Gamma-glutamyltransferase

Overview
In enzymology, a gamma-glutamyltransferase is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction


 * (5-L-glutamyl)-peptide + an amino acid $$\rightleftharpoons$$ peptide + 5-L-glutamyl amino acid

Thus, the two substrates of this enzyme are (5-L-glutamyl)-peptide and amino acid, whereas its two products are peptide and 5-L-glutamyl amino acid.

This enzyme belongs to the family of transferases, specifically the aminoacyltransferases. The systematic name of this enzyme class is (5-L-glutamyl)-peptide:amino-acid 5-glutamyltransferase. Other names in common use include glutamyl transpeptidase, alpha-glutamyl transpeptidase, gamma-glutamyl peptidyltransferase, gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase, gamma-GPT, gamma-GT, gamma-GTP, L-gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase, L-gamma-glutamyltransferase, L-glutamyltransferase, GGT, and gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase. This enzyme participates in 5 metabolic pathways: taurine and hypotaurine metabolism, selenoamino acid metabolism, cyanoamino acid metabolism, glutathione metabolism, and arachidonic acid metabolism.

Structural studies
As of late 2007, 8 structures have been solved for this class of enzymes, with PDB accession codes, , , , , , , and.