In enzymology, a ribokinase is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction Thus, the two substrates of this enzyme are ATP and -ribose, whereas its two products are ADP and -ribose 5-phosphate. The systematic name of this enzyme class is ATP:-ribose 5-phosphotransferase. Other names in common use include deoxyribokinase, ribokinase (phosphorylating), and -ribokinase. This enzyme participates in pentose phosphate pathway. Ribokinase (RK) belongs to the phosphofructokinase B (PfkB) family of sugar kinases. Other members of this family (also known as the RK family) include adenosine kinase (AK), inosine-guanosine kinase, fructokinase, and 1-phosphofructokinase. The members of the PfkB/RK family are identified by the presence of three conserved sequence motifs and the enzymatic activity of this family of protein generally shows a dependence on the presence of pentavalent ions. The conserved NXXE motif, which is a distinctive property of the PfkB family of proteins, is involved in pentavalent ion dependency. The structures of RK and several other PfK family of proteins have been determined from a number of organisms. Despite low sequence similarity between AdK and other PfkB family of proteins, these proteins are quite similar at structural levels.

Structural studies

As of late 2007, 7 structures have been solved for this class of enzymes, with PDB accession codes, , , , , , and.