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Folate mystery finally solved
Date:8/22/2007

Some biochemical processes, especially those in bacteria, have been so well studied its assumed that no discoveries are left to be made. Not so, it turns out, for Johns Hopkins researchers who have stumbled on the identity of an enzyme that had been a mystery for more than 30 years. The report appears in the May 15 issue of Structure.

It was really quite a surprise when we realized we had discovered the unknown player in how bacteria make the B vitamin folate, a player that weve known of since 1974, says study author L. Mario Amzel, Ph.D., professor and director of biophysics and biophysical chemistry at Hopkins. Basic research can be so serendipitous at times.

Amzel and colleague Maurice Bessman and their labs were in the middle of systematically characterizing how members of a family of related enzymes in bacteria can recognize specific molecules. With each family member, they isolated purified enzyme, grew crystals of pure enzyme, and figured out the enzymes 3-D structure by using techniques that use X-rays.

Armed with the 3-D structure, they then used computer modeling to analyze how the enzyme binds to and acts on another molecule, its substrate.

We still didnt know that it was anything special until Maurice started searching old publications, says study author Sandra Gabelli, Ph.D. As it turns out, Suzuki and coworkers in 1974 had published evidence of an enzyme in the bacteria E. coli with similar characteristics to ours that could initiate folate biosynthesis.

So we had to ask, Can the bacteria make folate if we remove the orf17 gene" says Amzel. Bessman and colleagues then knocked-out the gene and, predictably, the bacteria made 10 times less folate than usual.

It was such a sweet discovery, says Gabelli. Its scientific discovery the old-fashioned way, finding something we werent looking for.

The mechanics behind how bacteria make folate are of particular interest to scientists who
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Contact: Nick Zagorski
443-287-2251
Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions
Source:Eurekalert

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