bioRxivJClub
Metabolism of bilirubin to urobilinogen by human gut bacteria occurs by a branched, multi-enzyme pathway
bioRxiv · · Preprint · Open access
Russell, Hasenoehrl + 12 more
Abstract ↗AI summary
The abstract is read at the publisher; the summary is JClub's.
Bacterial bilirubin-to-urobilinogen metabolism in the human gut is executed by a branched, multi-enzyme pathway using BilR and BilV, enabling multiple reduction orders.
- Why it matters: Bilirubin derivatives are linked to inflammatory and metabolic disorders, but the responsible gut microbes and enzymes were largely unknown, blocking mechanistic studies.
- What they did: The work shows bilirubin reductase (BilR) reduces methine bridges to form divinylurobilinogen and converts mesobilirubin to urobilinogen, while bilinoid vinyl reductase (BilV) reduces vinyl groups via a flavin-dependent OYE mechanism.
- The result: BilR and BilV act on multiple bilinoids, creating a branched intermediate network, and BilV is widespread in human gut metagenomes, enabling defined studies of how this architecture affects health and disease.
The findingWhy it mattersWhat they didThe result
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