Phosphoglycolate Phosphatase (PGP)

Phosphoglycolate Phosphatase(EC 3.1.3.18) may have an important regulatory influence on oxygen transport in man by indirectly affecting the level of red cell 2,3-diphosphoglycerate. (The spellings 'phosphoglycolate' and 'phosphoglycollate' have been used interchangeably, but the former is preferred.) Barker and Hopkinson (1978) devised a method for detecting PGP isozymes after starch-gel electrophoresis. They are present in all human tissues, with highest activities in skeletal and cardiac muscle. Six different electrophoretic phenotypes were identified. Family studies showed that these are determined by 3 alleles at an autosomal locus. In a sample of Europeans, the frequency of the alleles were PGP(1), 0.826; PGP(2), 0.129; PGP(3), 0.045. The 3-banded isozyme pattern in heterozygotes suggested that the enzyme is dimeric.