1. Reductive Cleavage of S-adenosylmethionine in Radical SAM Enzymes
The goal of the research conducted is to address the mechanism of cleavage of S-adenosylmethionine in the Radical SAM family of enzymes, with a particular focus on understanding the energetics of the reaction.
Redox potentials of the requisite [4Fe–4S] cluster are determined in the absence of SAM and SAM analogs, while XAS spectroscopy is used to assess whether methionine coordination to the unique iron site of the cluster is required for clevage.