Current Structural Knowledge on Cystathionine β‐Synthase, a Pivotal Enzyme in the Transsulfuration Pathway

Cystathionine β‐synthase (CBS), the first enzyme of the reverse transsulfuration pathway, catalyses the pyridoxal‐5′‐phosphate (PLP)‐dependent β‐replacement reaction that condenses l‐serine with L‐homocysteine to yield cystathionine and water. Besides this canonical reaction and using cysteine and homocysteine as substrates, CBS can also efficiently produce hydrogen sulfide (H2S) through alternative β‐replacement and β‐elimination processes. The structural information on the full‐length enzyme has remained elusive for decades and is still very scarce, but some advances in the recent years have uncovered its peculiar modular architecture, provided a glimpse of its conformational landscape and revealed some of the reaction intermediates formed during the catalysis. All these data have helped comprehend, at least partially, the regulatory mechanisms and the catalytic abilities of the enzyme across different organisms. This article aims to overview the current information on the CBS structure from its most sophisticated variants found in mammals to its simplest homologs in bacteria. A more detailed understanding of CBS structure and function is needed, which could subsequently serve as a basis for the development of drugs to treat human diseases, such as CBS‐deficient homocystinuria, Alzheimer diseases and some cancers, as well as of new antibiotics against multidrug‐resistant pathogenic bacteria.