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A metabolic enzyme doing double duty as a transcription factor
Author(s) -
Bhardwaj Anjana,
Wilkinson Miles F.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
bioessays
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.175
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1521-1878
pISSN - 0265-9247
DOI - 10.1002/bies.20232
Subject(s) - enzyme , transcription factor , cytoplasm , biology , transcription (linguistics) , biochemistry , metabolic pathway , microbiology and biotechnology , promoter , gene , gene expression , philosophy , linguistics
Abstract Many kinds of multifunctional regulatory proteins have been identified that perform distinct biochemical functions in the nucleus, the cytoplasm, or both. Here we describe the recent discovery by Hall et al. (2004)1 of a new type of multifunctional protein: a metabolic enzyme that doubles as a transcription factor. This enzyme, Arg5,6, functions as a catalytic enzyme in ornithine biosynthesis and also binds and regulates the promoters of nuclear and mitochondrial genes. It may also regulate precursor mRNA metabolism. We discuss how proteins that serve as both metabolic enzymes and transcription factors might have evolved. BioEssays 27:467–471, 2005. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.