L- Methioninase (methionine γ-lyase) has important biotechnological applications because of exhibiting hydrolytic property to catalyze α-γ-elimination of L-methionine, an essential amino acid, to α- ketobutyrate, methanethiol and ammonia. Methionine deprivation inhibits tumor growth and metastasis. The catalytic activity of L-methioninase could be used as enzyme supplementation therapy for these diseases. This enzyme has been extensively studied from a wide range of organisms, including plants, terrestrial and marine microbes Methioninase secreted from some bacterial species have high therapeutic value because of association with high immunogenicity and low substrate specificity. The enzyme is used for cancer treatment by depleting supply of methionine from exogenous source to cancer cells. The microbial production of L-methioninase enzyme is cost effective and easily produced. Several researches aimed to explore new strains for producing L-methioninase having therapeutic values. Therefore, in this review, we briefly describe the historical aspects of microbial L-methioninase, their biochemical characterization and their industrial application.
This review is an attempt to briefly describe L-methioninase sources, three dimensional structure, biochemical characterization, potential catalytic activity and its therapeutic applications.