home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- ********************************************
- * Alpha-lactalbumin / lysozyme C signature *
- ********************************************
-
- Alpha-lactalbumin [1], a milk protein, is the regulatory subunit of lactose
- synthetase. In the mammary gland, alpha-lactalbumin changes the substrate
- specificity of galactosyltransferase from N-acetylglucosamine to glucose.
-
- Lysozymes (EC 3.2.1.17) [2] act as bacteriolytic enzymes by hydrolyzing the
- beta(1->4) bonds between N-acetylglucosamine and N-acetylmuramic acid in the
- peptidoglycan of prokaryotic cell walls. There are at least five different
- classes of lysozymes [3,4]: C (chicken type), G (goose type), phage-type (T4),
- fungi (Chalaropsis), and bacterial (Bacillus subtilis) but there are few
- similarities in the sequences of the different types of lysozymes.
-
- Alpha-lactalbumin and lysozyme C are evolutionary related [5]. Around 35 to
- 40% of the residues are conserved in both proteins as well as the positions of
- the four disulfide bonds (see the schematic representation). The pattern for
- this family of proteins includes three cysteines involved in two of these
- disulfide bonds (the first cysteine is linked to the third one).
-
- +-------+
- | **|*******
- xxCxxxxxxxxxxCxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxCxxxxxCxCxxxxxxCxxxxxxxxxCxxxCxx
- | | +--------+ | |
- | +----------------------------------------+ |
- +--------------------------------------------------------+
-
- 'C': conserved cysteine involved in a disulfide bond.
- '*': position of the pattern.
-
- -Consensus pattern: C-x(3)-C-x(2)-[LF]-x(3)-[DEN]-[LI]-x(5)-C
- -Sequences known to belong to this class detected by the pattern: ALL.
- -Other sequence(s) detected in SWISS-PROT: NONE.
-
- -Note: these proteins belong to family 22 in the classification of glycosyl
- hydrolases [6].
-
- -Last update: December 1992 / Text revised.
-
- [ 1] Hall L., Campbell P.N.
- Essays Biochem. 22:1-26(1986).
- [ 2] Concise Encyclopedia Biochemistry, Second Edition, Walter de Gruyter,
- Berlin New-York (1988).
- [ 3] Weaver L.H., Grutter M.G., Remington S.J., Gray T.M., Isaacs N.W.,
- Matthews B.W.
- J. Mol. Evol. 21:97-111(1985).
- [ 4] Kamei K., Hara S., Ikenaka T., Murao S.
- J. Biochem. 104:832-836(1988).
- [ 5] Nitta K., Sugai S.
- Eur. J. Biochem. 182:111-118(1989).
- [ 6] Henrissat B.
- Biochem. J. 280:309-316(1991).
-