home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- *****************************************
- * Argininosuccinate synthase signatures *
- *****************************************
-
- Argininosuccinate synthase (EC 6.3.4.5) (AS) is a urea cycle enzyme that
- catalyzes the penultimate step in arginine biosynthesis: the ATP-dependent
- ligation of citrulline to aspartate to form argininosuccinate, AMP and
- pyrophosphate [1,2].
-
- In humans, a defect in the AS gene causes citrullinemia, a genetic disease
- characterized by severe vomiting spells and mental retardation.
-
- AS is a homotetrameric enzyme of chains of about 400 amino-acid residues. An
- arginine seems to be important for the enzyme's catalytic mechanism.
-
- The sequences of AS from various prokaryotes, archaebacteria and eukaryotes
- show significant similarity. We selected two signature patterns for AS. The
- first is a highly conserved stretch of nine residues located in the N-terminal
- extremity of these enzymes, the second is derived from a conserved region
- which contains one of the conserved arginine residues.
-
- -Consensus pattern: A-[FY]-S-G-G-L-D-T-S
- -Sequences known to belong to this class detected by the pattern: ALL.
- -Other sequence(s) detected in SWISS-PROT: NONE.
-
- -Consensus pattern: G-x-T-x-K-G-N-D-x(2)-R-F
- -Sequences known to belong to this class detected by the pattern: ALL.
- -Other sequence(s) detected in SWISS-PROT: NONE.
-
- -Last update: December 1991 / First entry.
-
- [ 1] van Vliet F., Crabeel M., Boyen A., Tricot C., Stalon V., Falmagne P.,
- Nakamura Y., Baumberg S., Glansdorff N.
- Gene 95:99-104(1990).
- [ 2] Morris C.J., Reeve J.N.
- J. Bacteriol. 170:3125-3130(1988).
-