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The DOI matches its Crossref record; 31 of the 31 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Discovery of the curcumin metabolic pathway involving a unique enzyme in an intestinal microorganism

Open access
Hassaninasab, Azam, Hashimoto, Yoshiteru, Tomita-Yokotani, Kaori, Kobayashi, Michihiko·2011·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Abstract

Polyphenol curcumin, a yellow pigment, derived from the rhizomes of a plant (Curcuma longa Linn) is a natural antioxidant exhibiting a variety of pharmacological activities and therapeutic properties. It has long been used as a traditional medicine and as a preservative and coloring agent in foods. Here, curcumin-converting microorganisms were isolated from human feces, the one exhibiting the highest activity being identified as Escherichia coli. We are thus unique in discovering that E. coli was able to act on curcumin. The curcumin-converting enzyme was purified from E. coli and characterized. The native enzyme had a molecular mass of about 82 kDa and consisted of two identical subunits. The enzyme has a narrow substrate spectrum, preferentially acting on curcumin. The microbial metabolism of curcumin by the purified enzyme was found to comprise a two-step reduction, curcumin being converted NADPH-dependently into an intermediate product, dihydrocurcumin, and then the end product, tetrahydrocurcumin. We named this enzyme “NADPH-dependent curcumin/dihydrocurcumin reductase” (CurA). The gene (curA) encoding this enzyme was also identified. A homology search with the BLAST program revealed that a unique enzyme involved in curcumin metabolism belongs to the medium-chain dehydrogenase/reductase superfamily.

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Metadata

Authors
Hassaninasab, A., Hashimoto, Y., Tomita-Yokotani, K., & Kobayashi, M.
Venue
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Published
2011-04-05
Volume
108
Issue
16
Pages
6615-6620
ISSN
  • 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
  • 1091-6490
OpenAlex
W2083120074
Cited by
300
References
31
FWCI
3.02
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
green

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CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Discovery of the curcumin metabolic pathway involving a unique enzyme in an intestinal microorganism. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1073/pnas.1016217108
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Hassaninasab, A., Hashimoto, Y., Tomita-Yokotani, K., & Kobayashi, M. (2011). Discovery of the curcumin metabolic pathway involving a unique enzyme in an intestinal microorganism. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1016217108

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