Introduction: Make sure you get your vitamins!

Pyridoxal 5'-Phosphate, or PLP, is a compound that the cell must synthesize. It has the chemical formula C8H10N1O6P1 and is formed from any one of three forms of vitamin B-6. These reactions are catalyzed by a pyridoxine (PN), pyridoxal (PL), or pyridoxamine (PM) Kinase, depending on your starting vitamin. A pyridoxine (PNP) or pyridoxamine (PMP) Oxidase is also used, and these processes are drawn out in Figure 1.

Figure 1

The PLP cofactor is found for most part in transferases, lyases, racemases, decarboxylases, mutases, synthetases and glycogen phosphorylases. It also has been found to play a role in rifampicin biosynthesis, as well as chlorophyll biosynthesis.

Feel free to push the following buttons to see different models of the cofactor.
push for a ball and stick model
push to see Van Der Waals surface dots
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push to see the electrostatic surface potential
Introduction