InterPro domain: IPR000764

This entry represents the uridine kinase like proteins.

Uridine kinase (pyrimidine ribonucleoside kinase) is the rate-limiting enzyme in the pyrimidine salvage pathway. It catalyses the following reaction:

ATP + Uridine = ADP + UMP

A cDNA for uridine kinase from mouse brain was found which encodes a protein of 277 amino acids. A truncated form of the cDNA was expressed in Escherichia coli, and shown to display uridinekinase activity and to readily form a tetramer, the most active form of the wild-type enzyme. Sequence analysis has identified three ATP-binding site consensus motifs. The predicted secondary structure, and sequence comparison with kinases of known structure, is consistent with uridine kinase having the alpha/beta core nucleotide-binding fold common to many kinases [ 1 ].

1. Cloning and expression of a cDNA encoding uridine kinase from mouse brain. Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 336, 105-12