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Cover Feature: Protonation‐Initiated Cyclization by a Class II Terpene Cyclase Assisted by Tunneling (ChemBioChem 23/2017)
Author(s) -
Eriksson Adam,
Kürten Charlotte,
Syrén PerOlof
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
chembiochem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.05
H-Index - 126
eISSN - 1439-7633
pISSN - 1439-4227
DOI - 10.1002/cbic.201700602
Subject(s) - terpene , cyclase , protonation , chemistry , stereochemistry , biosynthesis , substrate (aquarium) , enzyme , organic chemistry , biology , ion , ecology
The cover feature picture shows hydrogen tunneling during the initiation of polycyclization by protonation catalyzed by ent‐copalyl diphosphate synthase, a class II terpene cyclase. This previously unacknowledged feature of the remarkable biosynthetic mechanism could potentially be facilitated by the inherent “plastic” nature of terpene cyclases. In addition to substrate prefolding, as shown for geranylgeranyl diphosphate at the tunnel exit, enzyme‐assisted tunneling could be of importance in various terpene biocatalytic mechanisms for natural product biosynthesis. More information can be found in the communication by P.‐O. Syrén et al. on page 2301 in Issue 23, 2017 . Image by Magnus Snickars (DOI: 10.1002/cbic.201700443).