Pyruvate group

Fig. 23.—(a) Stereo view of about two turns of the 2-fold helix of potassium galactoglucan (22). Each carboxylate group is bound to a potassium ion (crossed circle). The helix is stabilized by hydrogen bonds from the acetate and pyruvate groups to the main chain via water molecules (open circles). 

Mg concentration in DMEM solutions is fixed at 0.814 mM. If the pyruvate molecules (CH3O3) in the solution do have a higher affinity to Mg than they have to Na (Mg-pyruvate CgHeMgOs), then there are more pyruvate groups in such DMEM solutions than there is Mg (1 versus 0.814 mM). If a... 

One pyruvate group occurs, on the average, on every two repeating units. 

Enzyme catalyzed reductions of carbonyl groups are more often than not com pletely stereoselective Pyruvic acid for example is converted exclusively to (5) (+) lactic acid by the lactate dehydrogenase NADH system (Section 15 11) The enantiomer... 

The enzyme is a single enantiomer of a chiral molecule and binds the coenzyme and substrate m such a way that hydride is transferred exclusively to the face of the carbonyl group that leads to (5) (+) lactic acid Reduction of pyruvic acid m the absence of an enzyme however say with sodium borohydride also gives lactic acid but as a racemic mixture containing equal quantities of the R and S enantiomers... 

In transamination an amine group is transferred from L glutamic acid to pyruvic acid An outline of the mechanism of transamination is presented m Figure 27 4... 

W-(Methoxycarbonyl)triphenylphosphine imide reacts with methyl trifluoro-pyruvate to form methyl A -methoxycarbonyl 2 immo-3,3,3 trifluoropropionate m 95% yield This convenient building block easily adds nucleophiles such as Gngnard reagents without competing side reactions at the ester group to form trifluoromethylated amino acids [J.S] (equation 31)... 

Mn-+ K+ Ni " Arginase Pyruvate kinase (also requires Mg ) U rease Tetrahydrofolate (THF) Other one-carbon groups Thymidylate synthase... 

Lipoic acid is an acyl group carrier. It is found in pyruvate dehydrogenase zard a-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase, two multienzyme complexes involved in carbohydrate metabolism (Figure 18.34). Lipoie acid functions to couple acyl-group transfer and electron transfer during oxidation and decarboxylation of a-keto adds. 

The second ATP-synthesizing reaction of glycolysis is catalyzed by pyruvate kinase, which brings the pathway at last to its pyruvate branch point. Pyruvate kinase mediates the transfer of a phosphoryl group from phosphoenolpyru-vate to ADP to make ATP and pyruvate (Figure 19.27). The reaction requires... 

Pyruvate kinase possesses allosteric sites for numerous effectors. It is activated by AMP and fructose-1,6-bisphosphate and inhibited by ATP, acetyl-CoA, and alanine. (Note that alanine is the a-amino acid counterpart of the a-keto acid, pyruvate.) Furthermore, liver pyruvate kinase is regulated by covalent modification. Flormones such as glucagon activate a cAMP-dependent protein kinase, which transfers a phosphoryl group from ATP to the enzyme. The phos-phorylated form of pyruvate kinase is more strongly inhibited by ATP and alanine and has a higher for PEP, so that, in the presence of physiological levels of PEP, the enzyme is inactive. Then PEP is used as a substrate for glucose synthesis in the pathway (to be described in Chapter 23), instead... 

FIGURE 19.29 A mechanism for the pyruvate kinase reaction, based on NMR and EPR studies by Albert Mildvan and colleagues. Phosphoryl transfer from phosphoenolpyrnvate (PEP) to ADP occurs in four steps (a) a water on the Mg ion coordinated to ADP is replaced by the phosphoryl group of PEP (b) Mg dissociates from the -P of ADP (c) the phosphoryl group is transferred and (d) the enolate of pyruvate is protonated. (Adapted from Mildvan, A., 1979. Advances in Eiizymology 49 103-126.)... 

The first step of this reaction, decarboxylation of pyruvate and transfer of the acetyl group to lipoic acid, depends on accumulation of negative charge on the carbonyl carbon of pyruvate. This is facilitated by the quaternary nitrogen on the thiazolium group of thiamine pyrophosphate. As shown in (c), this cationic... 

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