Adenylate kinase is an enzyme involved in regulating the adenine nucleotide composition within a cell by catalyzing the reversible transfer of phosphate group among adinine nucleotides. Three isozymes of adenylate kinase have been identified in vertebrates, adenylate isozyme 1 (AK1), 2 (AK2) and 3 (AK3). AK1 is found in the cytosol of skeletal muscle, brain and erythrocytes, whereas AK2 and AK3 are found in the mitochondria of other tissues including liver and heart. AK1 was identified because of its association with a rare genetic disorder causing nonspherocytic hemolytic anemia where a mutation in the AK1 gene was found to reduce the catalytic activity of the enzyme.
