通过南方杂交使用来自高粱(Sorghum bicolor)的异源探针,从玉米(Zea mays)的cDNA文库中克隆了编码质体转酮醇酶(TK)的基因。在大肠杆菌(Escherichia coli)中高水平表达了由玉米成熟TK和大肠杆菌硫氧还蛋白组成的重组融合蛋白,并用凝血酶切割,得到质体TK。与硫胺素焦磷酸盐结合的蛋白质被结晶,并通过分子替代法解决了其结构。该酶是一个C2对称的同源二聚体,与酵母(Saccharomyces cerevisiae)酶非常相似。每个亚基折叠成三个结构域。两个拓扑等价的活性位点位于亚基界面区域,并类似于酵母酶的活性位点。
Ribulosamines, which are substrates for the deglycating enzyme fructosamine-3-kinase-related protein, are presumably formed intracellularly through glycation of proteins with ribose 5-phosphate followed by dephosphorylation of resulting RN5Ps (ribulosamine 5-phosphates) by a putative RN5Pase (ribulosamine-5-phosphatase). Ribose 5-phosphate is known to be a potent glycating agent and we show in the present study that it reacts ∼10 and 80-fold more rapidly with protein than ribose and glucose respectively. We also show that tissue extracts and, most particularly, erythrocyte extracts contain a protein-RN5Pase. We have purified this enzyme from human erythrocytes to near homogeneity and shown it to correspond to LMWPTP-A [low-molecular-mass (‘weight’) protein tyrosine phosphatase-A]. Human recombinant LMWPTP-A displayed an RN5Pase activity that was higher than its tyrosine phosphatase activity, indicating that this phosphatase may participate in protein deglycation, a new form of protein repair.
FN3K (fructosamine 3-kinase) is a mammalian enzyme that catalyses the phosphorylation of fructosamines, which thereby becomes unstable and detaches from proteins. The homologous mammalian enzyme, FN3K-RP (FN3K-related protein), does not phosphorylate fructosamines but ribulosamines, which are probably formed through a spontaneous reaction of amines with ribose 5-phosphate, an intermediate of the pentose–phosphate pathway and the Calvin cycle. We show in the present study that spinach leaf extracts display a substantial ribulosamine kinase activity (approx. 700 times higher than the specific activity of FN3K in erythrocytes). The ribulosamine kinase was purified approx. 400 times and shown to phosphorylate ribulose-ε-lysine, protein-bound ribulosamines and also, with higher affinity, erythrulose-ε-lysine and protein-bound erythrulosamines. Evidence is presented for the fact that the third carbon of the sugar portion is phosphorylated by this enzyme and that this leads to the formation of unstable compounds decomposing with half-lives of approx. 30 min at 37 °C (ribulosamine 3-phosphates) and 5 min at 30 °C (erythrulosamine 3-phosphates). This decomposition results in the formation of a 2-oxo-3-deoxyaldose and inorganic phosphate, with regeneration of the free amino group. The Arabidopsis thaliana homologue of FN3K/FN3K-RP was overexpressed in Escherichia coli and shown to have properties similar to those of the enzyme purified from spinach leaves. These results indicate that the plant FN3K/FN3K-RP homologue, which appears to be targeted to the chloroplast in many species, is a ribulosamine/erythrulosamine 3-kinase. This enzyme may participate in a protein deglycation process removing Amadori products derived from ribose 5-phosphate and erythrose 4-phosphate, two Calvin cycle intermediates that are potent glycating agents.
The transketolase (TKT) enzyme in