Renewable Resource: To Produce Vital Lipoic Acid, Sulfur is Used, Then Replenished (IMAGE)

Penn State

Renewable Resource: To Produce Vital Lipoic Acid, Sulfur is Used, Then Replenished

Caption

Model of the crystal structure of the lipoyl synthase enzyme (LipA) from the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis revealing the destruction of one of its iron-sulfur clusters (orange and yellow balls) to use as a sulfur source for the production of lipoic acid. New research demonstrates that the iron-sulfur cluster that is destroyed during the production of lipoic acid is replaced by an iron-sulfur carrier protein, NfuA, so that LipA can continue to produce lipoic acid.

Credit

Booker laboratory, Penn State University

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