cd07769

Glycerol kinases; a subfamily of the FGGY family of carbohydrate kinases; This subfamily includes glycerol kinases (GK; EC 2.7.1.30) and glycerol kinase-like proteins from all three kingdoms of living organisms. Glycerol is an important intermediate of energy metabolism and it plays fundamental roles in several vital physiological processes. GKs are involved in the entry of external glycerol into cellular metabolism. They catalyze the rate-limiting step in glycerol metabolism by transferring a phosphate from ATP to glycerol thus producing glycerol 3-phosphate (G3P) in the cytoplasm. Human GK deficiency, called hyperglycerolemia, is an X-linked recessive trait associated with psychomotor retardation, osteoporosis, spasticity, esotropia, and bone fractures. Under different conditions, GKs from different species may exist in different oligomeric states. The monomer of GKs is composed of two large domains separated by a deep cleft that forms the active site. This model includes both the N-terminal domain, which adopts a ribonuclease H-like fold, and the structurally related C-terminal domain. The high affinity ATP binding site of GKs is created only by a substrate-induced conformational change. Based on sequence similarity, some GK-like proteins from metazoa, which have lost their GK enzymatic activity, are also included in this CD. Members in this subfamily belong to the FGGY family of carbohydrate kinases.