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| Metalloenzymes catalyze a wide variety of reactions ranging from electron transfer to the insertion of oxygen into
carbon-hydrogen bonds. In performing these action the metal can be alone, in a cluster, or associated with a porphyrin. Work in the Ohlendorf lab has been in two classes of metalloenzymes. The first class, dioxygenases, use an isolated iron or manganese atom to catalyze the cleavage of aromatic rings with the incorporation of both atoms of molecular oxygen. This reaction is the key step in the degradation pathway for many aromatic compounds found in the environment. The second class, monooxygenases, use a binuclear Fe-O-Fe cluster to insert one atom from molecular oxygen into an organic substrate. |
Iron coordination sphere of protocatechuate 3,4-dioxygenase (3,4-PCD). |
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