, and N-alkylated isatins were obtained in good yields and with excellent enantioselectivity. The biologically useful N-alkylated isatins also served as valuable synthetic precursors, and could be readily converted to chiral N-alkylated indole derivatives. The described method pro...

AlkB is an Escherichia coli protein that catalyses the oxidative demethylation of 1-methyladenine and 3-methylcytosine in DNA and RNA. The enzyme activity of AlkB is dependent on a 2-oxoglutarate- and Fe(II)-dependent (2OG-Fe[II]) oxygenase domain. Human AlkB homologues (hABH), hABH1, hABH2 and hABH3, which also possess the 2OG-Fe(II) oxygenase domain, have previously been identified. Recent bi...

The study investigated the diversity and genotypic features of alkane hydroxylase genes on rhizoplanes of grasses planted in artificial petroleum-contaminated soils to acquire new insights into the bacterial communities responsible for petroleum degradation in phytoremediation. Four types of grass (Cynodon dactylon, two phenotypes of Zoysia japonica, and Z. matrella) were used. The concentratio...

The exocyclic DNA base adduct 1,N6-ethenoadenine (epsilonA) is directly repaired by the AlkB proteins in vitro.

2-Oxoglutarate (2OG) dependent dioxygenases are ubiquitous iron containing enzymes that couple substrate oxidation to the conversion of 2OG to succinate and carbon dioxide. They participate in a wide range of biological processes including collagen biosynthesis, fatty acid metabolism, hypoxic sensing and demethylation of nucleic acids and histones. Although substantial progress has been made in...

Promiscuous substrate recognition, the ability to catalyze transformations of chemically diverse compounds, is an evolutionarily advantageous, but poorly understood phenomenon. The promiscuity of DNA repair enzymes is particularly important, because it enables diverse kinds of damage to different nucleotide bases to be repaired in a metabolically parsimonious manner. We present enzymological an...

The Fe(II)- and 2-oxoglutarate (2OG)-dependent dioxygenase AlkB from E. coli is a demethylase which repairs alkyl lesions in DNA, as well as RNA, through a direct reversal mechanism. Humans possess nine AlkB homologs (ALKBH1-8 and FTO). ALKBH2 and ALKBH3 display demethylase activities corresponding to that of AlkB, and both ALKBH8 and FTO are RNA modification enzymes. The biochemical functions ...

The alk genes are located on the OCT plasmid of Pseudomonas oleovorans and encode an inducible pathway for the utilization of n-alkanes as carbon and energy sources. We have investigated the influence of alternative carbon sources on the induction of this pathway in P. oleovorans and Escherichia coli alk+ recombinants. In doing so, we confirmed earlier reports that induction of alkane hydroxyla...

We report a novel organocatalytic one-pot cascade bromination-Michael-type Friedel-Crafts alkylation dearomatization-nucleophilic rearrangement aromatization cascade process for the direct α-indolylation of unfunctionalized enals from readily available indoles with good yields and high E selectivity. The simplicity and practicality of its high efficiency for formation of a new C(sp(2))-C(sp(2))...