Saframycin Mx1

The tetrahydroisoquinoline (THIQ) alkaloids are naturally occurring antibiotics isolated from a variety of microorganisms and marine invertebrates. This family of natural products exhibit broad spectrum antimicrobial and strong antitumor activities, and the potency of clinical application has been validated by the marketing of ecteinascidin 743 (ET-743) as anticancer drug. In the past 20 years, the biosynthetic gene cluster of six THIQ antibiotics has been characterized including saframycin Mx1 from Myxococcus xanthus, safracin-B from Pseudomonas fluorescens, saframycin A, naphthyridinomycin, and quinocarcin from Streptomyces, as well as ET-743 from Ecteinascidia turbinata. This review gives a brief summary of the current status in understanding the molecular logic for the biosynthesis of these natural products, which provides new insights on the biosynthetic machinery involved in the nonribosomal peptide synthetase system. The proposal of the THIQ biosynthetic pathway not only shows nature's route to generate such complex molecules, but also set the stage to develop a different process for production of ET-743 by synthetic biology.

Members of the saframycin/safracin/ecteinascidin family of peptide natural products are potent antitumor agents currently under clinical development. Saframycin MX1, from Myxococcus xanthus, is synthesized by a nonribosomal peptide synthetase, SafAB, and an O-methyltransferase, SafC, although other proteins are likely involved in the pathway. SafC was overexpressed in Escherichia coli, purified to homogeneity, and assayed for its ability to methylate a variety of substrates. SafC was able to catalyze the O-methylation of catechol derivatives but not phenols. Among the substrates tested, the best substrate for SafC was L-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-dopa), which was methylated specifically in the 4'-O position (k(cat)/K(m) = 5.5 x 10(3) M(-1) s(-1)). SafC displayed less activity on other catechol derivatives, including catechol, dopamine, and caffeic acid. The more labile l-5'-methyldopa was an extremely poor substrate for SafC (k(cat)/K(m) = approximately 2.8 x 10(-5) M(-1) s(-1)). L-dopa thioester derivatives were also much less reactive than L-dopa. These results indicate that SafC-catalyzed 4'-O-methylation of L-dopa occurs prior to 5'-C-methylation, suggesting that 4'-O-methylation is likely the first committed step in the biosynthesis of saframycin MX1. SafC has biotechnological potential as a methyltransferase with unique regioselectivity.

Saframycin Mx1 is a DNA-binding antibiotic and antitumour agent produced by Myxococcus xanthus. It is a heterocyclic quinone, thought to be synthesized via the linear peptide intermediate AlaGlyTyrTyr. Analysis of 14.1 kb DNA sequence involved in saframycin production revealed genes for two large multifunctional peptide synthetases of 1770 and 2605 amino acids, respectively, and a putative O-methyltransferase of 220 amino acids. The three ORFs read in the same direction and are separated by short non-translated gaps of 44 and 49 bp. The peptide synthetases contain two amino-acid-activating domains each. The first domain lacks two of the most conserved 'core' sequences, and the last domain is followed by a putative reductase functionality, not previously seen in peptide synthetases. Complementation tests showed that antibiotic-non-producing mutant strains lacking one of the peptide synthetases secrete a substrate, presumably a modified amino acid precursor, that can be used by O-methyltransferase-deficient mutant strains to synthesize saframycin Mx1.