UDP-N-acetylglucosamine 2-epimerase

UDP-N-acetylglucosamine 2-epimerase
Identifiers
EC number	5.1.3.14
CAS number	9037-71-2
Databases
IntEnz	IntEnz view
BRENDA	BRENDA entry
ExPASy	NiceZyme view
KEGG	KEGG entry
MetaCyc	metabolic pathway
PRIAM	profile
PDB structures	RCSB PDB PDBe PDBsum
Gene Ontology	AmiGO / EGO
Search PMC articles PubMed articles NCBI proteins

UDP-N-acetylglucosamine 2-epimerase
crystal structure of udp-n-acetylglucosamine_2 epimerase
Identifiers
Symbol	Epimerase_2
Pfam	PF02350
Pfam clan	CL0113
InterPro	IPR003331
SCOP	1f6d
SUPERFAMILY	1f6d
Available protein structures: Pfam structures PDB RCSB PDB; PDBe; PDBj PDBsum structure summary

In enzymology, an UDP-N-acetylglucosamine 2-epimerase (EC 5.1.3.14) is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction

UDP-N-acetyl-D-glucosamine $\rightleftharpoons$ UDP-N-acetyl-D-mannosamine

Hence, this enzyme has one substrate, UDP-N-acetyl-D-glucosamine, and one product, UDP-N-acetyl-D-mannosamine.

This enzyme belongs to the family of isomerases, specifically those racemases and epimerases acting on carbohydrates and derivatives. The systematic name of this enzyme class is UDP-N-acetyl-D-glucosamine 2-epimerase. Other names in common use include UDP-N-acetylglucosamine 2'-epimerase, uridine diphosphoacetylglucosamine 2'-epimerase, uridine diphospho-N-acetylglucosamine 2'-epimerase, and uridine diphosphate-N-acetylglucosamine-2'-epimerase. This enzyme participates in aminosugars metabolism.

In microorganisms this epimerase is involved in the synthesis of the capsule precursor UDP-ManNAcA.^[1][2] An inhibitor of the bacterial 2-epimerase, epimerox, has been described. Some of these enzymes are bifunctional. The UDP-N-acetylglucosamine 2-epimerase from rat liver displays both epimerase and kinase activity.^[3]

Structural studies

As of late 2007, 4 structures have been solved for this class of enzymes, with PDB accession codes 1F6D, 1O6C, 1V4V, and 1VGV.

References

1. Swartley JS, Liu LJ, Miller YK, Martin LE, Edupuganti S, Stephens DS (March 1998). "Characterization of the Gene Cassette Required for Biosynthesis of the (α1→6)-Linked N-Acetyl-d-Mannosamine-1-Phosphate Capsule of Serogroup A Neisseria meningitidis". J. Bacteriol. 180 (6): 1533–9. PMC 107054. PMID 9515923.
2. Kiser KB, Lee JC (January 1998). "Staphylococcus aureus cap5O and cap5P Genes Functionally Complement Mutations Affecting Enterobacterial Common-Antigen Biosynthesis in Escherichia coli". J. Bacteriol. 180 (2): 403–6. PMC 106897. PMID 9440531.
3. Stasche R, Hinderlich S, Weise C, Effertz K, Lucka L, Moormann P, Reutter W (September 1997). "A bifunctional enzyme catalyzes the first two steps in N-acetylneuraminic acid biosynthesis of rat liver. Molecular cloning and functional expression of UDP-N-acetyl-glucosamine 2-epimerase/N-acetylmannosamine kinase". J. Biol. Chem. 272 (39): 24319–24. doi:10.1074/jbc.272.39.24319. PMID 9305888.

Further reading

• Kikuchi K, Tsuiki S (1973). "Purification and properties of UDP-N-acetylglucosamine 2'-epimerase from rat liver". Biochim. Biophys. Acta 327 (1): 193–206. doi:10.1016/0005-2744(73)90117-4. PMID 4770741.

This article incorporates text from the public domain Pfam and InterPro IPR003331