Pyridoxal phosphate

Pyridoxal Phosphate is a coenzyme of many enzymatic reactions. It is the active form of vitamin B6 which comprises three natural organic compounds, pyridoxal, pyridoxamine and pyridoxine. Pyridoxal phosphate acts as a coenzyme in all transamination reactions, and in some oxylation and deamination reactions of amino acids. The aldehyde group of pyridoxal phosphate forms a Schiff-base linkage with the epsilon-amino group of a specific lysine group of the aminotransferase enzyme. The alpha-amino group of the amino acid substrate displaces the epsilon-amino group of the active-site lysine residue. The resulting aldimine becomes deprotonated to become a quinoid intermediate, which in turn accepts a proton at a different position to become a ketimine. Ketimine becomes hydrolyzed so that the amino group remains on the protein complex.