Sulfur as a Carrier of Methyl Groups in One-Carbon Metabolism - Stereochemical Studies

Abstract

Sulfur plays a critical role in many biochemical reactions both as a nucleophile and a nucleofuge and, in the form of the sulfhydryl-disulfide pair, as a redox system. It is involved in stabling protein structures through disulfide bridges (cysteine/cystine), in the catalysis of redox chemistry, e.g., the oxidative decarboxylation of pyruvate (lipoic acid), in the activation of acyl groups (coenzyme A) and it serves as adonor and carrier of methyl groups in biological methylation reactions (methionine and its activated form, S-adenosylmethionine, AdoMet). The latter reactions have been a subject of interest in our laboratory for some time and form the topic of this lecture.