Synthesis of phycocyanobilin in mammalian cells.

Biliverdin, an intermediate in the biosynthesis of plant pigments

The formation of phycocyanobilin (Fig,. I ) , the prosthetic group of the photosynthetic algal biliproteins phycocyanin and allophycocyanin, has been shown to proceed by the classical porphyrin biosynthetic pathway from 5-aminolaevulinate to haem (Troxler, 1972; Brown et al., 1981). As phycocyanobilin is an open-chain tetrapyrrole with the IXa configuration, its formation from haem must include...

Expression of Biologically Active Recombinant B-Domain-Deleted Human Factor VIII in Mammalian Cells

Formation of carbon monoxide and bile pigment in red and blue-green algae.

Five blue-green and one red algal species produced carbon monoxide during photosynthetic growth. The blue-green algae synthesized CO and phycocyanobilin in equimolar quantities at identical rates. The red alga, Porphyridium cruentum, incorporated Delta-aminolevulinic acid-5-(14)C into phycoerythrobilin and CO. The ratio of the specific radioactivity of phycoerythrobilin to that of CO, and the k...

Biosynthesis of phycobilins. 3(Z)-phycoerythrobilin and 3(Z)-phycocyanobilin are intermediates in the formation of 3(E)-phycocyanobilin from biliverdin IX alpha.

An enzyme extract from the phycocyanin-containing unicellular rhodophyte, Cyanidium caldarium, reductively transforms biliverdin IX alpha to phycocyanobilin, the chromophore of phycocyanin, in the presence of NADPH. Unpurified cell extract forms both 3(E)-phycocyanobilin, which is identical to the major pigment that is released from phycocyanin by methanolysis, and 3(Z)-phycocyanobilin, which i...

Photoconversion and Fluorescence Properties of a Red/Green-Type Cyanobacteriochrome AM1_C0023g2 That Binds Not Only Phycocyanobilin But Also Biliverdin

Cyanobacteriochromes (CBCRs) are distantly related to the red/far-red responsive phytochromes. Red/green-type CBCRs are widely distributed among various cyanobacteria. The red/green-type CBCRs covalently bind phycocyanobilin (PCB) and show red/green reversible photoconversion. Recent studies revealed that some red/green-type CBCRs from chlorophyll d-bearing cyanobacterium Acaryochloris marina c...