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 ...

, an UDP-N-acetylglucosamine—dolichyl-phosphate N-acetylglucosaminephosphotransferase () 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 ...

:UDP-N-acetyl-D-glucosamine + dolichyl phosphate

\rightleftharpoons

UMP + N-acetyl-D-glucosaminyl-diphosphodolichol Thus, the two substrates of this enzyme are

UDP-N-acetyl-D-glucosamine Uridine diphosphate ''N''-acetylglucosamine or UDP-GlcNAc is a nucleotide sugar and a coenzyme in metabolism. It is used by glycosyltransferases to transfer ''N''-acetylglucosamine residues to substrates. D-Glucosamine is made naturally in the f ...

and

dolichyl phosphate Dolichol monophosphate is a fatty alcohol Fatty alcohols (or long-chain alcohols) are usually high-molecular-weight, straight-chain primary alcohols, but can also range from as few as 4–6 carbons to as many as 22–26, derived from natural fat ...

, whereas its two products are UMP and N-acetyl-D-glucosaminyl-diphosphodolichol. 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 those transferring phosphorus-containing groups transferases for other substituted phosphate groups. The systematic name of this enzyme class is UDP-N-acetyl-D-glucosamine:dolichyl-phosphate N-acetyl-D-glucosaminephosphotransferase. Other names in common use include UDP-D-N-acetylglucosamine N-acetylglucosamine 1-phosphate transferase, UDP-GlcNAc:dolichyl-phosphate GlcNAc-1-phosphate transferase, UDP-N-acetyl-D-glucosamine:dolichol phosphate N-acetyl-D-glucosamine-1-phosphate transferase, uridine diphosphoacetylglucosamine-dolichyl phosphate acetylglucosamine-1-phosphotransferase, chitobiosylpyrophosphoryldolichol synthase, dolichol phosphate N-acetylglucosamine-1-phosphotransferase, UDP-acetylglucosamine-dolichol phosphate acetylglucosamine phosphotransferase, and UDP-acetylglucosamine-dolichol phosphate acetylglucosamine-1-phosphotransferase. This enzyme participates in the biosynthesis of N-

glycan The terms glycans and polysaccharides are defined by IUPAC as synonyms meaning "compounds consisting of a large number of monosaccharides linked glycosidically". However, in practice the term glycan may also be used to refer to the carbohydrate p ...

and glycan structures.

References

* * EC 2.7.8 Enzymes of unknown structure {{2.7-enzyme-stub