N-acylglucosamine 2-epimerase

In enzymology, a N-acylglucosamine 2-epimerase is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction


 * N-acyl-D-glucosamine $$\rightleftharpoons$$ N-acyl-D-mannosamine

Hence, this enzyme has one substrate, N-acyl-D-glucosamine, and one product, N-acyl-D-mannosamine.

This enzyme belongs to the family of isomerases, specifically those racemases and epimerases acting on carbohydrates and derivatives. The systematic name of this enzyme class is N-acyl-D-glucosamine 2-epimerase. Other names in common use include acylglucosamine 2-epimerase, and N-acetylglucosamine 2-epimerase. This enzyme participates in aminosugars metabolism. It employs one cofactor, ATP.

Structural studies
As of late 2007, only one structure has been solved for this class of enzymes, with the PDB accession code.