Pentose phosphate pathway transketolase

FIGURE 23.32 The transketolase reaction of step 6 in the pentose phosphate pathway. 

MORE NADPH THAN RmOSE-5-P IS NEEDED BY THE CELL Large amounts of N/VDPH can be supplied for biosynthesis without concomitant production of ribose-5-P, if ribose-5-P produced in the pentose phosphate pathway is recycled to produce glycolytic intermediates. As shown in Figure 23.39, this alternative involves a complex interplay between the transketolase and transaldolase reac-... 

One of the steps in the pentose phosphate pathway for glucose catabolism is the reaction of xylulose 5-phosphate with ribose 5-phosphate in the presence of a transketolase to give glyceraldehyde 5-phosphate and sedoheptulose 7-phosphate. 

A number of lyases are known which, unlike the aldolases, require thiamine pyrophosphate as a cofactor in the transfer of acyl anion equivalents, but mechanistically act via enolate-type additions. The commercially available transketolase (EC 2.2.1.1) stems from the pentose phosphate pathway where it catalyzes the transfer of a hydroxyacetyl fragment from a ketose phosphate to an aldehyde phosphate. For synthetic purposes, the donor component can be replaced by hydroxypyruvate, which forms the reactive intermediate by an irreversible, spontaneous decarboxylation. 

TPP-dependent enzymes are involved in oxidative decarboxylation of a-keto acids, making them available for energy metabolism. Transketolase is involved in the formation of NADPH and pentose in the pentose phosphate pathway. This reaction is important for several other synthetic pathways. It is furthermore assumed that the above-mentioned enzymes are involved in the function of neurotransmitters and nerve conduction, though the exact mechanisms remain unclear. 

Thiamine pyrophosphate Is an essential coenzyme for several critical metabolic enzymes—PDH, a-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase, and transketolase of the pentose phosphate pathway. 

FIGURE 14-22 Nonoxidative reactions of the pentose phosphate pathway, (a) These reactions convert pentose phosphates to hexose phosphates, allowing the oxidative reactions (see Fig. 14-21) to continue. The enzymes transketolase and transaldolase are specific to this pathway the other enzymes also serve in the glycolytic or gluconeogenic pathways, (b) A schematic diagram showing the pathway... 

In the second phase, transaldolase (with TPP as cofactor) and transketolase catalyze the interconversion of three-, four-, five-, six-, and seven-carbon sugars, with the reversible conversion of six pentose phosphates to five hexose phosphates. In the carbon-assimilating reactions of photosynthesis, the same enzymes catalyze the reverse process, called the reductive pentose phosphate pathway conversion of five hexose phosphates to six pentose phosphates. 

Vitamin B1 (thiamine) has the active form, thiamine pyrophosphate. It is a cofactor of enzymes catalyzing the conversion of pyruvate to acetyl CoA, a-ketoglutarate to succinyl CoA, and the transketolase reactions in the pentose phosphate pathway. A deficiency of thiamine causes beriberi, with symptoms of tachycardia, vomiting, and convulsions. In Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome (most common in alcoholics), individuals suffer from apa thy, loss of memory, and eye movements. There is no known toxicity for this vitamin. 

An example of an a-ketol formation that does not involve decarboxylation is provided by the reaction catalyzed by transketolase, an enzyme that plays an essential role in the pentose phosphate pathway and in photosynthesis (equation 21) (B-77MI11001). The mechanism of the reaction of equation (21) is similar to that of acetolactate synthesis (equation 20). The addition of (39) to the carbonyl group of (44) is followed by aldol cleavage to give a TPP-stabilized carbanion (analogous to (41)). The condensation of this carbanionic intermediate with the second substrate, followed by the elimination of (39), accounts for the observed products (B-7IMIHOO1). 

Ketols can also be formed enzymatically by cleavage of an aldehyde (step a, Fig. 14-3) followed by condensation with a second aldehyde (step c, in reverse). An enzyme utilizing these steps is transketolase (Eq. 17-15),132b which is essential in the pentose phosphate pathways of metabolism and in photosynthesis. a-Diketones can be cleaved (step d) to a carboxylic acid plus active aldehyde, which can react either via a or c in reverse. These and other combinations of steps are often observed as side reactions of such enzymes as pyruvate decarboxylase. A related thiamin-dependent reaction is that of pyruvate and acetyl-CoA to give the a-diketone, diacetyl, CH3COCOCH3.133 The reaction can be viewed as a displacement of the CoA anion from acetyl-CoA by attack of thiamin-bound active acetaldehyde derived from pyruvate (reverse of step d, Fig. 14-3 with release of CoA). 

The reactions enclosed within the shaded box of Fig. 17-14 do not give the whole story about the coupling mechanism. A phospho group was transferred from ATP in step a and to complete the hydrolysis it must be removed in some future step. This is indicated in a general way in Fig. 17-14 by the reaction steps d, e, and/. Step/represents the action of specific phosphatases that remove phospho groups from the seven-carbon sedoheptulose bisphosphate and from fructose bisphosphate. In either case the resulting ketose monophosphate reacts with an aldose (via transketolase, step g) to regenerate ribulose 5-phosphate, the C02 acceptor. The overall reductive pentose phosphate cycle (Fig. 17-14B) is easy to understand as a reversal of the oxidative pentose phosphate pathway in which the oxidative decarboxylation system of Eq. 17-12 is... 

Figure 17-14 (A) The reductive carboxylation system used in reductive pentose phosphate pathway (Calvin-Benson cycle). The essential reactions of this system are enclosed within the dashed box. Typical subsequent reactions follow. The phosphatase action completes the phosphorylation-dephosphorylation cycle. (B) The reductive pentose phosphate cycle arranged to show the combining of three C02 molecules to form one molecule of triose phosphate. Abbreviations are RCS, reductive carboxylation system (from above) A, aldolase, Pase, specific phosphatase and TK, transketolase.

Two NADPH Molecules Are Generated by the Pentose Phosphate Pathway Transaldolase and Transketolase Catalyze the Interconversion of Many Phosphorylated Sugars Production of Ribose-5-phosphate and Xylulose-5-phosphate... 

Both transaldolase and transketolase require a ketose phosphate as the donor molecule and an aldose phosphate as the acceptor. Furthermore, both enzymes require the same steric configuration at carbons 3 and 4 as is found in glucose and fructose. Ribulose-5-phosphate, the first pentose phosphate to be formed in the pentose phosphate pathway, does not have the correct configuration to serve as a substrate for either transaldolase or transketolase. However, both a suitable donor ketose and an acceptor aldose can be made by isomerizations of ribulose-5-phosphate, and enzymes that... 

Stage 2 of the pentose phosphate pathway. The groups in red are those transferred in transketolase-catalyzed reactions. The groups in bold type are transferred in the transaldose-catalyzed reactions. All of... 

The transketolase and transaldolase reactions are reversible and so allow either the conversion of ribose 5-phosphate into glycolytic intermediates when it is not needed for other cellular reactions, or the generation of ribose 5-phosphate from glycolytic intermediates when more is required. The rate of the pentose phosphate pathway is controlled by NADP+ regulation of the first step, catalyzed by glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase. 

If at any time only a little ribose 5-phosphate is required for nucleic acid synthesis and other synthetic reactions, it will tend to accumulate and is then converted to fructose 6-phosphate and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate by the enzymes transketolase and transaldolase. These two products are intermediates of glycolysis. Therefore, these reactions provide a link between the pentose phosphate pathway and glycolysis. The outline reactions are shown below. 

Transketolase (TK, EC 2.2.1.1), one of the enzymes in the pentose phosphate pathway, reversibly transfers an active hydroxyaldehyde group from a ketol donor to an a-hydroxyaldehyde acceptor to yield a ketose with the 3(.S ),4( / -configuration 82 TK transfers the C(l)-C(2) ketol unit of D-xylulose 5-phosphate onto D-ribose 5-P and thus generates glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate... 

Like transketolase, transaldolase (TA, E.C. 2.2.1.2) is an enzyme in the oxidative pentose phosphate pathway. TA is a class one lyase that operates through a Schiff-base intermediate and catalyzes the transfer of the C(l)-C(3) aldol unit from D-sedoheptulose 7-phosphate to glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate (G3P) to produce D-Fru 6-P and D-erythrose 4-phosphate (Scheme 5.59). TA from human as well as microbial sources have been cloned.110 111 The crystal structure of the E. coliu and human112 transaldolases have been reported and its similarity to the aldolases is apparent, since it consists of an eight-stranded (o /(3)s or TIM barrel domain as is common to the aldolases. As well, the active site lysine residue that forms a Schiff base with the substrate was identified.14112 Thus, both structurally and mechanistically it is related to the type I class of aldolases. 

Later studies established the coenzyme role of thiamin diphosphate in transketolase in the pentose phosphate pathway. More recent studies have shown that thiamin triphosphate acts to regulate a chloride channel in nerve tissue. 

Transketolase is involved in the pentose phosphate pathway, which is the major pathway of carbohydrate metaholism in some tissues and a significant alternative to glycolysis in all tissues. The main importance of the pentose phosphate pathway is in the production of NADPH for use in hiosynthetic reactions (and especially lipogenesis) and the de novo synthesis of rihose for nucleotide synthesis. 

Figure 6.4. Role of transketolase in the pentose phosphate pathway. Glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase, EC 1.1.1.49 phosphogluconate dehydrogenase, EC 1.1.1.44 rihulose-phosphate epimerase, EC 5.1.3.1 phosphorihose isomerase, EC 5.3.1,6 transketolase, EC 2.2.1.1 and transaldolase, EC 2.2.I.2.

---