A biosynthetic thiolase in complex with a reaction intermediate: the crystal structure provides new insights into the catalytic mechanism.
Modis, Y., Wierenga, R.K.(1999) Structure 7: 1279-1290
- PubMed: 10545327 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/s0969-2126(00)80061-1
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
1QFL - PubMed Abstract: 
Thiolases are ubiquitous and form a large family of dimeric or tetrameric enzymes with a conserved, five-layered alphabetaalphabetaalpha catalytic domain. Thiolases can function either degradatively, in the beta-oxidation pathway of fatty acids, or biosynthetically. Biosynthetic thiolases catalyze the biological Claisen condensation of two molecules of acetyl-CoA to form acetoacetyl-CoA. This is one of the fundamental categories of carbon skeletal assembly patterns in biological systems and is the first step in a wide range of biosynthetic pathways, including those that generate cholesterol, steroid hormones, and various energy-storage molecules.
Organizational Affiliation: 
European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Postfach 10.2209, D-69012, Heidelberg, Germany.