Lactate amino acid residues

Proton transfers are particularly common. This acid-base catalysis by enzymes is much more effective than the exchange of protons between acids and bases in solution. In many cases, chemical groups are temporarily bound covalently to the amino acid residues of the enzyme or to coenzymes during the catalytic cycle. This effect is referred to as covalent catalysis (see the transaminases, for example p. 178). The principles of enzyme catalysis sketched out here are discussed in greater detail on p. 100 using the example of lactate dehydrogenase. 

The active center of an LDH subunit is shown schematically in Fig. 2. The peptide backbone is shown as a light blue tube. Also shown are the substrate lactate (red), the coenzyme NAD (yellow), and three amino acid side chains (Arg-109, Arg-171, and His-195 green), which are directly involved in the catalysis. A peptide loop (pink) formed by amino acid residues 98-111 is also shown. In the absence of substrate and coenzyme, this partial structure is open and allows access to the substrate binding site (not shown). In the enzyme lactate NAD"" complex shown, the peptide loop closes the active center. The catalytic cycle of lactate dehydrogenase is discussed on the next page. 

While each of the five LDH isoenzymes catalyzes the conversion of lactic acid to pyruvic acid, the isoenzymes are produced in different organs. Because of this, the polypeptide moieties and the rates at which lactate can be converted to pyruvate are slightly different for each isoenzyme. Similarly, different species often possess identical metabolic pathways, and have equivalent but slightly different enzymes that catalyze identical reactions. The differences that occur within such a family of enzymes usually occur in noncritical regions of the polypeptide moiety, by the substitution of one amino acid residue for another, or by the deletion of amino acid residues. 

Because of the overall folding of the enzyme, the amino acid residues which are close together in the active site may be extremely far apart in the primary structure. For example, the important amino acids at the active site of lactate dehydrogenase are shown in Fig. 4.6. The numbers refer to their positions in the primary structure of the enzyme. 

Fig. 2 Lactate dehydrogenase a) a ribbon representation of the tetramer of the B. stearothermophilus enzyme with each peptide chain depicted in a different color. The cofactor and oxamate inhibitor are colored according to atom type, as is fructose bisphosphate. which is an allosteric regulator of the enzyme, b) On the left is a detailed view of the enzyme active site as seen in the crystal structure. The ligand is highlighted in green and key amino acid residues are labeled. This is compared with the traditional two-dimensional representation of the enzyme mechanism on the right. Note that the residue numbers differ slightly from those of the muscle enzyme discussed in the test. (View this an i i color at www.dekker.com.)...

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