The biogenesis of the topaquinone (TPQ) cofactor of copper amine oxidase (CAO) is self-catalyzed and requires copper and molecular oxygen. A dopaquinone intermediate has been proposed to undergo 1,4-addition of a copper-associated water molecule to form the reduced form of TPQ (TPQ(red)), followed by facile oxidation by 02 to yield the mature TPQ (TPQ(ox)). In this study, we have incorporated a lysine residue in the active site of Arthrobacter globiformis CAO (AGAO) by site-directed mutagenesis to produce D298K-AGAO. The X-ray crystal structure of D298K-AGAO at 1.7-angstrom resolution revealed that a covalent linkage formed between the epsilon-amino side chain of Lys298 and the C2 position of a dopaquinone derived from Tyr382, a precursor to TPQox. We assigned the species as an iminoquinone tautomer (LTI) of lysine tyrosylquinone (LTQ), the organic cofactor of lysyl oxidase (LOX). The time course of the formation of LTI at pH 6.8 was followed by UV/vis and resonance Raman spectroscopies. In the early phase of the reaction, an LTQ-Iike intermediate was observed. This intermediate then slowly converted to LTI in an isosbestic manner. Not only is the presence of a dopaquinone intermediate in the TPQ biogenesis confirmed, but it also provides strong support for the proposed intermediacy of a dopaquinone in the biogenesis of LTQ in LOX. Further, this study indicates that the dopaquinone intermediate in AGAO is mobile and can swing from the copper site into the active-site wedge to react with Lys298.