Regiospecific chlorination of (S)-β-tyrosyl-S-carrier protein catalyzed by SgcC3 in the biosynthesis of the enediyne antitumor antibiotic C-1027

C-1027 is a potent antitumor antibiotic composed of an apo-protein and a reactive enediyne chromophore. The chromophore consists of four different chemical subunits including an (S)-3-chloro-4,5-dihydroxy-β-phenylalanine moiety, the biosynthesis of which from L-α-tyrosine is catalyzed by six proteins, SgcC, SgcC1, SgcC2, SgcC3, SgcC4, and SgcC5. Biochemical characterization of SgcC3 unveiled the following: (i) SgcC3 is a flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD)-dependent halogenase; (ii) SgcC3 acts only on the SgcC2 peptidyl carrier protein-tethered substrates; (iii) SgcC3-catalyzed halogenation requires O₂ and reduced FAD and either the C-1027 pathway-specific flavin reductase SgcE6 or E. coli flavin reductase (Fre) can support the SgcC3 activity; (iv) SgcC3 also efficiently catalyzes bromination but not fluorination or iodination; (v) SgcC3 can utilize both (S)- and (R)-β-tyrosyl-S-SgcC2 but not 3-hydroxy-β-tyrosyl-S-SgcC2 as a substrate. These results establish that SgcC3 catalyzes the third enzymatic transformation during the biosynthesis of the (S)-3-chloro-4,5-dihydroxy-β-phenylalanine moiety of C-1027 from L-α-tyrosine. SgcC3 now represents the second biochemically characterized flavin-dependent halogenase that acts on a carrier protein-tethered substrate. These findings will facilitate the engineering of new C-1027 analogs by combinatorial biosynthesis methods.