Diaminopimelate decarboxylase
A cartoon of Methanococcus jannaschii diaminopimelate decarboxylase | |||||||||
| Identifiers | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EC no. | 4.1.1.20 | ||||||||
| CAS no. | 9024-75-3 | ||||||||
| 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 / QuickGO | ||||||||
| |||||||||
The enzyme diaminopimelate decarboxylase (EC 4.1.1.20) catalyzes the cleavage of carbon-carbon bonds in meso-2,6-diaminoheptanedioate (diaminopimelate) to produce CO2 and L-lysine, the essential amino acid. It employs the cofactor pyridoxal phosphate, also known as PLP, which participates in numerous enzymatic transamination, decarboxylation and deamination reactions.
This enzyme belongs to the family of lyases, specifically the carboxy-lyases, which cleave carbon-carbon bonds. The systematic name of this enzyme class is meso-2,6-diaminoheptanedioate carboxy-lyase (L-lysine-forming).DAP-decarboxylase catalyzes the final step in the meso-diaminopimelate/lysine biosynthetic pathway. Lysine is used for protein synthesis and used in the peptidoglycan layer of Gram-positive bacteria cell walls. This enzyme is not found in humans, but the ortholog is ornithine decarboxylase.