PROSITE logo
Black ribbon
We are deeply saddened by the passing of Amos Bairoch (1957–2025), the creator of PROSITE. We wish to dedicate our latest paper, published shortly before his death, to him. He will always be a source of inspiration to us.
Our deepest condolences go out to his family and friends, and to all those who had the privilege of working with him. Rest in peace, Amos. Your work will live on long after you are gone.
Amos Bairoch

PROSITE documentation PDOC50970
Homocysteine-binding domain profile


View entry in original PROSITE document format
View entry in raw text format (no links)
PURL: https://purl.expasy.org/prosite/documentation/PDOC50970

Description

The homocysteine (Hcy) binding domain is an ~300-residue module which is found in a set of enzymes involved in alkyl transfer to thiols:

  • Prokaryotic and eukaryotic B12-dependent methionine synthase (MetH) (EC 2.1.1.13), a large, modular protein that catalyses the transfer of a methyl group from methyltetrahydrofolate (CH3-H4folate) to Hcy to form methionine, using cobalamin as an intermediate methyl carrier.
  • Mammalian βine-homocysteine S-methyltransferase (BHMT) (EC 2.1.1.5). It catalyzes the transfer of a methyl group from glycine βine to Hcy, forming methionine and dimethylglycine.
  • Plant selenocysteine methyltransferase (EC 2.1.1.-).
  • Plant and fungal AdoMet homocysteine S-methyltransferases (EC 2.1.1.10).

The Hcy-binding domain utilizes a Zn(Cys)3 cluster to bind and activate Hcy. It has been shown to form a (β/α)8 barrel (see <PDB:1Q7Z>). The Hcy binding domain barrel is distorted to form the metal- and substrate-binding sites. To accommodate the substrate, strands 1 and 2 of the barrel are loosely joined by nonclassic hydrogen bonds; to accommodate the metal, strands 6 and 8 are drawn together and strand 7 is extruded from the end of the barrel. The cysteines ligating the catalytic zinc atom are located at the C-terminal ends of strands 6 and 8 [1,2].

The profile we developed covers the entire Hcy domain.

Last update:

October 2005 / Text revised.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Technical section

PROSITE method (with tools and information) covered by this documentation:

HCY, PS50970; Homocysteine-binding domain profile  (MATRIX)


References

1AuthorsEvans J.C. Huddler D.P. Jiracek J. Castro C. Millian N.S. Garrow T.A. Ludwig M.L.
TitleBetaine-homocysteine methyltransferase: zinc in a distorted barrel.
SourceStructure 10:1159-1171(2002).
PubMed ID12220488

2AuthorsEvans J.C. Huddler D.P. Hilgers M.T. Romanchuk G. Matthews R.G. Ludwig M.L.
TitleStructures of the N-terminal modules imply large domain motions during catalysis by methionine synthase.
SourceProc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 101:3729-3736(2004).
PubMed ID14752199
DOI10.1073/pnas.0308082100



PROSITE is copyrighted by the SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics and distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) License, see prosite_license.html.