title: Molecular enzymology of lipoxygenases.
abstract: Lipoxygenases (LOXs) are lipid peroxidizing enzymes, implicated in the pathogenesis of inflammatory and hyperproliferative diseases, which represent potential targets for pharmacological intervention. Although soybean LOX1 was discovered more than 60years ago, the structural biology of these enzymes was not studied until the mid 1990s. In 1993 the first crystal structure for a plant LOX was solved and following this protein biochemistry and molecular enzymology became major fields in LOX research. This review focuses on recent developments in molecular enzymology of LOXs and summarizes our current understanding of the structural basis of LOX catalysis. Various hypotheses explaining the reaction specificity of different isoforms are critically reviewed and their pros and cons briefly discussed. Moreover, we summarize the current knowledge of LOX evolution by profiling the existence of LOX-related genomic sequences in the three kingdoms of life. Such sequences are found in eukaryotes and bacteria but not in archaea. Although the biological role of LOXs in lower organisms is far from clear, sequence data suggests that this enzyme family might have evolved shortly after the appearance of atmospheric oxygen on earth.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biochemistry, University Medicine Berlin - Charité, Germany.
authors.forename: Igor
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ivanov
authors.forename: Dagmar
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Heydeck
authors.forename: Katharina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hofheinz
authors.forename: Jana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Roffeis
authors.forename: Valerie B
authors.initials: VB
authors.lastname: O'Donnell
authors.forename: Hartmut
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kuhn
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Walther
mesh_terms: D000494:Allosteric Regulation; D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000201:enzymology; D001483:Base Sequence; D002384:Catalysis; D056890:Eukaryota; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D006801:Humans; D007527:Isoenzymes / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008084:Lipoxygenase / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D010944:Plants / Q000201:enzymology; D011485:Protein Binding; D011487:Protein Conformation
chemical_list: D007527:Isoenzymes; D008084:Lipoxygenase