Radical SAM

Radical SAM is a designation for a superfamily of enzymes that use a + cluster to reductively cleave S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAM) to generate a radical, usually a 5′-deoxyadenosyl radical, as a critical intermediate. These enzymes utilize this potent radical intermediate to perform an array of unusual (from the perspective of organic chemistry) transformations, often to functionalize unactivated C-H bonds. More than 110,000 enzymes use adomet. Radical SAM enzymes are involved in cofactor biosynthesis, enzyme activation, peptide modification, post-transcriptional and post-translational modifications, metalloprotein cluster formation, tRNA modification, lipid metabolism, biosynthesis of antibiotics and natural products etc. The vast majority of known radical SAM enzymes belong to the radical SAM superfamily, and have a cysteine-rich motif that matches or resembles CxxxCxxC. Radical SAM is a designation for a superfamily of enzymes that use a + cluster to reductively cleave S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAM) to generate a radical, usually a 5′-deoxyadenosyl radical, as a critical intermediate. These enzymes utilize this potent radical intermediate to perform an array of unusual (from the perspective of organic chemistry) transformations, often to functionalize unactivated C-H bonds. More than 110,000 enzymes use adomet. Radical SAM enzymes are involved in cofactor biosynthesis, enzyme activation, peptide modification, post-transcriptional and post-translational modifications, metalloprotein cluster formation, tRNA modification, lipid metabolism, biosynthesis of antibiotics and natural products etc. The vast majority of known radical SAM enzymes belong to the radical SAM superfamily, and have a cysteine-rich motif that matches or resembles CxxxCxxC. Some radical SAMs release methyl radicals. Examples of radical SAM enzymes found within the radical SAM superfamily include: In addition, several non-canonical radical SAM enzymes have been described. These cannot be recognized by the Pfam hidden Markov model PF04055, but still use three Cys residues as ligands to a 4Fe4S cluster and produce a radical from S-adenosylmethionine. These include