Alpha-(1,3)-fucosyltransferase 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 in humans is encoded by the ''FUT6''

gene In biology, the word gene (from , ; "...Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a ba ...

. The alpha-1,3-

fucosyltransferase A fucosyltransferase is an enzyme that transfers an L-fucose sugar from a GDP-fucose (guanosine diphosphate-fucose) donor substrate to an acceptor substrate. The acceptor substrate can be another sugar such as the transfer of a fucose to a core G ...

s constitute a large family of

glycosyltransferase Glycosyltransferases (GTFs, Gtfs) are enzymes ( EC 2.4) that establish natural glycosidic linkages. They catalyze the transfer of saccharide moieties from an activated nucleotide sugar (also known as the "glycosyl donor") to a nucleophilic glycos ...

s with a high degree of

homology Homology may refer to: Sciences Biology *Homology (biology), any characteristic of biological organisms that is derived from a common ancestor * Sequence homology, biological homology between DNA, RNA, or protein sequences *Homologous chrom ...

. The enzymes of this family comprise 3 main activity patterns called myeloid, plasma, and Lewis, based on their capacity to transfer alpha-L-fucose to distinct

oligosaccharide An oligosaccharide (/ˌɑlɪgoʊˈsækəˌɹaɪd/; from the Greek ὀλίγος ''olígos'', "a few", and σάκχαρ ''sácchar'', "sugar") is a saccharide polymer containing a small number (typically two to ten) of monosaccharides (simple sugar ...

acceptors, their sensitivity to N-ethylmaleimide inhibition, their

cation An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge. The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be positive by convent ...

requirements, and their tissue-specific expression patterns. The different categories of alpha-1,3-fucosyltransferases are sequentially expressed during embryo-fetal development. upplied by OMIMref name="entrez">

References

Further reading