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Glycogen Phosphorylase
Exploring the Structure
Glycogen is used in many organisms, from humans to yeast. Much of the scientific work on the enzyme has been done with rabbit glycogen phosphorylase, which was shown on the previous two pages. You can look at the slightly different enzyme from yeast in PDB entry 1ygp. This file contains the two protein chains (colored blue and green here) and several small molecules. The molecule labeled PLP is the cofactor pyridoxal phosphate, a reactive molecule which binds tightly in the active site and is used to assist in the reaction. A phosphate is bound in each subunit next to the key threonine amino acid that is used for regulation, controlling an allosteric change similarly to serine 14 in the rabbit form. As you are looking at this enzyme, notice how the two protein chains wrap arms around one another. This allows the subunits to work together when responding to the small changes in shape that are used for control.This illustration was created with RasMol. You can create similar pictures by clicking on the accession code above and picking one of the options under View Structure. A list of all glycogen phosphorylase structures in the PDB as of December, 2001 is available here. For suggestions for further reading about glycogen phosphorylase, click here.
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Last changed by: A.Honegger,