Acetaldehyde dehydrogenase
Overview
Dehydrogenase
A dehydrogenase is an enzyme that oxidises a substrate by a reduction reaction that transfers one or more hydrides to an electron acceptor, usually NAD+/NADP+ or a flavin coenzyme such as FAD or FMN.-Examples:...
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...
s which catalyze the conversion of acetaldehyde
Acetaldehyde
Acetaldehyde is an organic chemical compound with the formula CH3CHO or MeCHO. It is one of the most important aldehydes, occurring widely in nature and being produced on a large scale industrially. Acetaldehyde occurs naturally in coffee, bread, and ripe fruit, and is produced by plants as part...
into acetic acid
Acetic acid
Acetic acid is an organic compound with the chemical formula CH3CO2H . It is a colourless liquid that when undiluted is also called glacial acetic acid. Acetic acid is the main component of vinegar , and has a distinctive sour taste and pungent smell...
. The oxidation of acetaldehyde to acetate can be summarized as follows:
- CH3CHO + NAD+ + CoACoenzyme ACoenzyme A is a coenzyme, notable for its role in the synthesis and oxidation of fatty acids, and the oxidation of pyruvate in the citric acid cycle. All sequenced genomes encode enzymes that use coenzyme A as a substrate, and around 4% of cellular enzymes use it as a substrate...
→ acetyl-CoAAcetyl-CoAAcetyl coenzyme A or acetyl-CoA is an important molecule in metabolism, used in many biochemical reactions. Its main function is to convey the carbon atoms within the acetyl group to the citric acid cycle to be oxidized for energy production. In chemical structure, acetyl-CoA is the thioester...
+ NADH + H+
In humans, there are three known genes which encode this enzymatic activity, ALDH1A1
ALDH1A1
Aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 family, member A1 also known as ALDH1A1 is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ALDH1A1 gene.- Function :...
, ALDH2
ALDH2
Aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 family , also known as ALDH2, is a human gene found on chromosome 12.-Function:The enzyme encoded by this gene belongs to the aldehyde dehydrogenase family of enzymes that catalyze the chemical transformation from acetaldehyde to acetic acid...
, and the more recently discovered ALDH1B1
ALDH1B1
Aldehyde dehydrogenase X, mitochondrial is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ALDH1B1 gene.-Further reading:...
(also known as ALDH5).
Unanswered Questions
