The Apicomplexa-specific glucosamine-6-phosphate N-acetyltransferase gene family encodes a key enzyme for glycoconjugate synthesis with potential as therapeutic target.

ABSTRACT: Apicomplexa form a phylum of obligate parasitic protozoa of great clinical and veterinary importance. These parasites synthesize glycoconjugates for their survival and infectivity, but the enzymatic steps required to generate the glycosylation precursors are not completely characterized. In particular, glucosamine-phosphate N-acetyltransferase (GNA1) activity, needed to produce the essential UDP-N-acetylglucosamine (UDP-GlcNAc) donor, has not been identified in any Apicomplexa. We scanned the genomes of Plasmodium falciparum and representatives from six additional main lineages of the phylum for proteins containing the Gcn5-related N-acetyltransferase (GNAT) domain. One family of GNAT-domain containing proteins, composed by a P. falciparum sequence and its six apicomplexan orthologs, rescu

SUBMITTER: Cova M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5838249 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature