enzymology Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as products. A ...

, a gamma-glutamylcyclotransferase () is an

enzyme Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as products. A ...

that

catalyzes Catalysis () is the process of increasing the rate of a chemical reaction by adding a substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed in the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst recyc ...

the

chemical reaction A chemical reaction is a process that leads to the IUPAC nomenclature for organic transformations, chemical transformation of one set of chemical substances to another. Classically, chemical reactions encompass changes that only involve the pos ...

:(5-L-glutamyl)-L-amino acid

\rightleftharpoons

5-oxoproline + L-amino acid Hence, this enzyme has one

substrate Substrate may refer to: Physical layers *Substrate (biology), the natural environment in which an organism lives, or the surface or medium on which an organism grows or is attached ** Substrate (locomotion), the surface over which an organism lo ...

, (5-L-glutamyl)-L-amino acid, and two products,

5-oxoproline Pyroglutamic acid (also known as PCA, 5-oxoproline, pidolic acid) is a ubiquitous but little studied natural amino acid derivative in which the free amino group of glutamic acid or glutamine cyclizes to form a lactam. The names of pyroglutamic a ...

and

L-amino acid Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. Although hundreds of amino acids exist in nature, by far the most important are the alpha-amino acids, which comprise proteins. Only 22 alpha ami ...

. This enzyme belongs to the family of

transferase A transferase is any one of a class of enzymes that catalyse the transfer of specific functional groups (e.g. a methyl or glycosyl group) from one molecule (called the donor) to another (called the acceptor). They are involved in hundreds of di ...

s, specifically the

aminoacyltransferase Aminoacyltransferases () are acyltransferase enzymes which act upon an amino group. For instance, aminoacyl tRNA synthetases attach an aminoacid through esterification to the corresponding tRNA. The activation of amino acids it aminoacyl-tRNA synt ...

s. The systematic name of this enzyme class is (5-L-glutamyl)-L-amino-acid 5-glutamyltransferase (cyclizing). Other names in common use include gamma-glutamyl-amino acid cyclotransferase, gamma-L-glutamylcyclotransferase, and L-glutamic cyclase. This enzyme participates in

glutathione metabolism Glutathione (GSH, ) is an antioxidant in plants, animals, fungi, and some bacteria and archaea. Glutathione is capable of preventing damage to important cellular components caused by sources such as reactive oxygen species, free radicals, pe ...

Structural studies

As of late 2007, two structures have been solved for this class of enzymes, with PDB accession codes and .

References

* * EC 2.3.2 Enzymes of known structure {{2.3-enzyme-stub