Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD or G6PDH) (EC 1.1.1.49) is a cytosolic enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction1qki: X-RAY STRUCTURE OF HUMAN GLUCOSE 6-PHOSPHATE DEHYDROGENASE (VARIANT CANTON R459L) COMPLEXED WITH STRUCTURAL NADP+2bh9: X-RAY STRUCTURE OF A DELETION VARIANT OF HUMAN GLUCOSE 6-PHOSPHATE DEHYDROGENASE COMPLEXED WITH STRUCTURAL AND COENZYME NADP2bhl: X-RAY STRUCTURE OF HUMAN GLUCOSE-6-PHOSPHATE DEHYDROGENASE (DELETION VARIANT) COMPLEXED WITH GLUCOSE-6-PHOSPHATE Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD or G6PDH) (EC 1.1.1.49) is a cytosolic enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction This enzyme participates in the pentose phosphate pathway (see image), a metabolic pathway that supplies reducing energy to cells (such as erythrocytes) by maintaining the level of the co-enzyme nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH). The NADPH in turn maintains the level of glutathione in these cells that helps protect the red blood cells against oxidative damage from compounds like hydrogen peroxide. Of greater quantitative importance is the production of NADPH for tissues involved in biosynthesis of fatty acids or isoprenoids, such as the liver, mammary glands, adipose tissue, and the adrenal glands. G6PD reduces NADP+ to NADPH while oxidizing glucose-6-phosphate. Clinically, an X-linked genetic deficiency of G6PD predisposes a person to non-immune hemolytic anemia. G6PD is widely distributed in many species from bacteria to humans. Multiple sequence alignment of over 100 known G6PDs from different organisms reveal sequence identity ranging from 30% to 94%. Human G6PD has over 30% identity in amino acid sequence to G6PD sequences from other species. Humans also have two isoforms of a single gene coding for G6PD. Moreover, 150 different human G6PD mutants have been documented. These mutations are mainly missense mutations that result in amino acid substitutions, and while some of them result in G6PD deficiency, others do not seem to result in any noticeable functional differences. Some scientists have proposed that some of the genetic variation in human G6PD resulted from generations of adaptation to malarial infection. Other species experience a variation in G6PD as well. In higher plants, several isoforms of G6PDH have been reported, which are localized in the cytosol, the plastidic stroma, and peroxisomes. A modified F420-dependent (as opposed to NADP+-dependent) G6PD is found in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and is of interest for treating tuberculosis. The bacterial G6PD found in Leuconostoc mesenteroides was shown to be reactive toward 4-Hydroxynonenal, in addition to G6P. G6PD is generally found as a dimer of two identical monomers (see main thumbnail). Depending on conditions, such as pH, these dimers can themselves dimerize to form tetramers. Each monomer in the complex has a substrate binding site that binds to G6P, and a catalytic coenzyme binding site that binds to NADP+/NADPH using the Rossman fold. For some higher organisms, such as humans, G6PD contains an additional NADP+ binding site, called the NADP+ structural site, that does not seem to participate directly in the reaction catalyzed by G6PD. The evolutionary purpose of the NADP+ structural site is unknown. As for size, each monomer is approximately 500 amino acids long (514 amino acids for humans). Functional and structural conservation between human G6PD and Leuconostoc mesenteroides G6PD points to 3 widely conserved regions on the enzyme: a 9 residue peptide in the substrate binding site, RIDHYLGKE (residues 198-206 on human G6PD), a nucleotide-binding fingerprint, GxxGDLA (residues 38-44 on human G6PD), and a partially conserved sequence EKPxG near the substrate binding site (residues 170-174 on human G6PD), where we have use 'x' to denote a variable amino acid. The crystal structure of G6PD reveals an extensive network of electrostatic interactions and hydrogen bonding involving G6P, 3 water molecules, 3 lysines, 1 arginine, 2 histidines, 2 glutamic acids, and other polar amino acids. The proline at position 172 is thought to play a crucial role in positioning Lys171 correctly with respect to the substrate, G6P. In the two crystal structures of normal human G6P, Pro172 is seen exclusively in the cis confirmation, while in the crystal structure of one disease causing mutant (variant Canton R459L), Pro172 is seen almost exclusively in the trans confirmation. With access to crystal structures, some scientists have tried to model the structures of other mutants. For example, in German ancestry, where enzymopathy due to G6PD deficiency is rare, mutation sites on G6PD have been shown to lie near the NADP+ binding site, the G6P binding site, and near the interface between the two monomers. Thus, mutations in these critical areas are possible without completely disrupting the function of G6PD. In fact, it has been shown that most disease causing mutations of G6PD occur near the NADP+ structural site.