Glycine C-acetyltransferase is a

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respo ...

that in humans is encoded by the GCAT

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 ...

Function

The degradation of

L-threonine Threonine (symbol Thr or T) is an amino acid that is used in the biosynthesis of proteins. It contains an α-amino group (which is in the protonated −NH form under biological conditions), a carboxyl group (which is in the deprotonated −COO� ...

to glycine consists of a two-step biochemical pathway involving the enzymes

L-threonine dehydrogenase In enzymology, a L-threonine 3-dehydrogenase () is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction :L-threonine + NAD+ \rightleftharpoons L-2-amino-3-oxobutanoate + NADH + H+ Thus, the two substrates of this enzyme are L-threonine and NAD+, wh ...

and 2-amino-3-ketobutyrate coenzyme A ligase. L-Threonine is first converted into 2-amino-3-ketobutyrate by L-threonine dehydrogenase. This gene encodes the second enzyme in this pathway, which then catalyzes the reaction between 2-amino-3-ketobutyrate and

coenzyme A Coenzyme A (CoA, SHCoA, CoASH) is a coenzyme, notable for its role in the synthesis and oxidation of fatty acids, and the oxidation of pyruvate in the citric acid cycle. All genomes sequenced to date encode enzymes that use coenzyme A as a subs ...

to form glycine and

acetyl-CoA Acetyl-CoA (acetyl coenzyme A) is a molecule that participates in many biochemical reactions in protein, carbohydrate and lipid metabolism. Its main function is to deliver the acetyl group to the citric acid cycle (Krebs cycle) to be oxidized for ...

. The encoded enzyme is considered a class II pyridoxal-phosphate-dependent aminotransferase. Alternate splicing results in multiple transcript variants. A

pseudogene Pseudogenes are nonfunctional segments of DNA that resemble functional genes. Most arise as superfluous copies of functional genes, either directly by DNA duplication or indirectly by Reverse transcriptase, reverse transcription of an mRNA trans ...

of this gene is found on chromosome 14.

Function

References

Further reading