Protein Phosphorylation - Functions of Phosphorylation

Functions of Phosphorylation

In some reactions, the purpose of phosphorylation is to "activate" or "volatize" a molecule, increasing its energy so it is able to participate in a subsequent reaction with a negative free-energy change. All kinases require a divalent metal ion such as Mg2+ or Mn2+ to be present, which stabilizes the high-energy bonds of the donor molecule (usually ATP or ATP derivative) and allows phosphorylation to occur.

In other reactions, phosphorylation of a protein substrate can inhibit its activity (as when AKT phosphorylates the enzyme GSK-3). One common mechanism for phosphorylation-mediated enzyme inhibition was demonstrated in the tyrosine kinase called "src" (pronounced "sarc", see: Src (gene)). When src is phosphorylated on a particular tyrosine, it folds on itself, and thus masks its own kinase domain, and is thus shut "off".

In still other reactions, phosphorylation of a protein causes it to be bound to other proteins which have "recognition domains" for a phosphorylated tyrosine, serine, or threonine motif. As a result of binding a particular protein, a distinct signaling system may be activated or inhibited.

In the late 1990s it was recognized that phosphorylation of some proteins causes them to be degraded by the ATP-dependent ubiquitin/proteasome pathway. These target proteins become substrates for particular E3 ubiquitin ligases only when they are phosphorylated.