Glycosylphosphatidylinositol

GPI synthesis components
Identifiers
SymbolGPI
Membranome327

Glycosylphosphatidylinositol (pronunciationⓘ) or glycophosphatidylinositol (GPI) is a phosphoglyceride that can be attached to the C-terminus of a protein during posttranslational modification. The resulting GPI-anchored proteins play key roles in a wide variety of biological processes.[1] GPI is composed of a phosphatidylinositol group linked through a carbohydrate-containing linker (glucosamine and mannose glycosidically bound to the inositol residue) and via an ethanolamine phosphate (EtNP) bridge to the C-terminal amino acid of a mature protein. The two fatty acids within the hydrophobic phosphatidyl-inositol group anchor the protein to the cell membrane.

  1. ^ Paulick MG, Bertozzi CR (July 2008). "The glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchor: a complex membrane-anchoring structure for proteins". Biochemistry. 47 (27): 6991–7000. doi:10.1021/bi8006324. PMC 2663890. PMID 18557633.