Phosphate groups modification with

Reversible chemical modification of enzymes, which was discovered in 1955 by Edmond Fischer and Edwin Krebs [58], is a more prevalent mechanism for cellular signaling switching. Fischer and Krebs showed that enzymes can be turned from an inactive form to an active form via phosphorylation of certain residues of the protein. Enzymes that catalyze phosphorylation (addition of a phosphate group coupled with ATP or GTP hydrolysis) are called protein kinases. Enzymes that catalyze dephosphorylation (which is not the reverse reaction of the phosphorylation) are called phosphatases. For example, a protein tyrosine phosphatase is an enzyme that catalyzes the removal of a phosphate group from a tyrosine residue in a phosphorylated protein [57],... 

The phosphoryl group in phenylphosphate is derived from the -phosphate group of ATP. The free energy of ATP hydrolysis obviously favors the trapping of phenol K, 0.04 mM), even at a low ambient substrate concentration. The reaction is stimulated several fold by another protein, subunit 3 (24kDa). The molecular and catalytic features of phenylphosphate synthase resemble those of phosphoenolpyruvate synthase, albeit with interesting modifications. ... 

This same type of modification strategy also can be used to create highly reactive groups from functionalities of rather low reactivity. For instance, carbohydrate chains on glycoproteins can be modified with sodium periodate to transform their rather unreactive hydroxyl groups into highly reactive aldehydes. Similarly, cystine or disulfide residues in proteins can be selectively reduced to form active sulfhydryls, or 5 -phosphate groups of DNA can be transformed to yield modifiable amines. 

Figure 1.112 Phosphate groups can be modified with adipic acid dihydrazide in the presence of a carbodi-imide to produce hydrazide derivatives. This is a common modification route for the 5 -phosphate group of oligonucleotides.

The catalytically essential nature of tyrosine 85 and its proximity to the substrate binding site and to tyrosine 115 were demonstrated from studies of modification with tetranitromethane (71) and from studies of intramolecular cross-linking of aminotyrosyl residues (72). The bro-moacetamidophenyl (69) and diazonium (70) reagents obtained from aminophenyl-pdT both react selectively and exclusively with tyrosine 85. This residue is situated, stereochemically, such that its hydroxyl group can interact with the 3 -phosphate of pdTp. 

Phosphate-containing carbohydrates that are stable, such as the 5 -phosphate of the ribose derivatives of oligonucleotides, may be targeted for modification using a carbodiimide-facilitated reaction (Section 4.3). The water-soluble carbodiimide EDC can react with the phosphate groups to form highly reactive phospho-ester intermediates. These intermediates can react with amine- or hydrazide-containing molecules to form stable phosphoramidate bonds. 

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