HK1

Hexokinase-1 (HK1) is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the HK1 gene on chromosome 10. Hexokinases phosphorylate glucose to produce glucose-6-phosphate (G6P), the first step in most glucose metabolism pathways. This gene encodes a ubiquitous form of hexokinase which localizes to the outer membrane of mitochondria. Mutations in this gene have been associated with hemolytic anemia due to hexokinase deficiency. Alternative splicing of this gene results in five transcript variants which encode different isoforms, some of which are tissue-specific. Each isoform has a distinct N-terminus; the remainder of the protein is identical among all the isoforms. A sixth transcript variant has been described, but due to the presence of several stop codons, it is not thought to encode a protein. [provided by RefSeq, Apr 2009]

Structure

HK1 is one of four highly homologous hexokinase isoforms in mammalian cells.

Gene

The HK1 gene spans approximately 131 kb and consists of 25 exons. Alternative splicing of its 5’ exons produces different transcripts in different cell types: exons 1-5 and exon 8 (exons T1-6) are testis-specific exons; exon 6, located approximately 15 kb downstream of the testis-specific exons, is the erythroid-specific exon (exon R); and exon 7, located approximately 2.85 kb downstream of exon R, is the first 5’ exon for the ubiquitously expressed HK1 isoform. Moreover, exon 7 encodes the porin-binding domain (PBD) conserved in mammalian HK1 genes. Meanwhile, the remaining 17 exons are shared among all HK1 isoforms.