Structure and catalytic activity of a dihydrofolate reductase-like enzyme from Leptospira interrogans.
Chandit, C., Hengphasatporn, K., Donsuy, P., Shigeta, Y., Wangkanont, K.(2025) Int J Biol Macromol 298: 139931-139931
- PubMed: 39824401 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2025.139931
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
8JSV, 8JSY, 8JT0 - PubMed Abstract: 
A dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR)-like enzyme from Leptospira interrogans (LiDHFRL) was cloned and the recombinant protein was characterized. Sequence alignment suggested that the enzyme lacked the conserved catalytic residues found in DHFR. Indeed, LiDHFRL did not catalyze the reduction of dihydrofolate by either NADH or NADPH. X-ray crystallography revealed that LiDHFRL bound NADP(H) tightly, but its active site architecture was vastly different from that of Escherichia coli DHFR (EcDHFR) and other DHFRLs. Interestingly, vanillin could serve as a substrate for LiDHFRL, demonstrating that LiDHFRL is a functional enzyme. A putative vanillin binding mode was proposed.
- Center of Excellence for Molecular Biology and Genomics of Shrimp, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand; Center of Excellence in Molecular Crop, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.
Organizational Affiliation: