Carboxy-lyases, also known as decarboxylases, are
carbon–carbon lyases that add or remove a
carboxyl group from
organic compound
Some chemical authorities define an organic compound as a chemical compound that contains a carbon–hydrogen or carbon–carbon bond; others consider an organic compound to be any chemical compound that contains carbon. For example, carbon-co ...
s. These
enzyme
An enzyme () is a protein that acts as a biological catalyst by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrate (chemistry), substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different mol ...
s catalyze the decarboxylation of amino acids and alpha-keto acids.
Classification and nomenclature
Carboxy-lyases are categorized under
EC number 4.1.1.
Usually, they are named after the substrate whose
decarboxylation they
catalyze, for example
pyruvate decarboxylase catalyzes the decarboxylation of
pyruvate
Pyruvic acid (CH3COCOOH) is the simplest of the alpha-keto acids, with a carboxylic acid and a ketone functional group. Pyruvate, the conjugate base, CH3COCOO−, is an intermediate in several metabolic pathways throughout the cell.
Pyruvic ...
.
Examples
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Aromatic-L-amino-acid decarboxylase
*
Glutamate decarboxylase
*
Histidine decarboxylase
*
Ornithine decarboxylase
*
Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase
*
Pyruvate decarboxylase
*
RuBisCO – the only carboxylase that leads to a net fixation of carbon dioxide
*
Uridine monophosphate synthetase
*
Uroporphyrinogen III decarboxylase
* enoyl-CoA carboxylases/reductases (ECRs)
See also
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Enzyme
An enzyme () is a protein that acts as a biological catalyst by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrate (chemistry), substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different mol ...
s
*
Lyases
*
List of EC numbers of enzymes belonging to category EC 4.1
References
External links
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