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Methionine synthase also known as MS, MeSe, MTR is responsible for the regeneration of
methionine Methionine (symbol Met or M) () is an essential amino acid in humans. As the precursor of other amino acids such as cysteine and taurine, versatile compounds such as SAM-e, and the important antioxidant glutathione, methionine plays a critical ...
from
homocysteine Homocysteine is a non-proteinogenic α-amino acid. It is a homologue of the amino acid cysteine, differing by an additional methylene bridge (-CH2-). It is biosynthesized from methionine by the removal of its terminal Cε methyl group. In th ...
. In humans it is encoded by the ''MTR''
gene In biology, the word gene (from , ; "...Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a b ...
(5-methyltetrahydrofolate-homocysteine methyltransferase). Methionine synthase forms part of the
S-adenosylmethionine ''S''-Adenosyl methionine (SAM), also known under the commercial names of SAMe, SAM-e, or AdoMet, is a common cosubstrate involved in methyl group transfers, transsulfuration, and aminopropylation. Although these anabolic reactions occur throug ...
(SAMe)
biosynthesis Biosynthesis is a multi-step, enzyme-catalyzed process where substrates are converted into more complex products in living organisms. In biosynthesis, simple compounds are modified, converted into other compounds, or joined to form macromolecul ...
and regeneration cycle, and is the enzyme responsible for linking the cycle to one-carbon metabolism via the
folate Folate, also known as vitamin B9 and folacin, is one of the B vitamins. Manufactured folic acid, which is converted into folate by the body, is used as a dietary supplement and in food fortification as it is more stable during processing an ...
cycle. There are two primary forms of this enzyme, the Vitamin B12 (cobalamin)-dependent (MetH) and independent (MetE) forms, although minimal core methionine synthases that do not fit cleanly into either category have also been described in some
anaerobic bacteria An anaerobic organism or anaerobe is any organism that does not require molecular oxygen for growth. It may react negatively or even die if free oxygen is present. In contrast, an aerobic organism (aerobe) is an organism that requires an oxygenat ...
. The two dominant forms of the enzymes appear to be evolutionary independent and rely on considerably different chemical mechanisms.
Mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur ...
s and other higher
eukaryote Eukaryotes () are organisms whose cells have a nucleus. All animals, plants, fungi, and many unicellular organisms, are Eukaryotes. They belong to the group of organisms Eukaryota or Eukarya, which is one of the three domains of life. Bacter ...
s express only the cobalamin-dependent form. In contrast, the distribution of the two forms in
Archaeplastida The Archaeplastida (or kingdom Plantae '' sensu lato'' "in a broad sense"; pronounced /ɑːrkɪ'plastɪdə/) are a major group of eukaryotes, comprising the photoautotrophic red algae (Rhodophyta), green algae, land plants, and the minor gr ...
(
plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae excl ...
s and
algae Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular micr ...
) is more complex. Plants exclusively possess the cobalamin-independent form, while algae have either one of the two, depending on species. Many different microorganisms express both the cobalamin-dependent and cobalamin-independent forms.


Mechanism

Methionine synthase catalyzes the final step in the regeneration of
methionine Methionine (symbol Met or M) () is an essential amino acid in humans. As the precursor of other amino acids such as cysteine and taurine, versatile compounds such as SAM-e, and the important antioxidant glutathione, methionine plays a critical ...
(Met) from
homocysteine Homocysteine is a non-proteinogenic α-amino acid. It is a homologue of the amino acid cysteine, differing by an additional methylene bridge (-CH2-). It is biosynthesized from methionine by the removal of its terminal Cε methyl group. In th ...
(Hcy). Both the cobalamin-dependent and cobalamin-independent forms of the enzyme carry out the same overall chemical reaction, the transfer of a methyl group from 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (N5-MeTHF) to homocysteine, yielding
tetrahydrofolate Tetrahydrofolic acid (THFA), or tetrahydrofolate, is a folic acid derivative. Metabolism Human synthesis Tetrahydrofolic acid is produced from dihydrofolic acid by dihydrofolate reductase. This reaction is inhibited by methotrexate. It is co ...
(THF) and methionine. Methionine synthase is the only mammalian enzyme that metabolizes N5-MeTHF to regenerate the active cofactor THF. In the
cobalamin Vitamin B12, also known as cobalamin, is a water-soluble vitamin involved in metabolism. It is one of eight B vitamins. It is required by animals, which use it as a cofactor in DNA synthesis, in both fatty acid and amino acid metabolism. ...
-dependent (MetH) form of the enzyme, the reaction proceeds by two steps in a preferred ordered sequential mechanism. The physiological resting state of the enzyme is thought to contain the enzyme-bound(Cob) cofactor in the methylcobalamin form, with the cobalt atom in the formal +3 valence state (Cob(III)-Me). The cobalamin is then demethylated by
zinc Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...
-activated thiolate homocysteine, generating methionine and reducing the cofactor to a Cob(I) state. When in the Cob(I) form, the enzyme-bound cofactor is now able to abstract a methyl group from activated 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (N5-MeTHF), yielding tetrahydrofolate (THF) and regenerating the methylcoalamin form of the enzyme. Under physiological conditions, approximately once every 2000 catalytic turnovers the Co(I) may be oxidized into inactive Co(II) in cob-dependent MetH. To account for this effect, the protein contains a self-reactivation mechanism, a reductive methylation process that uses S-adenosylmethionine as a distinct methyl donor. In humans, the enzyme is reduced in this process by methionine synthase reductase (MTRR), which consists of flavodoxin-like and ferrodoxin-NADP+ oxioreductase (FNR)-like domains. In many bacteria, the reduction is carried out by a single domain flavodoxin protein. The reductase protein is responsible for transfer of an electron from a reduced FMN cofactor to the inactive Cob(II), which enables regeneration of the active methylcobalamin enzyme via methyl transfer from S-adenosylmethionine to the reduced Cob(I) intermediate. This process is known as the reactivation cycle, and is thought to be gated from the normal catalytic cycle by large-scale conformational rearrangements within the enzyme. Because the oxidation of Cob(I) inevitably shuts down cob-dependent methionine synthase activity, defects or deficiencies in methionine synthase reductase have been implicated in some of the disease associations for methionine synthase deficiency. The mechanism of the cobalamin-independent (MetE) form, by contrast, proceeds through a direct methyl transfer from the activated N5-MeTHF to zinc thiolate homocysteine. Although the mechanism is considerably simpler, the direct transfer reaction is much less favorable than the cobalamin-mediated reactions and as a result the turnover rate for MetE is ~100x slower than that of MetH. As it does not contain the cobalamin cofactor, the cobalamin-independent enzyme is not prone to oxidative inactivation


Structure

High-resolution structures have been solved by
X-ray crystallography X-ray crystallography is the experimental science determining the atomic and molecular structure of a crystal, in which the crystalline structure causes a beam of incident X-rays to diffract into many specific directions. By measuring the angles ...
for intact MetE both in the absence and presence of substrates and for fragments of MetH, although no structural description exists of a fully intact MetH enzyme. The available structures and accompanying bioinformatic analysis indicate minimal similarity in the overall structure, although there are similarities within the substrate-binding sites themselves. Cob-dependent MetH is divided into 4 separate domains. The domains, from N- to C-terminus, are denoted homocysteine binding (Hcy domain), N5-methylTHF binding (MTHF domain) Cobalamin-binding (Cob domain) and the S-adenosymethionine-binding or reactivation domain. The reactivation domain binds SAM and is the site of interaction with flavodoxin or Methionine Synthase Reductase during the reactivation cycle of the enzyme. The cobalamin-binding domain contains two subdomains, with the cofactor bound to the Rossman-fold B12-binding subdomain, which is in turn capped by the other subdomain, the four-helix bundle cap subdomain. The four-helix bundle serves to protect the cobalamin cofactor from unwanted reactivity, but can significantly change conformations to expose the cofactor allow it access to the other substrates during turnover. Both the Hcy and N5-MeTHF domains adopt a
TIM barrel The TIM barrel (triose-phosphate isomerase), also known as an alpha/beta barrel, is a conserved protein fold consisting of eight alpha helices (α-helices) and eight parallel beta strands (β-strands) that alternate along the peptide backbone ...
architecture; the Hcy domain contains the zinc-binding site, which in MetH consists of three
cysteine Cysteine (symbol Cys or C; ) is a semiessential proteinogenic amino acid with the formula . The thiol side chain in cysteine often participates in enzymatic reactions as a nucleophile. When present as a deprotonated catalytic residue, some ...
residues coordinated to a zinc ion which in turn binds and activates Hcy. The N5-MeTHF binding domain binds and activates N5-MeTHF via a hydrogen bonding network with several
asparagine Asparagine (symbol Asn or N) is an α-amino acid that is used in the biosynthesis of proteins. It contains an α-amino group (which is in the protonated −NH form under biological conditions), an α-carboxylic acid group (which is in the depro ...
,
arginine Arginine is the amino acid with the formula (H2N)(HN)CN(H)(CH2)3CH(NH2)CO2H. The molecule features a guanidino group appended to a standard amino acid framework. At physiological pH, the carboxylic acid is deprotonated (−CO2−) and both the am ...
, and
aspartic acid Aspartic acid (symbol Asp or D; the ionic form is known as aspartate), is an α-amino acid that is used in the biosynthesis of proteins. Like all other amino acids, it contains an amino group and a carboxylic acid. Its α-amino group is in the pro ...
residues. During turnover, the enzyme undergoes significant conformational changes that involve moving the Cob-domain back and forth from the Hcy domain to the N5-MeTHF domain in order for the two methyl transfer reactions to proceed. The cob-independent MetE consists of two TIM-barrel domains that bind homocysteine and N5-MeTHF individually. The two domains adopt a face-to-face double barrel architecture, which requires a "closing" of the structure upon binding of both substrates to enable the direct methyl transfer. Substrate-binding strategies are similar to MetH, although in the case of MetE the zinc atom is instead coordinated to two cysteines, a
histidine Histidine (symbol His or H) is an essential amino acid that is used in the biosynthesis of proteins. It contains an α-amino group (which is in the protonated –NH3+ form under biological conditions), a carboxylic acid group (which is in the ...
and a
glutamate Glutamic acid (symbol Glu or E; the ionic form is known as glutamate) is an α-amino acid that is used by almost all living beings in the biosynthesis of proteins. It is a non-essential nutrient for humans, meaning that the human body can synt ...
, for which an example is shown on the right.


Biochemical function

In humans the enzyme's main purpose is to regenerate Met in the S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) cycle. The SAM cycle in a single turnover consumes Met and ATP and generates Hcy, and can involve any of a number of critical enzymatic reactions that use S-adenosylmethionine as the source of an active methyl group for methylation of
nucleic acid Nucleic acids are biopolymers, macromolecules, essential to all known forms of life. They are composed of nucleotides, which are the monomers made of three components: a 5-carbon sugar, a phosphate group and a nitrogenous base. The two main ...
s,
histone In biology, histones are highly basic proteins abundant in lysine and arginine residues that are found in eukaryotic cell nuclei. They act as spools around which DNA winds to create structural units called nucleosomes. Nucleosomes in turn a ...
s,
phospholipid Phospholipids, are a class of lipids whose molecule has a hydrophilic "head" containing a phosphate group and two hydrophobic "tails" derived from fatty acids, joined by an alcohol residue (usually a glycerol molecule). Marine phospholipids typ ...
s and various
protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, res ...
s. As such, methionine synthase serves an essential function by allowing the SAM cycle to perpetuate without a constant influx of Met. As a secondary effect, methionine synthase also serves to maintain low levels of Hcy and, because methionine synthase is one of the few enzymes that used N5-MeTHF as a substrate, to indirectly maintain THF levels. In bacteria and plants, methionine synthase serves a dual purpose of both perpetuating the SAM cycle and catalyzing the final synthetic step in the ''de novo'' synthesis of Met, which is one of the 20 canonical
amino acid Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. Although hundreds of amino acids exist in nature, by far the most important are the alpha-amino acids, which comprise proteins. Only 22 alpha ...
s. While the chemical reaction is exactly the same for both processes, the overall function is distinct from methionine synthase in humans because Met is an
essential amino acid An essential amino acid, or indispensable amino acid, is an amino acid that cannot be synthesized from scratch by the organism fast enough to supply its demand, and must therefore come from the diet. Of the 21 amino acids common to all life form ...
that is not synthesized ''de novo'' in the body.


Clinical significance

Mutations in the MTR gene have been identified as the underlying cause of methylcobalamin deficiency complementation group G, or methylcobalamin deficiency cblG-type. Deficiency or deregulation of the enzyme due to deficient methionine synthase reductase can directly result in elevated levels of homocysteine (
hyperhomocysteinemia Hyperhomocysteinemia is a medical condition characterized by an abnormally high level of homocysteine in the blood, conventionally described as above 15 μmol/L. As a consequence of the biochemical reactions in which homocysteine is involved ...
), which is associated with blindness, neurological symptoms, and birth defects. Methionine synthase reductase (MTRR) or methylene-tetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) deficiencies can also result in the condition. Most cases of methionine synthase deficiency are symptomatic within 2 years of birth with many patients rapidly developing severe
encephalopathy Encephalopathy (; from grc, ἐνκέφαλος "brain" + πάθος "suffering") means any disorder or disease of the brain, especially chronic degenerative conditions. In modern usage, encephalopathy does not refer to a single disease, but r ...
. One consequence of reduced methionine synthase activity that is measurable by routine clinical blood tests is
megaloblastic anemia Megaloblastic anemia is a type of macrocytic anemia. An anemia is a red blood cell defect that can lead to an undersupply of oxygen. Megaloblastic anemia results from inhibition of DNA synthesis during red blood cell production. When DNA synth ...
.


Genetics

Several cblG-associated polymorphisms in the MTR gene have been identified. * 2756D→G (Asp919Gly) * 3804C→T (Pro1137Leu) * Δ2926A-2928T (ΔIle881)


See also

*
Methyltransferase Methyltransferases are a large group of enzymes that all Methylation, methylate their substrates but can be split into several subclasses based on their structural features. The most common class of methyltransferases is class I, all of which co ...
*
Arakawa's syndrome II Arakawa's syndrome II is an autosome, autosomal dominance (genetics), dominant inborn error of metabolism, metabolic disorder that causes a deficiency of the enzyme tetrahydrofolate-methyltransferase; affected individuals cannot properly metabolize ...
* Betaine—homocysteine S-methyltransferase


References


Further reading

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


External links


GeneReviews/NCBI/NIH/UW entry on Disorders of Intracellular Cobalamin Metabolism

ENZYME: EC 2.1.1.13
* {{DEFAULTSORT:5-Methyltetrahydrofolate-Homocysteine Methyltransferase EC 2.1.1 Human proteins Zinc enzymes