In enzymology, a 3-deoxy-7-phosphoheptulonate synthase is an enzyme

Enzyme

Enzymes are proteins that catalyze chemical reactions. In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process, called substrates, are converted into different molecules, called products. Almost all chemical reactions in a biological cell need enzymes in order to occur at rates...

 that catalyzes

Catalysis

Catalysis is the change in rate of a chemical reaction due to the participation of a substance called a catalyst. Unlike other reagents that participate in the chemical reaction, a catalyst is not consumed by the reaction itself. A catalyst may participate in multiple chemical transformations....

 the chemical reaction

Chemical reaction

A chemical reaction is a process that leads to the transformation of one set of chemical substances to another. Chemical reactions can be either spontaneous, requiring no input of energy, or non-spontaneous, typically following the input of some type of energy, such as heat, light or electricity...

phosphoenolpyruvate + D-erythrose 4-phosphate + H₂O 3-deoxy-D-arabino-hept-2-ulosonate 7-phosphate + phosphate

The 3 substrates

Substrate (biochemistry)

In biochemistry, a substrate is a molecule upon which an enzyme acts. Enzymes catalyze chemical reactions involving the substrate. In the case of a single substrate, the substrate binds with the enzyme active site, and an enzyme-substrate complex is formed. The substrate is transformed into one or...

 of this enzyme are phosphoenolpyruvate

Phosphoenolpyruvate

Phosphoenolpyruvic acid , or phosphoenolpyruvate as the anion, is an important chemical compound in biochemistry. It has the high-energy phosphate bond found in living organisms, and is involved in glycolysis and gluconeogenesis...

, D-erythrose 4-phosphate, and H₂O

Water

Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...

, whereas its two products

Product (chemistry)

Product are formed during chemical reactions as reagents are consumed. Products have lower energy than the reagents and are produced during the reaction according to the second law of thermodynamics. The released energy comes from changes in chemical bonds between atoms in reagent molecules and...

 are 3-deoxy-D-arabino-hept-2-ulosonate 7-phosphate and phosphate

Phosphate

A phosphate, an inorganic chemical, is a salt of phosphoric acid. In organic chemistry, a phosphate, or organophosphate, is an ester of phosphoric acid. Organic phosphates are important in biochemistry and biogeochemistry or ecology. Inorganic phosphates are mined to obtain phosphorus for use in...

.

This enzyme belongs to the family of transferase

Transferase

In biochemistry, a transferase is an enzyme that catalyzes the transfer of a functional group from one molecule to another . For example, an enzyme that catalyzed this reaction would be a transferase:In this example, A would be the donor, and B would be the acceptor...

s, specifically those transferring aryl or alkyl groups other than methyl groups. The systematic name of this enzyme class is phosphoenolpyruvate:D-erythrose-4-phosphate C-(1-carboxyvinyl)transferase (phosphate-hydrolysing, 2-carboxy-2-oxoethyl-forming). Other names in common use include 2-dehydro-3-deoxy-phosphoheptonate aldolase, 2-keto-3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptonic acid 7-phosphate synthetase, 3-deoxy-D-arabino-2-heptulosonic acid 7-phosphate synthetase, 3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptolosonate-7-phosphate synthetase, 3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonate 7-phosphate synthetase, 7-phospho-2-keto-3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptonate D-erythrose-4-phosphate, lyase (pyruvate-phosphorylating), 7-phospho-2-dehydro-3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptonate, D-erythrose-4-phosphate lyase (pyruvate-phosphorylating), D-erythrose-4-phosphate-lyase, D-erythrose-4-phosphate-lyase (pyruvate-phosphorylating), DAH7-P synthase, DAHP synthase, DS-Co, DS-Mn, KDPH synthase, KDPH synthetase, deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonate-7-phosphate synthetase, phospho-2-dehydro-3-deoxyheptonate aldolase, phospho-2-keto-3-deoxyheptanoate aldolase, phospho-2-keto-3-deoxyheptonate aldolase, phospho-2-keto-3-deoxyheptonic aldolase, and phospho-2-oxo-3-deoxyheptonate aldolase. This enzyme participates in phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan biosynthesis. It employs one cofactor

Cofactor (biochemistry)

A cofactor is a non-protein chemical compound that is bound to a protein and is required for the protein's biological activity. These proteins are commonly enzymes, and cofactors can be considered "helper molecules" that assist in biochemical transformations....

, cadmium

Cadmium

Cadmium is a chemical element with the symbol Cd and atomic number 48. This soft, bluish-white metal is chemically similar to the two other stable metals in group 12, zinc and mercury. Similar to zinc, it prefers oxidation state +2 in most of its compounds and similar to mercury it shows a low...

.

Structural studies

As of late 2007, 4 structures

Tertiary structure

In biochemistry and molecular biology, the tertiary structure of a protein or any other macromolecule is its three-dimensional structure, as defined by the atomic coordinates.-Relationship to primary structure:...

 have been solved for this class of enzymes, with PDB

Protein Data Bank

The Protein Data Bank is a repository for the 3-D structural data of large biological molecules, such as proteins and nucleic acids....

accession codes , , , and .