Potato epoxide hydrolase 1 exhibits rich enantio- and regioselectivity in the hydrolysis of a broad range of substrates. The enzyme can be engineered to increase the yield of optically pure products as a result of changes in both enantio- and regioselectivity. It is thus highly attractive in biocatalysis, particularly for the generation of enantiopure fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals. The pre...

Soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) is a ubiquitous mammalian enzyme for which liver and kidney are reported to have the highest activity. We have shown that the soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) activity present in rat neutrophils and macrophages is kinetically, immunologically, and physically indistinguishable from rat liver cytosolic sEH. Cytosol from rat liver or inflammatory cells and recombinan...

The regioand enantioselective hydrolysis of several phenyloxiranes catalyzed by soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) was investigated using recombinant human, mouse or cress sEH. Results indicate that human and mouse sEH enantioselectively hydrolyze (S,S)-alkyl-phenyloxiranes faster than the (R,R)alkyl-phenyloxiranes investigated in this study, while cress sEH displayed opposite enantioselectivity. ...

Enantiomers of the diastereomeric pair of bay-region benz(a)anthracene 3,4-diol-1,2-epoxides in which the benzylic 4-hydroxyl group and epoxide oxygen are either cis (isomer 1) or trans (isomer 2) were evaluated for mutagenic activity in two histidine-dependent strains of Salmonella typhimurium, as well as in an 8-azaguanine-sensitive Chinese hamster cell line. In strain TA 98 of S. typhimurium...

Leukotriene (LT) A(4) hydrolase is a bifunctional zinc metalloenzyme, which converts LTA(4) into the neutrophil chemoattractant LTB(4) and also exhibits an anion-dependent aminopeptidase activity. In the x-ray crystal structure of LTA(4) hydrolase, Arg(563) and Lys(565) are found at the entrance of the active center. Here we report that replacement of Arg(563), but not Lys(565), leads to comple...

Inhibition of soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) has been proposed as a new pharmaceutical approach for treating hypertension and vascular inflammation. The most potent sEH inhibitors reported in literature to date are urea derivatives. However, these compounds have limited pharmacokinetic profiles. We investigated non-urea amide derivatives as sEH inhibitors and identified a potent human sEH inhi...

Epoxide hydrolases are essential for the processing of epoxide-containing compounds in detoxification or metabolism. The classic epoxide hydrolases have an alpha/beta hydrolase fold and act via a two-step reaction mechanism including an enzyme-substrate intermediate. We report here the structure of the limonene-1,2-epoxide hydrolase from Rhodococcus erythropolis, solved using single-wavelength ...

Quantum chemical studies of enzymatic reactions are able to provide detailed insight into mechanisms and catalytic strategies. The energetic feasibility of proposed mechanisms can be established, and new possible reaction pathways can be put forward. The role of the involved active site residues can be analyzed in detail and the origins for experimentally observed selectivities can be investiga...