Methionine (S-adenosylmethionine) cycle module
A taxon-neutral decomposition of the methionine / S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) cycle, the core methyl-group-cycling pathway that interconverts methionine, S-adenosyl-L-methionine, S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine, and homocysteine, with exits to transsulfuration (via cystathionine beta-synthase) and remethylation inputs from folate (via methionine synthase) and choline/betaine (via BHMT). This module is intentionally structured in two layers. The CATALYTIC layer (enzymatic steps) grounds each step to a GO molecular-function term, the same EC <-> GO MF alignment used by the gluconeogenesis module. The REGULATORY layer is captured as connections of type POSITIVELY_REGULATES / NEGATIVELY_REGULATES whose predicate is grounded to a Systems Biology Ontology (SBO) term that distinguishes the MECHANISM (competitive vs allosteric), with the effector represented as a ChEBI-grounded metabolite-pool node. This regulatory wiring (small-molecule effector -> enzyme, with mechanism and sign) is information GO cannot express: GO annotations attach to gene products, the effectors here are metabolites, and GO has no competitive-vs-allosteric distinction. The regulatory structure is transcribed from the biosustain Maud kinetic model `data/methionine/methionine_cycle.toml`. A notable showcase is METAT, where two isozyme forms of methionine adenosyltransferase catalyse the SAME reaction but are OPPOSITELY regulated by SAM: MAT-I is competitively product-inhibited by SAM, whereas MAT-III is allosterically activated by SAM. Isozyme-specific regulation of this kind is the central thing GO flattens away.
Derived QC
Recommended-field compliance
All recommended fields populated.
Module deep research
✗ none found
No MODULE:methionine_cycle deep-research report alongside the module YAML.
Leaf nodes lacking representative members
11 leaf node(s) with no concrete protein grounding:
- SAM-dependent transmethylation (general) ANY_WITH_FUNCTION
- Glycine N-methyltransferase (SAM:SAH buffering) ANY_WITH_FUNCTION
- S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine -> L-homocysteine ANY_WITH_FUNCTION
- Folate-dependent remethylation (methionine synthase) ANY_WITH_FUNCTION
- Betaine-dependent remethylation (BHMT) ANY_WITH_FUNCTION
- Transsulfuration commitment (cystathionine beta-synthase) ANY_WITH_FUNCTION
- Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (5-methyl-THF supply) ANY_WITH_FUNCTION
- S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAM) pool
- S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine (SAH) pool
- 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate pool
- L-methionine pool
Template conformance
✓ every declared conforms_to bundle matches its template motif.
Gene-review completeness (0/0 grounded genes reviewed)
No concrete UniProt-grounded genes in this module.
Details
Layering: catalytic steps ground to GO molecular-function terms (GO:0004478, GO:0008168, GO:0017174, GO:0004013, GO:0008705, GO:0047150, GO:0004122, GO:0004489); the pathway grounds to GO:0033353. The regulatory layer is deliberately NOT expressed in GO. Each regulatory edge is a connection typed POSITIVELY/NEGATIVELY_REGULATES whose predicate is grounded to SBO so the competitive-vs-allosteric MECHANISM is explicit (SBO:0000206 competitive inhibitor, SBO:0000636 allosteric activator, SBO:0000639 allosteric inhibitor), with the effector grounded to ChEBI. This is the information that falls outside GO scope: a metabolite cannot bear a GO annotation, and GO has no representation of inhibition mechanism. The MAT-I vs MAT-III split (same GO MF GO:0004478, opposite SAM regulation) is the canonical illustration. Quantitative kinetics (K_m, k_cat, K_i, Hill/MWC parameters) from the Maud model are intentionally out of scope for this module and belong with the model / SABIO-RK-style resources.
Connections
Methionine adenosyltransferase (EC 2.5.1.6) condenses methionine and ATP to S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAM), the universal methyl donor. The isozyme forms differ in their feedback logic, so they are modelled as variants to carry isozyme-specific regulation.
Annotons
Annotons
Function
Lumped node for the many SAM-dependent methyltransferases (EC 2.1.1.-) that transfer SAM's methyl group to acceptors (DNA, protein, small molecules), yielding S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine (SAH). Competitively product-inhibited by SAH in the kinetic model.
Annotons
Function
Glycine N-methyltransferase (EC 2.1.1.20) methylates glycine to sarcosine, acting as the overflow valve that buffers the SAM:SAH ratio. Allosterically inhibited by 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate and competitively inhibited by SAH; activated by SAM.
Annotons
Function
Adenosylhomocysteinase (EC 3.3.1.1) hydrolyses SAH to L-homocysteine and adenosine, relieving SAH product inhibition of methyltransferases.
Annotons
Function
Homocysteine is either remethylated back to methionine (folate-dependent via methionine synthase, or betaine-dependent via BHMT) or committed to transsulfuration via cystathionine beta-synthase.
Annotons
Function
Annotons
Function
Exit from the cycle toward cysteine biosynthesis; allosterically activated by SAM.
Annotons
Function
Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (EC 1.5.1.20) reduces 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate to 5-methyltetrahydrofolate, the methyl donor consumed by methionine synthase. Allosterically inhibited by SAM and activated by SAH, coupling folate flux to methyl-group demand.
Annotons
Function
These nodes are NOT catalytic steps. They represent the small-molecule effector pools that serve as the source endpoints of the regulatory connections below. They are grounded to ChEBI rather than GO, because the regulators are metabolites and cannot bear GO annotations.