Structural Features of Carnitine Acetyltransferase

PROTEIN ID 1NM8
0

Table of Contents
Q1 - What is the name of the protein?.......................................................................................2
Q2- What does the protein do?..................................................................................................2
Q3 - What are the structural features of the protein?.................................................................2
Q4 - What are two features of your protein’s structure that make it different OR similar to
haemoglobin?.............................................................................................................................3
Q5 - Based on the structural properties of your protein, how resistant (or sensitive) would
your protein be to heat denaturation and why?..........................................................................4
References..................................................................................................................................5
1

Q1 - What is the name of the protein?
Human Carnitine Acetyltransferase
Q2- What does the protein do?
Carnitine Acetyltransferase performs a pivotal role in the maintenance of the metabolism of
the body. It is a family of enzymes that all catalyse similar reaction in which the acyl groups
are exchanges between carnitine and CoA or coenzyme A. Human Carnitine
Acetyltransferase, also identified as the Carnitine O-acetyltransferase is an enzyme coded by
the CRAT gene (Ncbi, 2019). Carnitine Acetyltransferase also acts as a fat metaboliser and is
found is both in the peroxisome and mitochondria. It plays the roles of a catalyst for the
reaction acetyl-CoA carnitine ⇌ CoA acetylcarnitine.
Q3 - What are the structural features of the protein?
Figure 1: The crystal structure of Carnitine Acetyltransferase
(Source: Rcsb, 2017)
2