Stereospecific enzymatic transformation of α-ketoglutarate to (2S,3R)-3-methyl glutamate during acidic lipopeptide biosynthesis

The acidic lipopeptides, including the calcium-dependent antibiotics (CDA), daptomycin, and A54145, are important macrocyclic peptide natural products produced by Streptomyces species. All three compounds contain a 3-methyl glutamate (3-MeGlu) as the penultimate C-terminal residue, which is important for bioactivity. Here, biochemical in vitro reconstitution of the 3-MeGlu biosynthetic pathway is presented, using exclusively enzymes from the CDA producer Streptomyces coelicolor. It is shown that the predicted 3-MeGlu methyltransferase GlmT and its homologues Dptl from the daptomycin producer Streptomyces roseosporus and Lptl from the A54145 producer Streptomyces fradiae do not methylate free glutamic acid, PCP-bound glutamate, or Glu-containing CDA in vitro. Instead, GlmT, Dptl, and Lptl are S-adenosyl methionine (SAM)-dependent α-ketoglutarate methyltransferases that catalyze the stereospecific methylation of α-ketoglutarate (αKG) leading to (3R)-3-methyl-2-oxoglutarate. Subsequent enzyme screening identified the branched chain amino acid transaminase IIvE (SCO5523) as an efficient catalyst for the transformation of (3R)-3-methyl-2-oxoglutarate into (2S,3R)-3-MeGlu. Comparison of reversed-phase HPLC retention time of dabsylated 3-MeGlu generated by the coupled enzymatic reaction with dabsylated synthetic standards confirmed complete stereocontrol during enzymatic catalysis. This stereospecific two-step conversion of αKG to (2S,3R)-3-MeGlu completes our understanding of the biosynthesis and incorporation of β-methylated amino acids into the nonribosomal lipopeptides. Finally, understanding this pathway may provide new possibilities for the production of modified peptides in engineered microbes. © 2007 American Chemical Society.