Annual Review of Biochemistry
Annual Review of Biochemistry
5 years ago

A New Facet of Vitamin B12: Gene Regulation by Cobalamin-Based Photoreceptors.

Jost, Drennan, Elías-Arnanz, Padmanabhan
Living organisms sense and respond to light, a crucial environmental factor, using photoreceptors, which rely on bound chromophores such as retinal, flavins, or linear tetrapyrroles for light sensing. The discovery of photoreceptors that sense light using 5'-deoxyadenosylcobalamin, a form of vitamin B12 that is best known as an enzyme cofactor, has expanded the number of known photoreceptor families and unveiled a new biological role of this vitamin. The prototype of these B12-dependent photoreceptors, the transcriptional repressor CarH, is widespread in bacteria and mediates light-dependent gene regulation in a photoprotective cellular response. CarH activity as a transcription factor relies on the modulation of its oligomeric state by 5'-deoxyadenosylcobalamin and light. This review surveys current knowledge about these B12-dependent photoreceptors, their distribution and mode of action, and the structural and photochemical basis of how they orchestrate signal transduction and control gene expression.

Publisher URL: http://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-biochem-061516-044500

DOI: 10.1146/annurev-biochem-061516-044500

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