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Hudspeth J, Rogge K, Dörner S, Müll M, Hoffmeister D, Rupp B, Werten S. Methyl transfer in psilocybin biosynthesis. Nat Commun 2024; 15:2709. [PMID: 38548735 PMCID: PMC10978996 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-46997-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2023] [Accepted: 03/17/2024] [Indexed: 04/01/2024] Open
Abstract
Psilocybin, the natural hallucinogen produced by Psilocybe ("magic") mushrooms, holds great promise for the treatment of depression and several other mental health conditions. The final step in the psilocybin biosynthetic pathway, dimethylation of the tryptophan-derived intermediate norbaeocystin, is catalysed by PsiM. Here we present atomic resolution (0.9 Å) crystal structures of PsiM trapped at various stages of its reaction cycle, providing detailed insight into the SAM-dependent methylation mechanism. Structural and phylogenetic analyses suggest that PsiM derives from epitranscriptomic N6-methyladenosine writers of the METTL16 family, which is further supported by the observation that bound substrates physicochemically mimic RNA. Inherent limitations of the ancestral monomethyltransferase scaffold hamper the efficiency of psilocybin assembly and leave PsiM incapable of catalysing trimethylation to aeruginascin. The results of our study will support bioengineering efforts aiming to create novel variants of psilocybin with improved therapeutic properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jesse Hudspeth
- Institute of Genetic Epidemiology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
- Department of Chemistry, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, USA
| | - Kai Rogge
- Institute of Pharmacy, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany
- Research Group Pharmaceutical Microbiology, Leibniz Institute of Natural Product Research and Infection Biology, Hans Knöll Institute, Jena, Germany
| | - Sebastian Dörner
- Institute of Pharmacy, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany
- Research Group Pharmaceutical Microbiology, Leibniz Institute of Natural Product Research and Infection Biology, Hans Knöll Institute, Jena, Germany
| | - Maximilian Müll
- Research Group Biosynthetic Design of Natural Products, Leibniz Institute of Natural Product Research and Infection Biology, Hans Knöll Institute, Jena, Germany
| | - Dirk Hoffmeister
- Institute of Pharmacy, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany
- Research Group Pharmaceutical Microbiology, Leibniz Institute of Natural Product Research and Infection Biology, Hans Knöll Institute, Jena, Germany
| | - Bernhard Rupp
- Institute of Genetic Epidemiology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
- k.-k. Hofkristallamt, San Diego, California, USA
| | - Sebastiaan Werten
- Institute of Genetic Epidemiology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.
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Müll M, Pourmasoumi F, Wehrhan L, Nosovska O, Stephan P, Zeihe H, Vilotijevic I, Keller BG, Kries H. Biosynthetic incorporation of fluorinated amino acids into the nonribosomal peptide gramicidin S. RSC Chem Biol 2023; 4:692-697. [PMID: 37654511 PMCID: PMC10467612 DOI: 10.1039/d3cb00061c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2023] [Accepted: 07/24/2023] [Indexed: 09/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Fluorine is a key element in medicinal chemistry, as it can significantly enhance the pharmacological properties of drugs. In this study, we aimed to biosynthetically produce fluorinated analogues of the antimicrobial cyclic decapeptide gramicidin S (GS). However, our results show that the A-domain of the NRPS module GrsA rejects 4-fluorinated analogues of its native substrate Phe due to an interrupted T-shaped aromatic interaction in the binding pocket. We demonstrate that GrsA mutant W239S improves the incorporation of 4-fluorinated Phe into GS both in vitro and in vivo. Our findings provide new insights into the behavior of NRPSs towards fluorinated amino acids and strategies for the engineered biosynthesis of fluorinated peptides.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maximilian Müll
- Junior Research Group Biosynthetic Design of Natural Products, Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology, Hans Knöll Institute (HKI Jena) Jena 07745 Germany
| | - Farzaneh Pourmasoumi
- Junior Research Group Biosynthetic Design of Natural Products, Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology, Hans Knöll Institute (HKI Jena) Jena 07745 Germany
| | - Leon Wehrhan
- Freie Universität Berlin, Department of Biology, Chemistry, and Pharmacy, Institute of Chemistry and Biochemistry Arnimallee 20 Berlin 14195 Germany
| | - Olena Nosovska
- Institute of Organic Chemistry and Macromolecular Chemistry, Friedrich Schiller University Jena Humboldtstr. 10 Jena 07743 Germany
| | - Philipp Stephan
- Junior Research Group Biosynthetic Design of Natural Products, Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology, Hans Knöll Institute (HKI Jena) Jena 07745 Germany
| | - Hannah Zeihe
- Junior Research Group Biosynthetic Design of Natural Products, Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology, Hans Knöll Institute (HKI Jena) Jena 07745 Germany
| | - Ivan Vilotijevic
- Institute of Organic Chemistry and Macromolecular Chemistry, Friedrich Schiller University Jena Humboldtstr. 10 Jena 07743 Germany
| | - Bettina G Keller
- Freie Universität Berlin, Department of Biology, Chemistry, and Pharmacy, Institute of Chemistry and Biochemistry Arnimallee 20 Berlin 14195 Germany
| | - Hajo Kries
- Junior Research Group Biosynthetic Design of Natural Products, Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology, Hans Knöll Institute (HKI Jena) Jena 07745 Germany
- University of Bayreuth, Organic Chemistry I Bayreuth 95440 Germany
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