In enzymology, a protein xylosyltransferase 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...

 in which a beta-D-xylosyl

Xylose

Xylose is a sugar first isolated from wood, and named for it. Xylose is classified as a monosaccharide of the aldopentose type, which means that it contains five carbon atoms and includes an aldehyde functional group. It is the precursor to hemicellulose, one of the main constituents of biomass...

 residue is transferred from UDP-D-xylose to the sidechain oxygen

Oxygen

Oxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...

 atom of a serine

Serine

Serine is an amino acid with the formula HO2CCHCH2OH. It is one of the proteinogenic amino acids. By virtue of the hydroxyl group, serine is classified as a polar amino acid.-Occurrence and biosynthesis:...

 residue in a protein

Protein

Proteins are biochemical compounds consisting of one or more polypeptides typically folded into a globular or fibrous form, facilitating a biological function. A polypeptide is a single linear polymer chain of amino acids bonded together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of...

.

This enzyme belongs to the family of glycosyltransferase

Glycosyltransferase

Glycosyltransferases are enzymes that act as a catalyst for the transfer of a monosaccharide unit from an activated nucleotide sugar to a glycosyl acceptor molecule, usually an alcohol....

s, specifically the pentosyltransferases. The systematic name of this enzyme class is UDP-D-xylose:protein beta-D-xylosyltransferase. Other names in common use include UDP-D-xylose:core protein beta-D-xylosyltransferase, UDP-D-xylose:core protein xylosyltransferase, UDP-D-xylose:proteoglycan core protein beta-D-xylosyltransferase, UDP-xylose-core protein beta-D-xylosyltransferase, uridine diphosphoxylose-core protein beta-xylosyltransferase, and uridine diphosphoxylose-protein xylosyltransferase. This enzyme participates in the biosynthesis of chondroitin sulfate

Chondroitin sulfate

Chondroitin sulfate is a sulfated glycosaminoglycan composed of a chain of alternating sugars . It is usually found attached to proteins as part of a proteoglycan. A chondroitin chain can have over 100 individual sugars, each of which can be sulfated in variable positions and quantities...

 and glycan structures.