Peptide Deformylase: A New Type of Mononuclear Iron Protein

摘要

The dramatically different catalytic activities associated with the Fe~2+ vs Zn~2+ enzymes, which apparently have a similar tertiary structure, provide further support that the metal ions are directly involved in catalysis. To our knowledge, this represents the first example of an iron-containing amidase. Since most of the metallopro- teases and metallopeptidases utilize Zn~2+ as the catalytic metal, the unique structural feature of peptide deformylase will facilitate the design of selective deformylase inhibitors.