Tryptophan synthase or tryptophan synthetase is an

enzyme Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrate (chemistry), substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecule ...

() that catalyses the final two steps in the biosynthesis of

tryptophan Tryptophan (symbol Trp or W) is an α-amino acid that is used in the biosynthesis of proteins. Tryptophan contains an α-amino group, an α-carboxylic acid group, and a side chain indole, making it a polar molecule with a non-polar aromati ...

. It is commonly found in

Eubacteria Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were among ...

Archaebacteria Archaea ( ; singular archaeon ) is a domain of single-celled organisms. These microorganisms lack cell nuclei and are therefore prokaryotes. Archaea were initially classified as bacteria, receiving the name archaebacteria (in the Archaebacte ...

Protista A protist () is any eukaryotic organism (that is, an organism whose cells contain a cell nucleus) that is not an animal, plant, or fungus. While it is likely that protists share a common ancestor (the last eukaryotic common ancestor), the e ...

Fungi A fungus (plural, : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of Eukaryote, eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and Mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified ...

, and

Plantae 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 exclud ...

. However, it is absent from Animalia. It is typically found as an α2β2 tetramer. The α subunits catalyze the reversible formation of

indole Indole is an aromatic heterocyclic organic compound with the formula C8 H7 N. It has a bicyclic structure, consisting of a six-membered benzene ring fused to a five-membered pyrrole ring. Indole is widely distributed in the natural environme ...

and

glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate, also known as triose phosphate or 3-phosphoglyceraldehyde and abbreviated as G3P, GA3P, GADP, GAP, TP, GALP or PGAL, is a metabolite that occurs as an intermediate in several central pathways of all organisms.Nelson, D ...

(G3P) from indole-3-glycerol phosphate (IGP). The β subunits catalyze the irreversible condensation of indole and

serine Serine (symbol Ser or S) is an α-amino acid that is used in the biosynthesis of proteins. It contains an α- amino group (which is in the protonated − form under biological conditions), a carboxyl group (which is in the deprotonated − for ...

to form tryptophan in a

pyridoxal phosphate Pyridoxal phosphate (PLP, pyridoxal 5'- phosphate, P5P), the active form of vitamin B6, is a coenzyme in a variety of enzymatic reactions. The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology has catalogued more than 140 PLP-depende ...

(PLP) dependent reaction. Each α active site is connected to a β active site by a 25 angstrom long hydrophobic channel contained within the enzyme. This facilitates the diffusion of indole formed at α active sites directly to β active sites in a process known as

substrate channeling Substrate channeling is the passing of the intermediary metabolic product of one enzyme directly to another enzyme or active site without its release into solution. When several consecutive enzymes of a metabolic pathway channel substrates between ...

. The active sites of tryptophan synthase are

allosterically In biochemistry, allosteric regulation (or allosteric control) is the regulation of an enzyme by binding an effector molecule at a site other than the enzyme's active site. The site to which the effector binds is termed the ''allosteric sit ...

coupled.

Enzyme structure

Subunits: Tryptophan synthase typically exists as an α-ββ-α complex. The α and β subunits have molecular masses of 27 and 43 kDa respectively. The α subunit has 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. ...

conformation. The β subunit has a fold type II conformation and a binding site adjacent to the active site for monovalent cations. Their assembly into a complex leads to structural changes in both subunits resulting in reciprocal activation. There are two main mechanisms for intersubunit communication. First, the COMM domain of the β-subunit and the α-loop2 of the α-subunit interact. Additionally, there are interactions between the αGly181 and βSer178 residues. The active sites are regulated allosterically and undergo transitions between open, inactive, and closed, active, states. Indole-3-glycerol binding site: See image 1. Indole and serine binding site: See image 1. Hydrophobic channel: The α and β active sites are separated by a 25 angstrom long

hydrophobic In chemistry, hydrophobicity is the physical property of a molecule that is seemingly repelled from a mass of water (known as a hydrophobe). In contrast, hydrophiles are attracted to water. Hydrophobic molecules tend to be nonpolar and, ...

channel contained within the enzyme allowing for the diffusion of indole. If the channel did not exist, the indole formed at an α active site would quickly diffuse away and be lost to the cell as it is hydrophobic and can easily cross membranes. As such, the channel is essential for enzyme complex function.

Enzyme mechanism

α subunit reaction: The α subunit catalyzes the formation of indole and G3P from a retro-aldol cleavage of IGP. The αGlu49 and αAsp60 are thought to be directly involved in the catalysis as shown. The rate limiting step is the isomerization of IGP. See image 2. β subunit reaction: The β subunit catalyzes the β-replacement reaction in which indole and serine condense to form tryptophan in a PLP dependent reaction. The βLys87, βGlu109, and βSer377 are thought to be directly involved in the catalysis as shown. Again, the exact mechanism has not been conclusively determined. See image 2. Net reaction: See image 3.

Biological function

Tryptophan synthase is commonly found in Eubacteria, Archaebacteria, Protista, Fungi, and Plantae. It is absent from animals such as humans.

Tryptophan Tryptophan (symbol Trp or W) is an α-amino acid that is used in the biosynthesis of proteins. Tryptophan contains an α-amino group, an α-carboxylic acid group, and a side chain indole, making it a polar molecule with a non-polar aromati ...

is one of the twenty standard amino acids and one of nine

essential amino acids 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 ...

for humans. As such, tryptophan is a necessary component of the human diet.

Substrate scope

Tryptophan synthetase is also known to accept indole analogues, e.g., fluorinated or methylated indoles, as substrates, generating the corresponding tryptophan analogues.

Disease relevance

As humans do not have tryptophan synthase, this enzyme has been explored as a potential

drug target A biological target is anything within a living organism to which some other entity (like an endogenous ligand (biochemistry), ligand or a drug) is directed and/or binds, resulting in a change in its behavior or function. Examples of common classes ...

. However, it is thought that bacteria have alternate mechanisms to produce amino acids which might make this approach less effective. In either case, even if the drug only weakens bacteria, it might still be useful as the bacteria are already vulnerable in the hostile host environment. As such, the inhibition of tryptophan synthase along with other PLP-enzymes in amino acid metabolism has the potential to help solve medical problems. Inhibition of tryptophan synthase and other PLP-enzymes in amino acid metabolism has been suggested for: * Treatment of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in w ...

* Treatment of

ocular Eyes are organs of the visual system. They provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enabling several photo response functions that are independent of vision. Eyes detect light and conv ...

and

genital A sex organ (or reproductive organ) is any part of an animal or plant that is involved in sexual reproduction. The reproductive organs together constitute the reproductive system. In animals, the testis in the male, and the ovary in the female, ...

infections * Treatment of

cryptosporidiosis Cryptosporidiosis, sometimes informally called crypto, is a parasitic disease caused by '' Cryptosporidium'', a genus of protozoan parasites in the phylum Apicomplexa. It affects the distal small intestine and can affect the respiratory tract ...

* Herbicide use

Evolution

It is thought that early in evolution the trpB2 gene was duplicated. One copy entered the

trp operon The ''trp'' operon is a group of genes that are transcribed together, encoding the enzymes that produce the amino acid tryptophan in bacteria. The ''trp'' operon was first characterized in ''Escherichia coli,'' and it has since been discovered in ...

as trpB2i allowing for its expression with trpA. TrpB2i formed transient complexes with TrpA and in the process activated TrpA unidirectionally. The other copy remained outside as trpB2o, and fulfilled an existing role or played a new one such as acting as a salvage protein for indole. TrpB2i evolved into TrpB1, which formed permanent complexes with trpA resulting in bidirectional activation. The advantage of the indole salvage protein declined and the TrpB gene was lost. Finally, the TrpB1 and TrpA genes were fused resulting in the formation the bifunctional enzyme.

Historical significance

Tryptophan synthase was the first enzyme identified that had two

catalytic Catalysis () is the process of increasing the rate of a chemical reaction by adding a substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed in the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst recycl ...

capabilities that were extensively studied. It was also the first identified to utilize substrate channeling. As such, this enzyme has been studied extensively and is the subject of great interest.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tryptophan Synthase EC 4.2.1