Eukaryotic glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenases: structural screening of related proteins

Rapid assessment of structural relationships between yeast glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenases and other eukaryotic types of this enzyme is described. Separation and size estimation of large fragments by sodium dodecylsulfate/polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, electroblotting onto disks, and sequencer analysis provide data that permit alignment of the segments thus characterized with the related proteins, and utilize existing structural knowledge to assess new enzyme structures. Affinity labeling allows further correlations. The results establish the overall structural arrangements of the new proteins, including the location of the active-site lysine residue, even though the yeast enzyme structures are found to differ markedly from the few previously characterized glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenases.