Juvenile hormone synthesis: "esterify then epoxidize" or "epoxidize then esterify"? Insights from the structural characterization of juvenile hormone acid methyltransferase.

ABSTRACT: Juvenile hormones (JHs) play key roles in regulating metamorphosis and reproduction in insects. The last two steps of JH synthesis diverge depending on the insect order. In Lepidoptera, epoxidation by a P450 monooxygenase precedes esterification by a juvenile hormone acid methyltransferase (JHAMT). In Orthoptera, Dictyoptera, Coleoptera and Diptera epoxidation follows methylation. The aim of our study was to gain insight into the structural basis of JHAMT's substrate recognition as a means to understand the divergence of these pathways. Homology modeling was used to build the structure of Aedes aegypti JHAMT. The substrate binding site was identified, as well as the residues that interact with the methyl donor (S-adenosylmethionine) and the carboxylic acid of the substrate methyl acceptors

SUBMITTER: Defelipe LA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3057355 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature