Enolpyruvate

Transfer of the phosphoryl group to ADP in step 10 then generates ATP and gives enolpyruvate, which undergoes tautomerization to pyruvate. The reaction is catalyzed by pyruvate kinase and requires that a molecule of fructose 1,6-bis-phosphate also be present, as well as 2 equivalents of Mg2+. One Mg2+ ion coordinates to ADP, and the other increases the acidity of a water molecule necessary for protonation of the enolate ion. 

Phenylphosphate synthase consists of three subunits with molecular masses of 70, 40, and 24kDa. Subunit 1 resembles the central part of classical phospho-enolpyruvate synthase which contains a conserved histidine residue. It catalyzes the exchange of free [ C] phenol and the phenol moiety of phenylphosphate but not the phosphorylation of phenol. Phosphorylation of phenol requires subunit 1, MgATP, and another protein, subunit 2 (40kDa), which resembles the N-terminal part of phosphoenolpyruvate synthase. Subunit 1 and 2 catalyze the following reaction ... 

The Enzymes II (E-IIs) of the phosphoenolpyruvate (P-enolpyruvate)-dependent phosphotransferase system (PTS) are carbohydrate transporters found only in prokaryotes. They not only transport hexoses and hexitols, but also pentitols and disaccharides. The PTS substrates are listed in Table I. The abbreviations used (as superscripts) throughout the text for these substrates are as follows Bgl, jS-gluco-side Cel, cellobiose Fru, fructose Glc, glucose Gut, glucitol Lac, lactose Man, mannose Mtl, mannitol Nag, iV-acetylglucosamine Scr, sucrose Sor, sorbose Xtl, xylitol. 

Carbohydrate transport occurs at the expense of P-enolpyruvate, concomitant with phosphorylation. The entire process is characterized by a number of phospho-en-zyme intermediates. Textbooks usually outline these reactions and the associated phospho-enzyme intermediates as shown in Fig. 1. 

Fig. 4. Domain complementation schemes. (A) A domain complementation. The H554A site-directed mutant is inactive in P-enolpyruvate-dependent mannitol phosphorylation because it cannot accept a phosphoryl group from P-FIpr. The measure of A domain activity is its ability to restore mannitol phosphorylation activity to this mutant. A domain activity in the AB subcloned protein can also be measured. (B) B domain complementation. The C384S site-directed mutant is inactive in P-enolpyruvate-dependent mannitol phosphorylation because it cannot pass the phosphoryl group from H554 on its own A domain to mannitol. The measure of B domain activity is its ability to restore mannitol phosphorylation activity to this mutant. B domain activity in the AB subcloned protein can also be measured. (C) C domain complementation. The activity of the C domain is measured by complementation with the purified AB domain.

Kinetic measurements on II reconstituted in proteoliposomes are also consistent with the phosphorylation without transport. Il reconstituted by the detergent dialysis method into proteoliposomes assumes a random orientation the cytoplasmic domains face inward for 50% and outward for 50%. Those facing inward catalyze transport of external mannitol to the interior when E-I, HPr and P-enolpyr-uvate are included on the inside. Those facing outward convert external mannitol to external Mtl-P when HPr, E-I and P-enolpyruvate are included in the external medium. Comparison of the rates showed that the rate of external phosphorylation in this system was higher than the rate of transport. If transport and phosphorylation were obligatorily coupled, the rate of phosphorylation would not exceed the rate of transport [70]. 

The history of observations of efflux associated with PTS carriers is nearly as old as PTS itself. Gachelin [82] reported that A -ethylmaleimide inactivation of a-methyl-glucoside transport and phosphorylation in E. coli was accompanied by the appearance of a facilitated diffusion movement of both a-methylglucoside and glucose in both directions, uptake and efflux. His results could not discriminate, however, between one carrier operating in two different modes, active transport for the native carrier and facilitated diffusion for the alkylated carrier, or two distinct carriers. Haguenauer and Kepes [83] went on to show that alkylation of the carrier was not even necessary to achieve efflux NaF treatment which inhibits P-enolpyruvate synthesis was sufficient but this study did not address the question of one carrier or two. 

The fructose-specific PTS in R. sphaeroides is simpler than the one in E. coli or S. typhimurium in that it consists of only two proteins. Besides the fructose specific ll , a class II enzyme, there is only one cytoplasmic component called soluble factor (SF) [48]. We now know that SF consists of IIl , HPr and E-I covalently linked [109]. 11 and SF form a membrane-bound complex whose association-dissociation dynamics is much slower than the turnover of the system. Therefore, the complex is the actual catalytic unit in the overall reaction and P-enolpyruvate is the direct phosphoryl group donor [102],... 

The two substrate kinetics of the overall reaction catalyzed by the complex in permeabilized membranes showed classical ping-pong kinetics in accordance with a phosphorylated enzyme intermediate. The affinity constants for fructose and P-enolpyruvate were 8 and 25 /iM, respectively. 

Pyruvate kinase (PK) is one of the three postulated rate-controlling enzymes of glycolysis. The high-energy phosphate of phosphoenolpyruvate is transferred to ADP by this enzyme, which requires for its activity both monovalent and divalent cations. Enolpyruvate formed in this reaction is converted spontaneously to the keto form of pyruvate with the synthesis of one ATP molecule. PK has four isozymes in mammals M, M2, L, and R. The M2 type, which is considered to be the prototype, is the only form detected in early fetal tissues and is expressed in many adult tissues. This form is progressively replaced by the M( type in the skeletal muscle, heart, and brain by the L type in the liver and by the R type in red blood cells during development or differentiation (M26). The M, and M2 isozymes display Michaelis-Menten kinetics with respect to phosphoenolpyruvate. The Mj isozyme is not affected by fructose-1,6-diphosphate (F-1,6-DP) and the M2 is al-losterically activated by this compound. Type L and R exhibit cooperatively in... 

Most of the structural and biochemical work related to KDO is based on the estimation of the compound or its derivatives by the periodate-thiobarbituric acid (TBA) assay in its various modifications. Indeed, KDO (see Fig. 3) was discovered9 through the formation of a characteristic, purple, TBA chromophore (Xmax 549 nm) from its 8-phosphate (2), which is the product of the condensation of D-arabinose 5-phosphate with enolpyruvate phosphate, catalyzed by 3-deoxy-8-0-phosphonooctulosonate synthetase (EC 4.1.2.16) (see Scheme 1 and Section V,2). 

A comprehensive study of KDO 8-phosphate synthetase has been reported by Ray.137 The author purified the enzyme 450-fold from crude extracts of Escherichia coli B cells. The synthetase has a molecular mass of 90,000 6,000 daltons and is composed of three identical subunits having an apparent molecular mass of32,000 4,000 daltons. Two pH optima were observed, one being at pH 4.0-6.0 in succinate buffer, and the other, at pH 9.0 in glycine buffer. The isoelectric point of the enzyme is 5.1. The enzyme has an apparent KM for D-arabinose 5-phosphate of 20 pM and an apparent KM for enolpyruvate phosphate of 6 pM. 

Several observations regarding this aspect have been published, and are briefly mentioned here. 5,6-Dideoxy-6-C-phosphono-D-arabino-hexofuranose (135), an isosteric phosphonate analog of D-arabinose 5-phosphate, is apparently converted, in the presence of enolpyruvate phosphate, into 3,8,9-trideoxy-9-C-phosphono-D-mcmno-2-nonulosonic acid (136) under catalysis by KDO 8-phosphate synthetase from Escherichia coli K 235. Compound 136, an isosteric phosphonate analog of KDO 8-phosphate, is a product inhibitor of the synthetase, and, by the nature of the phosphonate group, is not subject to dephosphorylation as catalyzed by KDO 8-phosphate phosphatase156 (see Scheme 40). Compound 119 (see Scheme 33) is a weak inhibitor of KDO 8-phosphate synthetase.81 KDO inhibits KDO 8-phosphate phosphatase,139 and D-ribose 5-phosphate has an inhibitory... 

The hormones glucagon, cortisol and insulin regulate the concentrations of some enzymes and hence their activities. These include glucokinase, pyruvate kinase and phospho-enolpyruvate carboxykinase. Most work has been carried out on the carboxykinase enzyme, for which it is known that glucagon and cortisol increase the concentration whereas insulin decreases it. These changes are brought about at the transcriptional level by changing the activity of transcription factors (Chapter 20). Since the hormones... 

Enols and enolization feature prominently in some of the basic biochemical pathways (see Chapter 15). Biochemists will be familiar with the terminology enol as part of the name phosphoenolpyruvate, a metabolite of the glycolytic pathway. We shall here consider it in non-ionized form, i.e. phosphoenolpyruvic acid. As we have already noted (see Section 10.1), in the enolization between pyruvic acid and enolpyruvic acid, the equilibrium is likely to favour the keto form pyruvic acid very much. However, in phosphoenolpyruvic acid the enol hydroxyl is esterified with phosphoric acid (see Section 7.13.2), effectively freezing the enol form and preventing tautomerism back to the keto form. 

This is another exampie of substrate-level phosphorylation, but differs from the earlier example that involved hydrolysis of a mixed anhydride. Here, we have merely the hydrolysis of an ester, and thus a much lower release of energy. In fact, with 1,3-diphosphoglycerate, we specifically noted the difference in reactivity between the anhydride and ester groups. So how can this reaction lead to ATP synthesis The answer lies in the stability of the hydrolysis product, enolpyruvic acid. Once formed, this enol is rapidly isomerized to its keto tautomer, pyruvic acid, with the equilibrium heavily favouring the keto tautomer (see Section 10.1). The driving force for the substrate-level phosphorylation reaction is actually the position of equilibrium in the subsequent tautomerization. 

The process of converting an enol to a ketone. Pyruvate kinase catalyzes a ketonization reaction in the conversion of the enolpyruvate intermediate to pyruvate. See... 

PFK-1 is subject to allosteric inhibition by ATP, citrate, and phospho-enolpyruvate, all of which are elevated when the cell has a high level of energy reserves. 

UDP-GlcNAC enolpyruvyltransferase (MurZ) catalyzes the reaction between the phosphate of the enol pyruvate and the UDP-GlcNAC to form the corresponding enolpyruvate. This reaction is the first stage of the biosynthesis of the peptidoglycan of the bacterial wall. Phosphates of mono- and difluoroenolpyruvates are substrates of MurZ (Figure 7.30). The tetrahedral intermediates formed after incubation... 

Figure 7.30 Inhibition of UDP-GIcNAC enolpyruvyltransferase (MurZ) by phosphofluoro-enolpyruvate. ...

Enolpyruvate shikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS) is the enzyme that catalyzes the condensation of shikimate-3-phosphate with phosphoenolpymvate. The corresponding difluorophosphonate (phosphoenolpymvate analogue) irreversibly inhibits EPSPS. The mechanism of the inhibition by difluorophosphonate is similar to that reported for MurZ inhibition (Figure 7.31). ... 

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