Omega-3 fatty acids are oxygenated at the n-7 carbon by the lipoxygenase domain of a fusion protein in the cyanobacterium Acaryochloris marina.
Lipoxygenases (LOX) are found in most organisms that contain polyunsaturated fatty acids, usually existing as individual genes although occasionally encoded as a fusion protein with a catalase-related hemoprotein. Such a fusion protein occurs in the cyanobacterium Acaryochloris marina and herein we report the novel catalytic activity of its LOX domain. The full-length protein and the C-terminal LOX domain were expressed in Escherichia coli, and the catalytic activities characterized by UV, HPLC, GC-MS, and CD. All omega-3 polyunsaturates were oxygenated by the LOX domain at the n-7 position and with R stereospecificity: alpha-linolenic and the most abundant fatty acid in A. marina, stearidonic acid (C18.4omega3), are converted to the corresponding 12R-hydroperoxides, eicosapentaenoic acid to its 14R-hydroperoxide, and docosahexaenoic acid to its 16R-hydroperoxide. Omega-6 polyunsaturates were oxygenated at the n-10 position, forming 9R-hydroperoxy-octadecadienoic acid from linoleic acid and 11R-hydroperoxy-eicosatetraenoic acid from arachidonic acid. The metabolic transformation of stearidonic acid by the full-length fusion protein entails its 12R oxygenation with subsequent conversion by the catalase-related domain to a novel allene epoxide, a likely precursor of cyclopentenone fatty acids or other signaling molecules (Gao et al, J. Biol. Chem. 284:22087-98, 2009). Although omega-3 fatty acids and lipoxygenases are of widespread occurrence, this appears to be the first description of a LOX-catalyzed oxygenation that specifically utilizes the terminal pentadiene of omega-3 fatty acids.
Department of Pharmacology, and the Vanderbilt Institute of Chemical Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37232, USA.
Benlian
B
Gao
William E
WE
Boeglin
Alan R
AR
Brash
D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D000458:Cyanobacteria / Q000201:enzymology*; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3 / Q000378:metabolism*; D007700:Kinetics; D008084:Lipoxygenase / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D013379:Substrate Specificity
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D008084:Lipoxygenase