What is "amidophosphoribosyltransferase"

n. (context biochemistry English) An enzyme that converts phosphoribosylpyrophosphate into 5-phosphoribosylamine.

Amidophosphoribosyltransferase (ATase), also known as glutamine phosphoribosylpyrophosphate amidotransferase (GPAT), is an enzyme responsible for catalyzing the conversion of 5-phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate (PRPP) into 5-phosphoribosyl-1-amine (PRA), using the ammonia group from a glutamine side-chain. This is the committing step in de novo purine synthesis. In humans it is encoded by the PPAT (phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate amidotransferase) gene. ATase is a member of the purine/pyrimidine phosphoribosyltransferase family.