Introduction to Isomerases
Isomerases are a large category of enzymes that generally catalyze reactions that change or alter small parts of the substrate that they are working on. There are many subcategories of isomerases such as; racemases that cause a racemization of the chirality center and intramolecular oxidoreductases that can catalyze the oxidation of one part of a molecule by the subsequent reduction of a different part or catalyze the interconversion of aldoses and ketoses. These are just a few examples of the catalytic capabilities of the more than 700 isomerases (PDB). A few specific enzymes are used to show the diversity of the this class of enzymes as well as the similarities between the selected categories. Triose phosphate isomerase, Phosphoglucose isomerase, and glutamate racemase were selected.
