About Beta Lactamase:
Beta Lactamase are enzymes which are produced by bacteria. As a biological catalyst, Beta Lactamase speed up chemical reactions. Playing a critical role in antibiotic resistance, Beta Lactamase has been subjected to rigorous testing in recent years. With antibiotic resistance becoming an increasingly concerning issue in the medical community, understanding how enzymes, such as Beta Lactamase, aid in antibiotic resistance could be key to preventing the resistance and ultimate ineffectiveness of antibiotics.
LACTB, also referred to as MRPL56, Mitochondrial Ribosomal Protein L56, EC 3.4., Mitochondrial 39S Ribosomal Protein L56 and G24, is a protein with is mitochondrially-localized and possess similarities in terms of sequencing to prokaryotic beta-lactamases, although LACTB and Beta Lactamase are believed to have differing enzymatic functions.
LACTB Mechanism
Beta Lactamase accelerates the reactions between specific chemicals and is capable of breaking particular molecular structures. A B-Lactam ring is a four-atom ring, which is present in numerous B-Lactam antibiotics, such as cephalosporins, carbapenems, cephamycins, and penicillins. Beta Lactamase effectively breaks this four-atom ring and, therefore, deactivates the antibacterial properties of the molecule. When this occurs, the effect of the antibiotic is significantly reduced or minimized altogether, essentially preventing it from killing the bacteria is was intended to treat.
LACTB Function
Using hydrolysis, Beta Lactamase successfully breaches and opens the four-atom ring within the molecular structure of B-Lactam antibiotics. Once this has been achieved, the antibacterial properties of the molecules are no longer active.
In contrast, LACTB encodes a 54 kDa protein and affects the regulation of the metabolic circuitry. Sharing sequence similarities with Beta Lactamase, LACTB, or Serine beta-lactamase-like protein LACTB, mitochondrial, is capable of polymerizing into stable filaments within the mitochondrial intermembrane space.
When overexpressed, LACTB has been linked to obesity, whilst its impact on modulation of cell differentiation state and mitochondrial phospholipid metabolism is thought to enable it to operate as a tumor suppressor. Acting as a regulator of mitochondrial lipid metabolism, LACTB decreases levels of a protein known as PSID. PSID is responsible of the conversion of phosphatidylserine (PtdSer) to phosphatidylethanolamine (PtdEtn), and it is believed that by lowering levels of PSID, LACTB impacts on mitochondrial lipid metabolism.
Beta Lactamase Structure
Known by gene names bla, blaT-3, blaT-4, blaT-5, blaT-6, Beta Lactamase has a sequence length of 263 on one polypeptide(L) chain. The LACTB gene is located at chromosome 15q22.1, and consists of eight exons. Studies have suggested that the organelle targeting associated with LACTB may occur because the N-terminal 97 amino acid segment of LACTB does not form part of the conserved penicillin-binding protein domain.
Beta Lactamase Interactions
Although studies are still on-going, numerous interactions have been shown to occur in relation to Beta Lactamase and LACTB. To date, the following Interactions have been recorded following scientific studies: MiR-125b-5p, SPRTN, AFG1L, C1QBP, CCDC102A, CD40, CHRNA1, CHRNA10, CHRNA2, CHRNA3, CHRNA4, CHRNB2, CHRNA5, CHRNB1, CHRNA9, CHRNA6, CHRND, CHRNB4, CHRNB3, ECH1, HSCB, CLGN, HTR3B, COX4I1, HTR3D, CHRNG, COX14, ESR1, HERC2, NSFL1C, COPRS, CHRNE, ELAVL1, FOXN1, ESR2, HTR3C, HTR3A, HTR3E, IBTK, LYRM1, MYNN, PAXIP1, NME4, NEURL4, UBXN2B, SLC25A6, UBXN2A, SFXN1, PITRM1, RIOK1, POLDIP2, ZFP90, ZACN, XPNPEP3, ZNFX1, ZNF131 and ZNF280D.