Bovine serum amine oxidase: a mammalian enzyme having covalently bound PQQ as prosthetic group

In addition to the metal ion, copper-containing amine oxidases possess an organic prosthetic group, the nature of which has long been controversial. We show here that in the case of bovine plasma amine oxidase, this second prosthetic group is covalently bound pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ). Until now the coenzyme PQQ has been found in several bacterial dehydrogenases. Thus the finding reported here is the first example of a quinoprotein oxidoreductase discovered in a eukaryotic organism.