The formation of metabolons allows the intermediate product from one enzyme to be passed (channelling) directly into the active site of the next consecutive enzyme of the metabolic pathway. The citric acid cycle is an example of a metabolon that facilitates substrate channeling.[1][2] Another example is the dhurrin synthesis pathway in sorghum, in which the enzymes assemble as a metabolon in lipid membranes.[3] During the functioning of metabolons, the amount of water needed to hydrate the enzymes is reduced and enzyme activity is increased[citation needed].
History
The concept of structural-metabolic cellular complexes was first conceived in 1970 by A. M. Kuzin of the USSR Academy of Sciences,[4] and adopted in 1972 by Paul A. Srere of the University of Texas for the enzymes of the citric acid cycle.[5] This hypothesis was well accepted in the former USSR and further developed for the complex of glycolytic enzymes (Embden-Meyerhof-Parnas pathway) by B.I. Kurganov and A.E. Lyubarev.[6][7][8][9] In the mid-1970s, the group of F.M. Clarke at the University of Queensland, Australia also worked on the concept.[10][11] The name "metabolon" was first proposed in 1985 by Paul Srere[12] during a lecture in Debrecen, Hungary.[13]
The case of Fatty Acid Synthesis
In Chaetomium thermophilum, a complex of a metabolon exists between fatty acid synthase and a MDa carboxylase,[14] and was observed using chemical cross-linking coupled to mass spectrometry and visualized by cryo-electron microscopy. The Fatty acid synthesis metabolon in C. thermophilum is highly flexible, and although a high-resolution structure of Fatty acid synthase was possible, the metabolon was highly flexible, hindering high-resolution structure determination.[citation needed]
Examples
Metabolic pathways in which formation of metabolons occurs
A – Channeling, B – Specific protein-protein interactions, C – Specific protein – membrane interactions, D – Kinetic effects, E – Multienzyme complexes identified, F – Genetic proofs, G – Operative modeled systems, H – Identified multifunctional proteins, I – Physico-chemical proofs.[15]
^Kuzin A. M. Structural – metabolic hypothesis in radiobiology. Moscow: Nauka Ed., 1970.- 50 p.
^Srere P. A. Is there an organization of Krebs cycle enzymes in the mitochondrial matrix? In: Energy Metabolism and the Regulation of Metabolic Processes in Mitochondria, R. W. Hanson and W.A. Mehlman (Eds.). New York: Academic Press. 1972. p.79-91.
^Lyubarev, A. E.; Kurganov, B. I. (1989). "Supramolecular organization of tricarboxylic acid cycle enzymes". Biosystems. 22 (2): 91–102. doi:10.1016/0303-2647(89)90038-5. PMID2720141.
^Lyubarev A. E., Kurganov B. I. Supramolecular organisation of Tricarboxylic Acids Cycle's enzymes. Proceedings of the All-Union Symposium "Molecular mechanisms and regulation of energy metabolism". Puschino, Russia, 1986. p. 13. (in Russian) [1].
^Kurganov B. I, Lyubarev A. E. Hypothetical structure of the complex of glycolytic enzymes (glycolytic metabolon), formed on the membrane of erythrocytes. Molek. Biologia. 1988. V.22, No.6, p. 1605–1613. (in Russian)[2]
^Kurganov B.I., Lyubarev A.E. Enzymes and multienzyme complexes as controllable systems. In: Soviet Scientific Reviews. Section D. Physicochemical Biology Reviews. V. 8 (ed. V.P. Skulachev). Glasgow, Harwood Acad. Publ., 1988, p. 111-147 [3]
^Clarke, F. M.; Masters, C. J. (1975). "On the association of glycolytic enzymes with structural proteins of skeletal muscle". Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - General Subjects. 381 (1): 37–46. doi:10.1016/0304-4165(75)90187-7. PMID1111588.
^Clarke, F. M.; Stephan, P.; Huxham, G.; Hamilton, D.; Morton, D. J. (1984). "Metabolic dependence of glycolytic enzyme binding in rat and sheep heart". European Journal of Biochemistry. 138 (3): 643–9. doi:10.1111/j.1432-1033.1984.tb07963.x. PMID6692839.
^Robinson, J. B., Jr. & Srere, P. A. (1986) Interactions of sequential metabolic enzymes of the mitochondria: a role in metabolic regulation, pp. 159–171 in Dynamics of Biochemical Systems (ed. Damjanovich, S., Keleti, T. & Trón, L.), Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, Hungary
^Veliky M.M., Starikovich L. S., Klimishin N. I., Chayka Ya. P. Molecular mechanisms in the integration of metabolism. Lviv National University Ed., Lviv, Ukraine. 2007. 229 P. (in ukrainian) ISBN978-966-613-538-7