On the Origins of Enzymes: Phosphate-Binding Polypeptides Mediate Phosphoryl Transfer to Synthesize Adenosine Triphosphate.

ABSTRACT: Reactions involving the transfer of a phosphoryl (-PO₃^2-) group are fundamental to cellular metabolism. These reactions are catalyzed by enzymes, often large and complex, belonging to the phosphate-binding loop (P-loop) nucleoside triphosphatase (NTPase) superfamily. Due to their critical importance in life, it is reasonable to assume that phosphoryl-transfer reactions were also crucial in the pre-LUCA (last universal common ancestor) world and mediated by precursors that were simpler, in terms of their sequence and structure, relative to their modern-day enzyme counterparts. Here, we demonstrate that short phosphate-binding polypeptides (∼50 residues) comprising a single, ancestrally inferred, P-loop or Walker A motif mediate the reversible transfer of a phosphoryl g

SUBMITTER: Vyas P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10119929 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature