Structural highlights
Function
[LALBA_MOUSE] Regulatory subunit of lactose synthase, changes the substrate specificity of galactosyltransferase in the mammary gland making glucose a good acceptor substrate for this enzyme. This enables LS to synthesize lactose, the major carbohydrate component of milk. In other tissues, galactosyltransferase transfers galactose onto the N-acetylglucosamine of the oligosaccharide chains in glycoproteins. [B4GT1_BOVIN] The Golgi complex form catalyzes the production of lactose in the lactating mammary gland and could also be responsible for the synthesis of complex-type N-linked oligosaccharides in many glycoproteins as well as the carbohydrate moieties of glycolipids. The cell surface form functions as a recognition molecule during a variety of cell to cell and cell to matrix interactions, as those occurring during development and egg fertilization, by binding to specific oligosaccharide ligands on opposing cells or in the extracellular matrix.
Evolutionary Conservation
Check, as determined by ConSurfDB. You may read the explanation of the method and the full data available from ConSurf.
Publication Abstract from PubMed
The lactose synthase (LS) enzyme is a 1:1 complex of a catalytic component, beta1,4-galactosyltransferse (beta4Gal-T1) and a regulatory component, alpha-lactalbumin (LA), a mammary gland-specific protein. LA promotes the binding of glucose (Glc) to beta4Gal-T1, thereby altering its sugar acceptor specificity from N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) to glucose, which enables LS to synthesize lactose, the major carbohydrate component of milk. The crystal structures of LS bound with various substrates were solved at 2 A resolution. These structures reveal that upon substrate binding to beta4Gal-T1, a large conformational change occurs in the region comprising residues 345 to 365. This repositions His347 in such a way that it can participate in the coordination of a metal ion, and creates a sugar and LA-binding site. At the sugar-acceptor binding site, a hydrophobic N-acetyl group-binding pocket is found, formed by residues Arg359, Phe360 and Ile363. In the Glc-bound structure, this hydrophobic pocket is absent. For the binding of Glc to LS, a reorientation of the Arg359 side-chain occurs, which blocks the hydrophobic pocket and maximizes the interactions with the Glc molecule. Thus, the role of LA is to hold Glc by hydrogen bonding with the O-1 hydroxyl group in the acceptor-binding site on beta4Gal-T1, while the N-acetyl group-binding pocket in beta4Gal-T1 adjusts to maximize the interactions with the Glc molecule. This study provides details of a structural basis for the partially ordered kinetic mechanism proposed for lactose synthase.
Crystal structure of lactose synthase reveals a large conformational change in its catalytic component, the beta1,4-galactosyltransferase-I.,Ramakrishnan B, Qasba PK J Mol Biol. 2001 Jun 29;310(1):205-18. PMID:11419947[1]
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
See Also
References
- ↑ Ramakrishnan B, Qasba PK. Crystal structure of lactose synthase reveals a large conformational change in its catalytic component, the beta1,4-galactosyltransferase-I. J Mol Biol. 2001 Jun 29;310(1):205-18. PMID:11419947 doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/jmbi.2001.4757
