Structure and Function of Major Red Blood Cell Enzymes

Structure and Function of Major Red Blood Cell Enzymes 

Glucose phosphate isomerase (GPI) catalyzes the reversible interconversion of glucose-6-phosphate and fructose-6-phosphate. GPI plays an essential role in carbohydrate metabolism in all cells of the body. The substrates of this enzyme, ffuc- 

In humans, the structural gene locus is on chromosome 19 (M17), and the gene spans over 40 kilobases (kb) including 18 exons and 17 introns (W2, X2). Neu-roleukin, a protein that acts as both a neurotrophic factor and a lymphokine, has been isolated from mouse salivary glands (G7), and subsequently the primary structure of neuroleukin was found to be identical to that of GPI by comparison of the cDNA sequences (C7, FI). The cDNA sequence encodes 558 amino acid residues. The enzyme consists of two identical subunits with a molecular weight of approximately 63,000 and neuroleukin is active as a monomer. 

Phosphofructokinase (PFK) is a key regulatory enzyme of glycolysis that catalyzes the conversion of fructose-6-phosphate to fructose-1,6-diphosphate. The active PFK enzyme is a homo- or heterotetrameric enzyme with a molecular weight of 340,000. Three types of subunits, muscle type (M), liver type (L), and fibroblast (F) or platelet (P) type, exist in human tissues. Human muscle and liver PFKs consist of homotetramers (M4 and L4), whereas red blood cell PFK consists of five tetramers (M4, M3L, M2L2, ML3, and L4). Each isoform is unique with respect to affinity for the substrate fructose-6-phosphate and ATP and modulation by effectors such as citrate, ATP, cAMP, and fructose-2,6-diphosphate. M-type PFK has greater affinity for fructose-6-phosphate than the other isozymes. AMP and fructose-2,6-diphosphate facilitate fructose-6-phosphate binding mainly of L-type PFK, whereas P-type PFK has intermediate properties. 

The hexose phosphate, fructose-1,6-diphosphate, is split by aldolase into two triose phosphates glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate and dihydroxyacetone phosphate. Aldolase consists of four 40-kDa subunits. Three tissue-specific forms exist in human tissues aldolase A (ubiquitous and very active in the muscle), aldolase B (liver, kidney, and small intestine), and aldolase C (specific to the brain). These three isozymes have nearly the same molecular size but differ in substrate specificity, 

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