Saccharomyces cerevisiae oxidosqualene‐lanosterol cyclase: A chemistry–biology interdisciplinary study of the protein's structure–function–reaction mechanism relationships

Abstract The oxidosqualene cyclases (EC 5.4.99‐) constitute a family of enzymes that catalyze diverse cyclization/rearrangement reactions of (3 S )‐2,3‐oxidosqualene into a distinct array of sterols and triterpenes. The relationship between the cyclization mechanism and the enzymatic structure is extremely complex and compelling. This review covers the historical achievements of biomimetic studies and current progress in structural biology, molecular genetics, and bioinformatics studies to elucidate the mechanistic and structure–function relationships of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae oxidosqualene‐lanosterol cyclase‐catalyzed cyclization/rearrangement reaction. © 2008 The Japan Chemical Journal Forum and Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Chem Rec 8: 302–325; 2008: Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ) DOI 10.1002/tcr.20157