title: γ-Glutamyltranspeptidases: sequence, structure, biochemical properties, and biotechnological applications.
abstract: γ-Glutamyltranspeptidases (γ-GTs) are ubiquitous enzymes that catalyze the hydrolysis of γ-glutamyl bonds in glutathione and glutamine and the transfer of the released γ-glutamyl group to amino acids or short peptides. These enzymes are involved in glutathione metabolism and play critical roles in antioxidant defense, detoxification, and inflammation processes. Moreover, γ-GTs have been recently found to be involved in many physiological disorders, such as Parkinson's disease and diabetes. In this review, the main biochemical and structural properties of γ-GTs isolated from different sources, as well as their conformational stability and mechanism of catalysis, are described and examined with the aim of contributing to the discussion on their structure-function relationships. Possible applications of γ-glutamyltranspeptidases in different fields of biotechnology and medicine are also discussed.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Protein Biochemistry, CNR, via Pietro Castellino, Naples, Italy. i.castellano@ibp.cnr.it
authors.forename: Immacolata
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Castellano
authors.forename: Antonello
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Merlino
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001709:Biotechnology; D005973:Glutamine / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D005723:gamma-Glutamyltransferase / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D005973:Glutamine; D005723:gamma-Glutamyltransferase