LDH Structure
Purdue University scientists have defined, for the first time, the structure of an intra-cellular enzyme, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH).
A team headed by Michael G. Rossmann, PhD, used x-ray crystallography to map the enzyme, one of those which breaks down glucose. The report was made by Margaret Adams, PhD, a member of the team, at a London meeting honoring Nobel Laureate Sir Lawrence Bragg, originator of x-ray crystallography.
There may be future clinical significance in the achievement. In addition to being the first structural analysis of an enzyme functioning within the cell, this is the first definition of a multi-unit enzyme. Some diseases are clearly due to quantitative enzyme deficiencies, but some investigators suspect others may be caused by malfunctioning of enzyme subunits.
LDH is particularly important during muscular activity, when the muscle has become oxygen-deficient due to stress. It is then that LDH and other enzymes break down
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