Tetrahydroberberine oxidase
class of enzymes
(S)-Tetrahydroberberine oxidase (EC 1.3.3.8) is an enzyme that catalyzes the final transformation in the biosynthesis of berberine, a quaternary benzylisoquinoline alkaloid of the protoberberine structural subgroup. This reaction pathway catalyzes the four-electron oxidation of (S)-tetrahydroberberine (also known as (S)-canadine) in the presence of oxygen to produce berberine and hydrogen peroxide.
This enzyme belongs to the family known as oxidoreductases, in this instance the CH-CH moiety acts as the electron donor with oxygen acting as the electron acceptor. The systematic name of this enzyme is (S)-tetrahydroberberine:oxygen oxidoreductase; but it is also known as (S)-THB oxidase, tetrahydroberberine oxidase, and decreasingly, as (S)-tetrahydroprotoberberine oxidase.
Other quaternary benzylisoquinoline alkaloids can be produced by this enzyme, provided that their precursor has (S} configuration at the centre next to the nitrogen. For example, (S)-isocorypalmine is oxidised to columbamine; tetrahydropalmatine to palmatine, and tetrahydropapaverine to papaverine.
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This entry incorporates text from “Tetrahydroberberine oxidase” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.