Molecular function prediction for a family exhibiting evolutionary tendencies toward substrate specificity swapping: recurrence of tyrosine aminotransferase activity in the Iα subfamily.

ABSTRACT: The subfamily Iα aminotransferases are typically categorized as having narrow specificity toward carboxylic amino acids (AATases), or broad specificity that includes aromatic amino acid substrates (TATases). Because of their general role in central metabolism and, more specifically, their association with liver-related diseases in humans, this subfamily is biologically interesting. The substrate specificities for only a few members of this subfamily have been reported, and the reliable prediction of substrate specificity from protein sequence has remained elusive. In this study, a diverse set of aminotransferases was chosen for characterization based on a scoring system that measures the sequence divergence of the active site. The enzymes that were experimentally characterized include both

SUBMITTER: Muratore KE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3823064 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature