[TrungNhu]

Hi everybody. I am studying the metabolism in the body, but some of enzyme's names make me confused.

For example: When I consider the Glycolysis with enzyme Glucokinase, Phosphoglycerate kinase, pyruvate kinase
"PG kinase" gets its name from the product + kinase
"Pyruvate kinase" gets its name from the product + kinase
"Glucokinase" gets its name from the substrate + kinase

So I wonder there are a common formula for this kind of enzyme (kinase)? (Because I usually confuse with it)

Thanks to everybody. Good morning.

[Yggdrasil]

Hi everybody. I am studying the metabolism in the body, but some of enzyme's names make me confused.

For example: When I consider the Glycolysis with enzyme Glucokinase, Phosphoglycerate kinase, pyruvate kinase
"PG kinase" gets its name from the product + kinase
"Pyruvate kinase" gets its name from the product + kinase
"Glucokinase" gets its name from the substrate + kinase

So I wonder there are a common formula for this kind of enzyme (kinase)? (Because I usually confuse with it)

In general, biology has horrible naming conventions, so there is no systematic standard for naming these types of things.

However, for the three examples you chose, there is a commonality.  In general, a kinase transfers a phosphate from ATP to a substrate.  However, some of these reactions normally run in "reverse" transferring phosphate from a metabolite to ADP in order to form ATP (a process called substrate-level phosphorylation).  If you write the reactions in the direction where they're transferring the phosphate from ATP, you'll see the naming convention.

[Babcock_Hall]

It is helpful to remember that some enzymes are called upon to work in both directions at different times or in different tissues.  For example, pyruvate is converted into lactate in muscle during anaerobic exercise, and lactate is converted into pyruvate in liver (this is called the Cori cycle).  The same enzyme, lactate dehydrogenase, performs both jobs.  The enzyme could have been named pyruvate reductase just as easily.  Creatine phosphokinase (also called just creatine kinase) is an example of an enzyme that works in one direction at one time and the opposite direction at another time.