Sarah Williamson and Lisa Le. BCHM3X82 Expt 5.
Ornithine Decarboxylase (ODC) is a homodimer and an essential enzyme in the biosynthesis of polyamines, required for cell replication. In normal conditions, the natural substrate of ODC is ornithine. It undergoes a decarboxylation reaction to produce the polyamine, putrescine. DFMO is an analogue of ornitine (shown as a ball-and-stick model in the sketch). It is a drug used to clinically treat African trypanosomiasis, a potentially life threatening infectious disease caused by the parasite T. brucei. DFMO works by permanently inhibiting ODC in T. Brucei, which results in cell death.
Annotations 1, 3 and 4 highlight the changes that occur in ODC when its inhibitor, DFMO, binds.
Annotation 2 highlights the mutation in ODC necessary for quality crystal structure comprehension. While annotation 5 highlights the general structure of the dimer interface across the 2 subunits.
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