In biochemistry, phosphorylation is the attachment of a phosphate group to a molecule or an ion. [1] This process and its inverse, dephosphorylation, are common in biology. [2] Protein phosphorylation often activates (or deactivates) many enzymes. [3] [4]
Phosphorylation is essential to the processes of both anaerobic and aerobic respiration, which involve the production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the "high-energy" exchange medium in the cell. During aerobic respiration, ATP is synthesized in the mitochondrion by addition of a third phosphate group to adenosine diphosphate (ADP) in a process referred to as oxidative phosphorylation. ATP is also synthesized by substrate-level phosphorylation during glycolysis. ATP is synthesized at the expense of solar energy by photophosphorylation in the chloroplasts of plant cells.
Phosphorylation of sugars is often the first stage in their catabolism. Phosphorylation allows cells to accumulate sugars because the phosphate group prevents the molecules from diffusing back across their transporter. Phosphorylation of glucose is a key reaction in sugar metabolism. The chemical equation for the conversion of D-glucose to D-glucose-6-phosphate in the first step of glycolysis is given by:
Glycolysis is an essential process of glucose degrading into two molecules of pyruvate, through various steps, with the help of different enzymes. It occurs in ten steps and proves that phosphorylation is a much required and necessary step to attain the end products. Phosphorylation initiates the reaction in step 1 of the preparatory step [5] (first half of glycolysis), and initiates step 6 of payoff phase (second phase of glycolysis). [6]
Glucose, by nature, is a small molecule with the ability to diffuse in and out of the cell. By phosphorylating glucose (adding a phosphoryl group in order to create a negatively charged phosphate group [7] ), glucose is converted to glucose-6-phosphate, which is trapped within the cell as the cell membrane is negatively charged. This reaction occurs due to the enzyme hexokinase, an enzyme that helps phosphorylate many six-membered ring structures. Phosphorylation takes place in step 3, where fructose-6-phosphate is converted to fructose 1,6-bisphosphate. This reaction is catalyzed by phosphofructokinase.
While phosphorylation is performed by ATPs during preparatory steps, phosphorylation during payoff phase is maintained by inorganic phosphate. Each molecule of glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate is phosphorylated to form 1,3-bisphosphoglycerate. This reaction is catalyzed by glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH). The cascade effect of phosphorylation eventually causes instability and allows enzymes to open the carbon bonds in glucose.
Phosphorylation functions is an extremely vital component of glycolysis, as it helps in transport, control, and efficiency. [8]
Glycogen is a long-term store of glucose produced by the cells of the liver. In the liver, the synthesis of glycogen is directly correlated with blood glucose concentration. High blood glucose concentration causes an increase in intracellular levels of glucose 6-phosphate in the liver, skeletal muscle, and fat (adipose) tissue. Glucose 6-phosphate has role in regulating glycogen synthase.
High blood glucose releases insulin, stimulating the translocation of specific glucose transporters to the cell membrane; glucose is phosphorylated to glucose 6-phosphate during transport across the membrane by ATP-D-glucose 6-phosphotransferase and non-specific hexokinase (ATP-D-hexose 6-phosphotransferase). [9] [10] Liver cells are freely permeable to glucose, and the initial rate of phosphorylation of glucose is the rate-limiting step in glucose metabolism by the liver. [9]
The liver's crucial role in controlling blood sugar concentrations by breaking down glucose into carbon dioxide and glycogen is characterized by the negative Gibbs free energy (ΔG) value, which indicates that this is a point of regulation with.[ clarification needed ] The hexokinase enzyme has a low Michaelis constant (Km), indicating a high affinity for glucose, so this initial phosphorylation can proceed even when glucose levels at nanoscopic scale within the blood.
The phosphorylation of glucose can be enhanced by the binding of fructose 6-phosphate (F6P), and lessened by the binding fructose 1-phosphate (F1P). Fructose consumed in the diet is converted to F1P in the liver. This negates the action of F6P on glucokinase, [11] which ultimately favors the forward reaction. The capacity of liver cells to phosphorylate fructose exceeds capacity to metabolize fructose-1-phosphate. Consuming excess fructose ultimately results in an imbalance in liver metabolism, which indirectly exhausts the liver cell's supply of ATP. [12]
Allosteric activation by glucose 6-phosphate, which acts as an effector, stimulates glycogen synthase, and glucose 6 phosphate may inhibit the phosphorylation of glycogen synthase by cyclic AMP-stimulated protein kinase. [10]
Phosphorylation of glucose is imperative in processes within the body. For example, phosphorylating glucose is necessary for insulin-dependent mechanistic target of rapamycin pathway activity within the heart. This further suggests a link between intermediary metabolism and cardiac growth. [13]
Protein phosphorylation is the most abundant post-translational modification in eukaryotes. Phosphorylation can occur on serine, threonine and tyrosine side chains (in other words, on their residues) through phosphoester bond formation, on histidine, lysine and arginine through phosphoramidate bonds, and on aspartic acid and glutamic acid through mixed anhydride linkages. Recent evidence confirms widespread histidine phosphorylation at both the 1 and 3 N-atoms of the imidazole ring. [14] [15] Recent work demonstrates widespread human protein phosphorylation on multiple non-canonical amino acids, including motifs containing phosphorylated histidine, aspartate, glutamate, cysteine, arginine and lysine in HeLa cell extracts. [16] However, due to the chemical lability of these phosphorylated residues, and in marked contrast to Ser, Thr and Tyr phosphorylation, the analysis of phosphorylated histidine (and other non-canonical amino acids) using standard biochemical and mass spectrometric approaches is much more challenging [16] [17] [18] and special procedures and separation techniques are required for their preservation alongside classical Ser, Thr and Tyr phosphorylation. [19]
The prominent role of protein phosphorylation in biochemistry is illustrated by the huge body of studies published on the subject (as of March 2015, the MEDLINE database returns over 240,000 articles, mostly on protein phosphorylation).
Glycolysis is the metabolic pathway that converts glucose into pyruvate and, in most organisms, occurs in the liquid part of cells. The free energy released in this process is used to form the high-energy molecules adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH). Glycolysis is a sequence of ten reactions catalyzed by enzymes.
In biochemistry, a kinase is an enzyme that catalyzes the transfer of phosphate groups from high-energy, phosphate-donating molecules to specific substrates. This process is known as phosphorylation, where the high-energy ATP molecule donates a phosphate group to the substrate molecule. As a result, kinase produces a phosphorylated substrate and ADP. Conversely, it is referred to as dephosphorylation when the phosphorylated substrate donates a phosphate group and ADP gains a phosphate group. These two processes, phosphorylation and dephosphorylation, occur four times during glycolysis.
Cellular respiration is the process by which biological fuels are oxidized in the presence of an inorganic electron acceptor, such as oxygen, to drive the bulk production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which contains energy. Cellular respiration may be described as a set of metabolic reactions and processes that take place in the cells of organisms to convert chemical energy from nutrients into ATP, and then release waste products.
A hexokinase is an enzyme that irreversibly phosphorylates hexoses, forming hexose phosphate. In most organisms, glucose is the most important substrate for hexokinases, and glucose-6-phosphate is the most important product. Hexokinase possesses the ability to transfer an inorganic phosphate group from ATP to a substrate.
Gluconeogenesis (GNG) is a metabolic pathway that results in the biosynthesis of glucose from certain non-carbohydrate carbon substrates. It is a ubiquitous process, present in plants, animals, fungi, bacteria, and other microorganisms. In vertebrates, gluconeogenesis occurs mainly in the liver and, to a lesser extent, in the cortex of the kidneys. It is one of two primary mechanisms – the other being degradation of glycogen (glycogenolysis) – used by humans and many other animals to maintain blood sugar levels, avoiding low levels (hypoglycemia). In ruminants, because dietary carbohydrates tend to be metabolized by rumen organisms, gluconeogenesis occurs regardless of fasting, low-carbohydrate diets, exercise, etc. In many other animals, the process occurs during periods of fasting, starvation, low-carbohydrate diets, or intense exercise.
Glucagon is a peptide hormone, produced by alpha cells of the pancreas. It raises the concentration of glucose and fatty acids in the bloodstream and is considered to be the main catabolic hormone of the body. It is also used as a medication to treat a number of health conditions. Its effect is opposite to that of insulin, which lowers extracellular glucose. It is produced from proglucagon, encoded by the GCG gene.
Carbohydrate metabolism is the whole of the biochemical processes responsible for the metabolic formation, breakdown, and interconversion of carbohydrates in living organisms.
Phosphofructokinase-1 (PFK-1) is one of the most important regulatory enzymes of glycolysis. It is an allosteric enzyme made of 4 subunits and controlled by many activators and inhibitors. PFK-1 catalyzes the important "committed" step of glycolysis, the conversion of fructose 6-phosphate and ATP to fructose 1,6-bisphosphate and ADP. Glycolysis is the foundation for respiration, both anaerobic and aerobic. Because phosphofructokinase (PFK) catalyzes the ATP-dependent phosphorylation to convert fructose-6-phosphate into fructose 1,6-bisphosphate and ADP, it is one of the key regulatory steps of glycolysis. PFK is able to regulate glycolysis through allosteric inhibition, and in this way, the cell can increase or decrease the rate of glycolysis in response to the cell's energy requirements. For example, a high ratio of ATP to ADP will inhibit PFK and glycolysis. The key difference between the regulation of PFK in eukaryotes and prokaryotes is that in eukaryotes PFK is activated by fructose 2,6-bisphosphate. The purpose of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate is to supersede ATP inhibition, thus allowing eukaryotes to have greater sensitivity to regulation by hormones like glucagon and insulin.
Pyruvate kinase is the enzyme involved in the last step of glycolysis. It catalyzes the transfer of a phosphate group from phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) to adenosine diphosphate (ADP), yielding one molecule of pyruvate and one molecule of ATP. Pyruvate kinase was inappropriately named before it was recognized that it did not directly catalyze phosphorylation of pyruvate, which does not occur under physiological conditions. Pyruvate kinase is present in four distinct, tissue-specific isozymes in animals, each consisting of particular kinetic properties necessary to accommodate the variations in metabolic requirements of diverse tissues.
Phosphoglucomutase is an enzyme that transfers a phosphate group on an α-D-glucose monomer from the 1 to the 6 position in the forward direction or the 6 to the 1 position in the reverse direction.
Glucose 6-phosphate is a glucose sugar phosphorylated at the hydroxy group on carbon 6. This dianion is very common in cells as the majority of glucose entering a cell will become phosphorylated in this way.
Glucokinase is an enzyme that facilitates phosphorylation of glucose to glucose-6-phosphate. Glucokinase occurs in cells in the liver and pancreas of humans and most other vertebrates. In each of these organs it plays an important role in the regulation of carbohydrate metabolism by acting as a glucose sensor, triggering shifts in metabolism or cell function in response to rising or falling levels of glucose, such as occur after a meal or when fasting. Mutations of the gene for this enzyme can cause unusual forms of diabetes or hypoglycemia.
The glucokinase regulatory protein (GKRP) also known as glucokinase regulator (GCKR) is a protein produced in hepatocytes. GKRP binds and moves glucokinase (GK), thereby controlling both activity and intracellular location of this key enzyme of glucose metabolism.
Glycogenesis is the process of glycogen synthesis, in which glucose molecules are added to chains of glycogen for storage. This process is activated during rest periods following the Cori cycle, in the liver, and also activated by insulin in response to high glucose levels.
Phosphofructokinase-2 (6-phosphofructo-2-kinase, PFK-2) or fructose bisphosphatase-2 (FBPase-2), is an enzyme indirectly responsible for regulating the rates of glycolysis and gluconeogenesis in cells. It catalyzes formation and degradation of a significant allosteric regulator, fructose-2,6-bisphosphate (Fru-2,6-P2) from substrate fructose-6-phosphate. Fru-2,6-P2 contributes to the rate-determining step of glycolysis as it activates enzyme phosphofructokinase 1 in the glycolysis pathway, and inhibits fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase 1 in gluconeogenesis. Since Fru-2,6-P2 differentially regulates glycolysis and gluconeogenesis, it can act as a key signal to switch between the opposing pathways. Because PFK-2 produces Fru-2,6-P2 in response to hormonal signaling, metabolism can be more sensitively and efficiently controlled to align with the organism's glycolytic needs. This enzyme participates in fructose and mannose metabolism. The enzyme is important in the regulation of hepatic carbohydrate metabolism and is found in greatest quantities in the liver, kidney and heart. In mammals, several genes often encode different isoforms, each of which differs in its tissue distribution and enzymatic activity. The family described here bears a resemblance to the ATP-driven phospho-fructokinases; however, they share little sequence similarity, although a few residues seem key to their interaction with fructose 6-phosphate.
Fructose 2,6-bisphosphate, abbreviated Fru-2,6-P2, is a metabolite that allosterically affects the activity of the enzymes phosphofructokinase 1 (PFK-1) and fructose 1,6-bisphosphatase (FBPase-1) to regulate glycolysis and gluconeogenesis. Fru-2,6-P2 itself is synthesized and broken down in either direction by the integrated bifunctional enzyme phosphofructokinase 2 (PFK-2/FBPase-2), which also contains a phosphatase domain and is also known as fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase. Whether the kinase and phosphatase domains of PFK-2/FBPase-2 are active or inactive depends on the phosphorylation state of the enzyme.
Enzyme activators are molecules that bind to enzymes and increase their activity. They are the opposite of enzyme inhibitors. These molecules are often involved in the allosteric regulation of enzymes in the control of metabolism. An example of an enzyme activator working in this way is fructose 2,6-bisphosphate, which activates phosphofructokinase 1 and increases the rate of glycolysis in response to the hormone glucagon. In some cases, when a substrate binds to one catalytic subunit of an enzyme, this can trigger an increase in the substrate affinity as well as catalytic activity in the enzyme's other subunits, and thus the substrate acts as an activator.
Inborn errors of carbohydrate metabolism are inborn error of metabolism that affect the catabolism and anabolism of carbohydrates.
Fructolysis refers to the metabolism of fructose from dietary sources. Though the metabolism of glucose through glycolysis uses many of the same enzymes and intermediate structures as those in fructolysis, the two sugars have very different metabolic fates in human metabolism. Under one percent of ingested fructose is directly converted to plasma triglyceride. 29% - 54% of fructose is converted in liver to glucose, and about a quarter of fructose is converted to lactate. 15% - 18% is converted to glycogen. Glucose and lactate are then used normally as energy to fuel cells all over the body.
The TP53-inducible glycolysis and apoptosis regulator (TIGAR) also known as fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase TIGAR is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the C12orf5 gene.
Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.