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Molybdenum cofactors, enzymes and pathways

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TLDR
The biosynthetic pathways leading to both types of cofactor have common mechanistic aspects relating to scaffold formation, metal activation and cofactor insertion into apoenzymes, and have served as an evolutionary 'toolbox' to mediate additional cellular functions in eukaryotic metabolism.
Abstract
The trace element molybdenum is essential for nearly all organisms and forms the catalytic centre of a large variety of enzymes such as nitrogenase, nitrate reductases, sulphite oxidase and xanthine oxidoreductases. Nature has developed two scaffolds holding molybdenum in place, the iron-molybdenum cofactor and pterin-based molybdenum cofactors. Despite the different structures and functions of molybdenum-dependent enzymes, there are important similarities, which we highlight here. The biosynthetic pathways leading to both types of cofactor have common mechanistic aspects relating to scaffold formation, metal activation and cofactor insertion into apoenzymes, and have served as an evolutionary 'toolbox' to mediate additional cellular functions in eukaryotic metabolism.

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Catalytic conversion of nitrogen to ammonia by an iron model complex

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Radical S-Adenosylmethionine Enzymes

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Photocatalytic fixation of nitrogen to ammonia: state-of-the-art advancements and future prospects

TL;DR: In this paper, the state-of-the-art engineering of efficient photocatalysts for dinitrogen (N2) fixation toward NH3 synthesis is reviewed and the challenges, outlooks and future prospects at the forefront of this research platform are presented.
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The essential metals for humans: a brief overview

TL;DR: The human body needs about 20 essential elements in order to function properly and among them, for certain, 10 are metal elements, though for every metal we do need, there is another one in our body we could do without it as discussed by the authors.
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Proterozoic ocean redox and biogeochemical stasis

TL;DR: This model suggests that the oceanic Mo reservoir is extremely sensitive to perturbations in the extent of sulfidic seafloor and that the record of Mo and chromium enrichments through time is consistent with the possibility of a Mo–N colimited marine biosphere during many periods of Earth’s history.
References
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Book

The Metabolic and Molecular Bases of Inherited Disease

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a list of disorders of MITOCHONDRIAL FUNCTION, including the following: DISORDERS OF MIOCHONDRIC FERTILITY XIX, XVI, XIX.
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Structure, function, and formation of biological iron-sulfur clusters

TL;DR: Iron-sulfur [Fe-S] clusters are ubiquitous and evolutionary ancient prosthetic groups that are required to sustain fundamental life processes and important mechanistic questions related to the biosynthetic process involve the molecular details of how these clusters are assembled on scaffold proteins, how they are transferred from scaffolds to target proteins, and how the biosynthesis process is regulated.
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Nitrogenase MoFe-protein at 1.16 A resolution: a central ligand in the FeMo-cofactor.

TL;DR: A high-resolution crystallographic analysis of the nitrogenase MoFe-protein reveals a previously unrecognized ligand coordinated to six iron atoms in the center of the catalytically essential FeMo-cofactor, consistent with this newly detected component being a light element, most plausibly nitrogen.
Journal ArticleDOI

Structure and function of xanthine oxidoreductase: where are we now?

TL;DR: Of special interest has been the finding that XOR can catalyze the reduction of nitrates and nitrites to nitric oxide (NO), acting as a source of both NO and peroxynitrite.
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