Pyruvate kinase is the enzyme involved in the last step of glycolysis. It catalyzes the transfer of a phosphate group from phosphoenolpyruvic acid (PEP) to adenosine diphosphate (ADP), yielding one molecule of pyruvic acid and one molecule of adenosine triphosphate (ATP).
Pyruvate kinase was inappropriately named (inconsistently with a conventional kinase) before it was recognized that it did not directly catalyze phosphorylation of pyruvic acid, which does not occur under physiological conditions. Pyruvate kinase is present in four distinct, tissue-specific isozymes in animals, each consisting of particular kinetic properties necessary to accommodate the variations in metabolic requirements of diverse tissues.
Isozymes in vertebrates Four isozymes of pyruvate kinase expressed in vertebrates: L (liver), R (erythrocytes), M1 (muscle and brain) and M2 (early fetal tissue and most adult tissues). The L and R isozymes are expressed by the gene PKLR, whereas the M1 and M2 isozymes are expressed by the gene PKM2. The R and L isozymes differ from M1 and M2 in that they are allosterically regulated. Kinetically, the R and L isozymes of pyruvate kinase have two distinct conformation states; one with a high substrate affinity and one with a low substrate affinity. The R-state, characterized by high substrate affinity, serves as the activated form of pyruvate kinase and is stabilized by PEP and fructose 1,6-bisphosphate (FBP), promoting the glycolytic pathway. The T-state, characterized by low substrate affinity, serves as the inactivated form of pyruvate kinase, bound and stabilized by ATP and alanine, causing phosphorylation of pyruvate kinase and the inhibition of glycolysis. The M2 isozyme of pyruvate kinase can form tetramers or dimers. Tetramers have a high affinity for PEP, whereas, dimers have a low affinity for PEP. Enzymatic activity can be regulated by phosphorylating highly active tetramers of PKM2 into an inactive dimers. The PKM gene consists of 12 exons and 11 introns. PKM1 and PKM2 are different splicing products of the M-gene (PKM1 contains exon 9 while PKM2 contains exon 10) and solely differ in 23 amino acids within a 56-amino acid stretch (aa 378-434) at their carboxy terminus. The PKM gene is regulated through heterogenous ribonucleotide proteins like hnRNPA1 and hnRNPA2. Human PKM2 monomer has 531 amino acids and is a single chain divided into A, B and C domains. The difference in amino acid sequence between PKM1 and PKM2 allows PKM2 to be allosterically regulated by FBP and for it to form dimers and tetramers while PKM1 can only form tetramers.
Isozymes in bacteria Many Enterobacteriaceae, including E. coli, have two isoforms of pyruvate kinase, PykA and PykF, which are 37% identical in E. coli (Uniprot: PykA, PykF). They catalyze the same reaction as in eukaryotes, namely the generation of ATP from ADP and PEP, the last step in glycolysis, a step that is irreversible under physiological conditions. PykF is allosterically regulated by FBP which reflects the central position of PykF in cellular metabolism. PykF transcription in E. coli is regulated by the global transcriptional regulator, Cra (FruR). PfkB was shown to be inhibited by MgATP at low concentrations of Fru-6P, and this regulation is important for gluconeogenesis.
Reaction
Glycolysis There are two steps in the pyruvate kinase reaction in glycolysis. First, PEP transfers a phosphate group to ADP, producing ATP and the enolate of pyruvate. Secondly, a proton must be added to the enolate of pyruvate to produce the functional form of pyruvate that the cell requires. Because the substrate for pyruvate kinase is a simple phospho-sugar, and the product is an ATP, pyruvate kinase is a possible foundation enzyme for the evolution of the glycolysis cycle, and may be one of the most ancient enzymes in all earth-based life. Phosphoenolpyruvate may have been present abiotically, and has been shown to be produced in high yield in a primitive triose glycolysis pathway.
In yeast cells, the interaction of yeast pyruvate kinase (YPK) with PEP and its allosteric effector Fructose 1,6-bisphosphate (FBP,) was found to be enhanced by the presence of Mg2+. Therefore, Mg2+ was concluded to be an important cofactor in the catalysis of PEP into pyruvate by pyruvate kinase. Furthermore, the metal ion Mn2+ was shown to have a similar, but stronger effect on YPK than Mg2+. The binding of metal ions to the metal binding sites on pyruvate kinase enhances the rate of this reaction. The reaction catalyzed by pyruvate kinase is the final step of glycolysis. It is one of three rate-limiting steps of this pathway. Rate-limiting steps are the slower, regulated steps of a pathway and thus determine the overall rate of the pathway. In glycolysis, the rate-limiting steps are coupled to either the hydrolysis of ATP or the phosphorylation of ADP, causing the pathway to be energetically favorable and essentially irreversible in cells. This final step is highly regulated and deliberately irreversible because pyruvate is a crucial intermediate building block for further metabolic pathways. Once pyruvate is produced, it either enters the TCA cycle for further production of ATP under aerobic conditions, or is converted to lactic acid or ethanol under anaerobic conditions.
Gluconeogenesis: the reverse reaction Pyruvate kinase also serves as a regulatory enzyme for gluconeogenesis, a biochemical pathway in which the liver generates glucose from pyruvate and other substrates. Gluconeogenesis utilizes noncarbohydrate sources to provide glucose to the brain and red blood cells in times of starvation when direct glucose reserves are exhausted. During fasting state, pyruvate kinase is inhibited, thus preventing the "leak-down" of phosphoenolpyruvate from being converted into pyruvate; instead, phosphoenolpyruvate is converted into glucose via a cascade of gluconeogenesis reactions. Although it utilizes similar enzymes, gluconeogenesis is not the reverse of glycolysis. It is instead a pathway that circumvents the irreversible steps of glycolysis. Furthermore, gluconeogenesis and glycolysis do not occur concurrently in the cell at any given moment as they are reciprocally regulated by cell signaling. Once the gluconeogenesis pathway is complete, the glucose produced is expelled from the liver, providing energy for the vital tissues in the fasting state.
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