Radical SAM enzymes: Nature’s choice for radical reactions

Microbiology Seminar Series

  • Date: Feb 18, 2025
  • Time: 01:15 PM (Local Time Germany)
  • Speaker: Prof. Joan Broderick
  • Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Montana State University
  • Location: MPI for Terrestrial Microbiology
  • Room: Lecture Hall / Hybrid
  • Host: Dr. Johannes Rebelein
  • Contact: johannes.rebelein@mpi-marburg.mpg.de

Radical S-adenosyl-l-methionine (SAM) enzymes catalyze diverse and challenging reactions across all life’s kingdoms. These reactions are initiated by transfer of an electron from a site-differentiated [4Fe-4S]+ cluster to a coordinated SAM, leading to homolytic cleavage of the S-C5′ bond of SAM. We have used time-resolved freeze-quench trapping coupled to EPR and ENDOR spectroscopy to demonstrate the progression of radical SAM reactions through sequential radical intermediates, and provided important clues to how Nature uses inorganic chemistry to harness, with exquisite regioselective and stereoselective control, the highly reactive 5′-deoxyadenosyl primary carbon radical for initiation of radical-based chemical transformations essential to life.

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