mutase

1 9.9

An enzyme that moves a small part of a molecule to another place in the same molecule

noun
/ˈmjuːteɪs/

Specialized

: mutasa

In the metabolic process, a mutase transfers a phosphate group from one carbon atom to another within the same molecule.

Another mutase you will encounter is in the glycogen breakdown pathway.

Examples

This is first converted via a mutase reaction to move the phosphate from the six to the one position of glucose.
Another mutase you will encounter is in the glycogen breakdown pathway.

MIT OpenCourseWare
Phosphoglycerate mutase deficiency

Academic text (2005)
For example, P. tricornutum has a putative methylmalonyl-CoA mutase gene that was slightly up-expressed in Q2 and Q3 (1.3 and 2.0-fold, respectively; p < 0.05).

Blog text (18)
Phosphoglycerate is converted to 2,3-bisphosphoglycerate by a specific mutase in the glycolysis pathway.
Researchers identified a novel mutase that plays a crucial role in the biosynthesis of amino acids.

Surface Forms

mutase singular

mutases plural

Morphology

mutase = mutate (semi-transparent) = mutate + ase

The suffix '-ase' clearly marks an enzyme and the relation to 'mutate' (change) is evident, but the precise biochemical function requires specialized domain knowledge.

Etymology

Mutase starts with the Latin root mut- meaning 'change', as in mutate or mutation, and ends with -ase, the common ending for enzymes like lipase. So a mutase is an enzyme that helps make a small 'change' inside a molecule by moving a part from one place to another.