Reaction: ATP + α-D-galactose = ADP + α-D-galactose 1-phosphate
Other name(s): galactokinase (phosphorylating); ATP:D-galactose-1-phosphotransferase
Systematic name: ATP:D-galactose 1-phosphotransferase
Comments: Part of the Leloir pathway for galactose metabolism. The enzymes from mammals and from the bacterium Escherichia coli have no activity with N-acetyl-α-D-galactosamine [4-6].
Links to other databases: BRENDA, EXPASY, GTD, KEGG, Metacyc, PDB, CAS registry number: 9030-53-9
References:
1. Cardini, C.E. and Leloir, L.F. Enzymic phosphorylation of galactosamine and galactose. Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 45 (1953) 55-64.
2. Neufeld, E.F., Feingold, D.S. and Hassid, W.Z. Phosphorylation of D-galactose and L-arabinose by extracts from Phaseolus aureus seedlings. J. Biol. Chem. 235 (1960) 906-909.
3. Wilkinson, J.F. The pathway of the adaptive fermentation of galactose by yeast. Biochem. J. 44 (1949) 460-467.
4. Yang, J., Fu, X., Jia, Q., Shen, J., Biggins, J.B., Jiang, J., Zhao, J., Schmidt, J.J., Wang, P.G. and Thorson, J.S. Studies on the substrate specificity of Escherichia coli galactokinase. Org. Lett. 5 (2003) 2223-2226. [PMID: 12816414]
5. Timson, D.J. and Reece, R.J. Sugar recognition by human galactokinase. BMC Biochem. 4 (2003) 16. [PMID: 14596685]
6. Thoden, J.B., Timson, D.J., Reece, R.J. and Holden, H.M. Molecular structure of human galactokinase: implications for type II galactosemia. J. Biol. Chem. 280 (2005) 9662-9670. [PMID: 15590630]