Quinone reductase 2 is a catechol quinone reductase.
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Fu Y, Buryanovskyy L, Zhang Z
Quinone reductase 2 is a catechol quinone reductase.
J Biol Chem. 2008 Aug 29;283(35):23829-35. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M801371200. Epub 2008 Jun 24.
- PubMed ID
- 18579530 [ View in PubMed]
- Abstract
The functions of quinone reductase 2 have eluded researchers for decades even though a genetic polymorphism is associated with various neurological disorders. Employing enzymatic studies using adrenochrome as a substrate, we show that quinone reductase 2 is specific for the reduction of adrenochrome, whereas quinone reductase 1 shows no activity. We also solved the crystal structure of quinone reductase 2 in complexes with dopamine and adrenochrome, two compounds that are structurally related to catecholamine quinones. Detailed structural analyses delineate the mechanism of quinone reductase 2 specificity toward catechol quinones in comparison with quinone reductase 1; a side-chain rotational difference between quinone reductase 1 and quinone reductase 2 of a single residue, phenylalanine 106, determines the specificity of enzymatic activities. These results infer functional differences between two homologous enzymes and indicate that quinone reductase 2 could play important roles in the regulation of catecholamine oxidation processes that may be involved in the etiology of Parkinson disease.