Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 1, 2025

Extraction of Cofactor F420 for Analysis of Polyglutamate Tail Length from Methanogenic Pure Cultures and Environmental Samples
Published on: October 14, 2021
"Cofactors" for Natural Products
Shao-Lun Chiou1, Chin-Yuan Chang2, John Chu1
1Department of Chemistry, National Taiwan University, 106319, Taipei City, Taiwan.
Abstract:
Cofactors are non-protein entities necessary for proteins to operate. They provide "functional groups" beyond those of the 20 canonical amino acids and enable proteins to carry out more diverse functions. Such a viewpoint is rarely mentioned, if at all, when it comes to natural products and is the theme of this Concept. Even though the mechanisms of action (MOA) of only a few natural products are known to require cofactors, we believe that cofactor mediated MOA in natural products are far more prevalent than what we currently know. Bleomycin is a case in point. It binds iron cation to form a pseudoenzyme that generates reactive oxygen species. As another example, calcium cations induce laspartomycin to "fold" into the active conformation. Iron and calcium are bona fide cofactors for bleomycin and laspartomycin, respectively, as these natural products do not display their characteristic anticancer and antibacterial activities without Fe(II) and Ca(II). These types of cofactor mediated MOA in natural products were discovered mostly serendipitously, and being conscious of such a possibility is the first step toward identifying more novel chemistry that nature performs.
More Related Videos
11:44Cellular Membrane Affinity Chromatography Columns to Identify Specialized Plant Metabolites Interacting with Immobilized Tropomyosin Kinase Receptor B
Published on: January 19, 2022
06:01EPR Monitored Redox Titration of the Cofactors of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Nar1
Published on: November 26, 2014
Related Concept Videos
Cofactors and Coenzymes
Cofactors can be metallic ions or organic molecules called coenzymes. These types of helper...
Role of Reduced Coenzymes NADH and FADH₂
Introduction to Mechanisms of Enzyme Catalysis
Introduction to Enzymes
Most enzymes are proteins that speed up biochemical reactions without being consumed. Enzymes contain one or more active sites that...
Factors Influencing the Rate of Chemical Reactions
Concentration and Pressure:
The more particles present within a given space, the more likely those particles are to bump into one another....
Cooperative Allosteric Transitions