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Updated: May 10, 2026

Enzymatic Synthesis of Epoxidized Metabolites of Docosahexaenoic, Eicosapentaenoic, and Arachidonic Acids
Published on: June 28, 2019
Structure-function relationship in the CYP74 family: conversion of divinyl ether synthases into allene oxide
Yana Y Toporkova1, Valeria S Ermilova, Svetlana S Gorina
1Kazan Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Russian Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 30, Kazan 420111, Russia.
Abstract:
Non-classical P450s of CYP74 family control several enzymatic conversions of fatty acid hydroperoxides to bioactive oxylipins in plants, some invertebrates and bacteria. The family includes two dehydrases, namely allene oxide synthase (AOS) and divinyl ether synthase (DES), and two isomerases, hydroperoxide lyase (HPL) and epoxyalcohol synthase. To study the interconversion of different CYP74 enzymes, we prepared the mutant forms V379F and E292G of tobacco (CYP74D3) and flax (CYP74B16) divinyl ether synthases (DESs), respectively. In contrast to the wild type (WT) enzymes, both mutant forms lacked DES activity. Instead, they produced the typical AOS products, α-ketols and (in the case of the flax DES mutant) 12-oxo-10,15-phytodienoic acid. This is the first demonstration of DES into AOS conversions caused by single point mutations.
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