In enzymology, a galactosylceramide sulfotransferase is an enzyme

Enzyme

Enzymes are proteins that catalyze chemical reactions. In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process, called substrates, are converted into different molecules, called products. Almost all chemical reactions in a biological cell need enzymes in order to occur at rates...

 that catalyzes

Catalysis

Catalysis is the change in rate of a chemical reaction due to the participation of a substance called a catalyst. Unlike other reagents that participate in the chemical reaction, a catalyst is not consumed by the reaction itself. A catalyst may participate in multiple chemical transformations....

 the chemical reaction

Chemical reaction

A chemical reaction is a process that leads to the transformation of one set of chemical substances to another. Chemical reactions can be either spontaneous, requiring no input of energy, or non-spontaneous, typically following the input of some type of energy, such as heat, light or electricity...

3'-phosphoadenylyl sulfate + a galactosylceramide adenosine 3',5'-bisphosphate + a galactosylceramidesulfate

Thus, the two substrates

Substrate (biochemistry)

In biochemistry, a substrate is a molecule upon which an enzyme acts. Enzymes catalyze chemical reactions involving the substrate. In the case of a single substrate, the substrate binds with the enzyme active site, and an enzyme-substrate complex is formed. The substrate is transformed into one or...

 of this enzyme are 3'-phosphoadenylyl sulfate and galactosylceramide, whereas its two products

Product (chemistry)

Product are formed during chemical reactions as reagents are consumed. Products have lower energy than the reagents and are produced during the reaction according to the second law of thermodynamics. The released energy comes from changes in chemical bonds between atoms in reagent molecules and...

 are adenosine 3',5'-bisphosphate

Adenosine 3',5'-bisphosphate

Adenosine 3',5'-bisphosphate is a form of an adenosine nucleotide with two phosphate groups attached to different carbons in the ribose ring. This is distinct from adenosine diphosphate, where the two phosphate groups are attached in a chain to the 5' carbon atom in the ring.Adenosine...

 and galactosylceramidesulfate.

This enzyme belongs to the family of transferase

Transferase

In biochemistry, a transferase is an enzyme that catalyzes the transfer of a functional group from one molecule to another . For example, an enzyme that catalyzed this reaction would be a transferase:In this example, A would be the donor, and B would be the acceptor...

s, specifically the sulfotransferases, which transfer sulfur-containing groups. The systematic name of this enzyme class is 3'-phosphoadenylyl-sulfate:galactosylceramide 3'-sulfotransferase. Other names in common use include GSase, 3'-phosphoadenosine-5'-phosphosulfate-cerebroside sulfotransferase, galactocerebroside sulfotransferase, galactolipid sulfotransferase, glycolipid sulfotransferase, and glycosphingolipid sulfotransferase. This enzyme participates in sphingolipid metabolism.