Chitinase

Function

Chitinases (Chi) cleave the beta-1-4-glycosidic bond between the N-acetyl-D-glucosamine units of which chitin is comprised. Chitinases are present in plants, bacteria and fungi. The first chitinase structures were solved in 1994, from a bacterium (1ctn) and a plant (2hvm). A mechanism for chitin cleavage was proposed based on several structures and was later confirmed. ^[1].

Chitinase I is found in plants.
Chitinase II is found in plants, fungi and bacteria.
Chitinase III has no sequence similarity to class I or II.
Chitinase IV has similar characteristics to class I but are smaller than it.

Disease

Chi is related to allergies and asthma^[2].

Structural highlights

The of Chitinase A. ^[3] Water molecules are shown as red spheres.

3D Structures of Chitinase

Chitinase 3D structures

Chitinase A complex with (GlcNac)4 and ethylene glycol (PDB entry 3wh1)

Drag the structure with the mouse to rotate

ReferencesReferences

↑ Lee CG, Da Silva CA, Dela Cruz CS, Ahangari F, Ma B, Kang MJ, He CH, Takyar S, Elias JA. Role of chitin and chitinase/chitinase-like proteins in inflammation, tissue remodeling, and injury. Annu Rev Physiol. 2011;73:479-501. doi: 10.1146/annurev-physiol-012110-142250. PMID:21054166 doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev-physiol-012110-142250
↑ Shuhui L, Mok YK, Wong WS. Role of mammalian chitinases in asthma. Int Arch Allergy Immunol. 2009;149(4):369-77. doi: 10.1159/000205583. Epub 2009, Mar 17. PMID:19295241 doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000205583
↑ Ohnuma T, Umemoto N, Nagata T, Shinya S, Numata T, Taira T, Fukamizo T. Crystal structure of a "loopless" GH19 chitinase in complex with chitin tetrasaccharide spanning the catalytic center. Biochim Biophys Acta. 2014 Feb 25;1844(4):793-802. doi:, 10.1016/j.bbapap.2014.02.013. PMID:24582745 doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bbapap.2014.02.013

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Anastassis Perrakis, Alexander Berchansky, Michal Harel, Marcin Jozef Suskiewicz

[1] Lee CG, Da Silva CA, Dela Cruz CS, Ahangari F, Ma B, Kang MJ, He CH, Takyar S, Elias JA. Role of chitin and chitinase/chitinase-like proteins in inflammation, tissue remodeling, and injury. Annu Rev Physiol. 2011;73:479-501. doi: 10.1146/annurev-physiol-012110-142250. PMID:21054166 doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev-physiol-012110-142250

[2] Shuhui L, Mok YK, Wong WS. Role of mammalian chitinases in asthma. Int Arch Allergy Immunol. 2009;149(4):369-77. doi: 10.1159/000205583. Epub 2009, Mar 17. PMID:19295241 doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000205583

[3] Ohnuma T, Umemoto N, Nagata T, Shinya S, Numata T, Taira T, Fukamizo T. Crystal structure of a "loopless" GH19 chitinase in complex with chitin tetrasaccharide spanning the catalytic center. Biochim Biophys Acta. 2014 Feb 25;1844(4):793-802. doi:, 10.1016/j.bbapap.2014.02.013. PMID:24582745 doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bbapap.2014.02.013

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