Human Triosephosphate isomerase (TPI) is a superhero in the enzymatic world and is the primary catalytic protein present in many metabolic pathways including glycolysis that occur throughout the human body. TPI catalyses the reversible conversion of dihydroxyacetone phosphate (DHAP) to glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate (GAP) in the glycolytic pathway; as glycolysis is the first step in cellular respiration, this places even more importance on TPI in this process as being efficient and reliable. This protein has been labelled ‘catalytic perfection’ due to the optimised chemistry in which there are no further improvements possible to the structural makeup and efficiency. This model describes a selection of superpower features that TPI has that help it function as the super enzyme that it is.
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