Transketolase (abbreviated as TK) is an enzyme that is encoded by the TKT gene. It participates in both the pentose phosphate pathway in all organisms and the Calvin cycle of photosynthesis. Transketolase catalyzes two important reactions, which operate in opposite directions in these two pathways. In the first reaction of the non-oxidative pentose phosphate pathway, the cofactor thiamine diphosphate accepts a 2-carbon fragment from a 5-carbon ketose (D-xylulose-5-P), then transfers this fragment to a 5-carbon aldose (D-ribose-5-P) to form a 7-carbon ketose (sedoheptulose-7-P). The abstraction of two carbons from D-xylulose-5-P yields the 3-carbon aldose glyceraldehyde-3-P. In the Calvin cycle, transketolase catalyzes the reverse reaction, the conversion of sedoheptulose-7-P and glyceraldehyde-3-P to pentoses, the aldose D-ribose-5-P and the ketose D-xylulose-5-P. The second reaction catalyzed by transketolase in the pentose phosphate pathway involves the same thiamine diphosphate-mediated transfer of a 2-carbon fragment from D-xylulose-5-P to the aldose erythrose-4-phosphate, affording fructose 6-phosphate and glyceraldehyde-3-P. Again, in the Calvin cycle exactly the same reaction occurs, but in the opposite direction. Moreover, in the Calvin cycle this is the first reaction catalyzed by transketolase, rather than the second. In mammals, transketolase connects the pentose phosphate pathway to glycolysis, feeding excess sugar phosphates into the main carbohydrate metabolic pathways. Its presence is necessary for the production of NADPH, especially in tissues actively engaged in biosyntheses, such as fatty acid synthesis by the liver and mammary glands, and for steroid synthesis by the liver and adrenal glands. Thiamine diphosphate is an essential cofactor, along with calcium. Transketolase is abundantly expressed in the mammalian cornea by the stromal keratocytes and epithelial cells and is reputed to be one of the corneal crystallins. Species distribution Transketolase is widely expressed in a wide range of organisms including bacteria, plants, and mammals. The following human genes encode proteins with transketolase activity: TKT (transketolase) TKTL1 (transketolase-like protein 1) TKTL2 (transketolase-like protein 2) Structure The entrance to the active site for this enzyme is made up mainly of several arginine, histidine, serine, and aspartate side-chains, with a glutamate side-chain playing a secondary role. These side-chains, to be specific Arg359, Arg528, His469, and Ser386, are conserved within each transketolase enzyme and interact with the phosphate group of the donor and acceptor substrates. Because the substrate channel is so narrow, the donor and acceptor substrates cannot be bound simultaneously. Also, the substrates conform into a slightly extended form upon binding in the active site to