A transaldolase

One of the steps in the pentose phosphate pathway for glucose catabolism is the reaction of sedoheptulose 7-phosphate with glyceraldehyde 3-pho phate in the presence of a transaldolase to yield erythrose 4-phosphate and fructose 6-phosphate. 

Transketolases are characterized by their ability to transfer a two-carbon unit from a ketose to an aldehyde. The C3 and C7 sugar-phosphates can subsequently be converted to a C4 and a Csugar-phosphate, erythrose 4-phosphate (3.17) and fructose 6-phosphate (3.2), respectively. This reaction is catalyzed by a transaldolase, which transfers a three-carbon glyceraldehyde unit from an aldose to a ketose. Erythrose-4-phosphate (3.17) can be used in the shikimate pathway (see Section 6). A second transketolase reaction can generate a second fructose-6-phosphate (3.2) and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate (3.4) residue from erythrose-4-phosphate (3.17) and xylulose-5-phosphate (3.15). Hexose-phosphate isomerase converts the... 

Transfer of carbons 1-3 from a ketose phosphate to the carbonyl carbon (Ci) of an aldose phosphate by a transaldolase. The reaction mechanism is similar to that of aldolase, with formation of a Schiff base intermediate involving the -amino group of a lysyl side chain on the enzyme. 

The next step is the action of a transaldolase which transfers the dihydroxyacetone group of sedoheptulose to an acceptor aldehyde (3-phosphoglyceraldehyde) forming fructose-6-P and leaving a phos-photetrose, D-erythrose-4-P. 

The transaldolase functions primarily to make a useful glycolytic substrate from the sedoheptulose-7-phosphate produced by the first transketolase reaction. This reaction (Figure 23.35) is quite similar to the aldolase reaction of glycolysis, involving formation of a Schiff base intermediate between the sedohep-tulose-7-phosphate and an active-site lysine residue (Figure 23.36). Elimination of the erythrose-4-phosphate product leaves an enamine of dihydroxyacetone, which remains stable at the active site (without imine hydrolysis) until the other substrate comes into position. Attack of the enamine carbanion at the carbonyl carbon of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate is followed by hydrolysis of the Schiff base (imine) to yield the product fructose-6-phosphate. 

MORE NADPH THAN RmOSE-5-P IS NEEDED BY THE CELL Large amounts of N/VDPH can be supplied for biosynthesis without concomitant production of ribose-5-P, if ribose-5-P produced in the pentose phosphate pathway is recycled to produce glycolytic intermediates. As shown in Figure 23.39, this alternative involves a complex interplay between the transketolase and transaldolase reac-... 

Figure 10.39 Synthesis of a novel N-hydroxypyrrolidine and a fluorogenic screening substrate for transaldolases based on stereospecific transketolase catalysis.

Bacellar H, Munoz A et al (1994) Temporal trends in the incidence of HIV-l-related neurologic diseases Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study, 1985-1992. Neurology 44(10) 1892-1900 Banki K, Hutter E et al (1998) Molecular ordering in HIV-induced apoptosis. Oxidative stress, activation of caspases, and cell survival are regulated by transaldolase. . J Biol Chem 273(19) 11944-11953... 

Transaldolase is a dimer with a molecular mass of about 70 000. The fructose 6phosphate molecule produced by this reaction enters the glycolysis, while erythrose 4-phosphate is used as a substrate at the subsequent steps of the cycle. 

Transferases transaminase, glycosyltransferase transaldolase transfer of a group from one molecule to another... 

Schurmann, R. and Sprenger, G.A. (2001) Fructose-6-phosphate aldolase is a novel class I aldolase from Escherichia coli and is related to a novel group of bacterial transaldolases. The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 276, 11055-11061. 

I, 7-diphosphate.170 1 (f> This tetrose phosphate is involved with phosphoenol pyruvate in the formation of shikimic acid via 3-deoxy-2-keto-D-ara6ino-heptonic acid 7-phosphate and, hence, of aromatic compounds.170(d) A synthesis of the tetrose phosphate has been described.170 1 Aldolase shows a high affinity for the heptulose diphosphate and, compared with that for D-fructose 1,6-diphosphate, the rate of reaction is about 60 %. The enzyme transaldolase, purified 400-fold from yeast, catalyzes the following reversible reaction by transfer of the dihydroxyacetonyl group.l70(o>... 

The above transketolase and transaldolase reactions were found inadequate to explain the metabolism of D-ribose 5-phosphate, because of the non-accumulation of tetrose phosphate, the 75 % yield of hexose phosphate, and the results of experiments with C14 (the distribution of which differed markedly from the values predicted for such a sequence). 24(b) Thus, with D-ribose-l-C14, using rat-liver enzymes, any hexose formed should have equal radioactivity at Cl and C3, whereas, actually, 74% appeared at Cl. Furthermore, D-ribose-2,3-Cl42 should have given material having equal labels at C2 and C4 in the resultant hexose, whereas, in fact, it had 50% of the activity at C4, C3 was nearly as active as C2, and Cl had little activity. Similar results were obtained with pea-leaf and -root preparations.24 The following reactions, for which there is enzymic evidence,170(b) were proposed, in addition to those involving D-aftro-heptulose, to account for these results.24(b) (o) 200... 

Transketolase and transaldolase appear to play a significant part in photosynthesis.86 Photosynthesizing plants have been exposed to C14C>2 for short periods (up to 15 seconds) and the radioactive products have been... 

Transaldolase transfers C3 units from sedoheptulose 7-phosphate, a ketose with seven C atoms, to the aldehyde group of glyc-eraldehyde 3-phosphate. 

Transaldolase, which catalyzes reactions with d-erythrose 4-phosphate and D-fructose 6-phosphate as substrates. As in the case of fructose-1,6-bisphosphate aldolase, this enzyme uses a e-amino side-chain to form a Schiff base intermediate. In this case, however, the triose phosphate moiety is not released but is transferred to the other aldose (in this case, the aldotetrose). 

From the many enzymes that are known to make and break C-C bonds, we first chose the two transferases, transketolase (TKT) and transaldolase (TAL), both from the Gram-negative bacterium Escherichia coli. While project B21 evolved, we learned that this microorganism holds other and so far unknown enzymes which are of interest for asymmetric syntheses. One transketolase-like enzyme, 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate synthase (DXS), turned out to be the first enzyme of a novel biosynthetic pathway leading to isoprenoids in bacteria, algae, and plants. The other, fructose 6-phosphate aldolase (ESA) - while similar to transaldolase - allows the direct use of the inexpensive dihydroxyacetone in aldol condensations. 

Fig. 2.2.2.S Three-dimensional structures of transaldolase B (TAL B) and fructose 6-phosphate aldolase (FSA) from E. coli. a) TAL B forms a dimer structure b), c) FSA is a decameric enzyme consisting of two pentamer rings (right) one on top of the other, b) Two adjacent subunits of FSA showing the C-terminal extension of one...

A schematic representation of the active sites of transaldolase B is given in Fig. 

In collaboration with Gunter Schneider s group at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, the 3D structures of transaldolase and of several of its mutant derivatives have been solved. For the first time, a Schiff base intermediate of an aldolase was analyzed crystallographically. The structure of FSA was solved too, and it was found that the enzyme forms a decameric structure out of two pentamer rings. 

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