Uridine 5'-diphospho-glucuronosyltransferase ( UDP-glucuronosyltransferase, UGT) is a microsomal glycosyltransferase () that catalyzes the transfer of the glucuronic acid component of

UDP-glucuronic acid UDP-glucuronic acid is a sugar used in the creation of polysaccharides and is an intermediate in the biosynthesis of ascorbic acid (except in primates and guinea pigs). It is made from UDP-glucose by UDP-glucose 6-dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.22) usin ...

to a small hydrophobic molecule. This is a

glucuronidation Glucuronidation is often involved in drug metabolism of substances such as drugs, pollutants, bilirubin, androgens, estrogens, mineralocorticoids, glucocorticoids, fatty acid derivatives, retinoids, and bile acids. These linkages involve glycosid ...

reaction. ''Alternative names:'' *glucuronyltransferase *UDP-glucuronyl transferase *UDP-GT

Function

Glucuronosyltransferases are responsible for the process of

, a major part of

phase II metabolism Drug metabolism is the metabolic breakdown of drugs by living organisms, usually through specialized enzymatic systems. More generally, xenobiotic metabolism (from the Greek xenos "stranger" and biotic "related to living beings") is the set of ...

. Arguably the most important of the Phase II (conjugative) enzymes, UGTs have been the subject of increasing scientific inquiry since the mid-to-late 1990s. The reaction catalyzed by the UGT enzyme involves the addition of a glucuronic acid moiety to xenobiotics and is the most important pathway for the human body's elimination of the most frequently prescribed drugs. It is also the major pathway for foreign chemical (dietary, environmental, pharmaceutical) removal for most drugs, dietary substances, toxins and endogenous substances. UGT is present in humans, other animals, plants, and bacteria. Famously, UGT enzymes are not present in the genus Felis, and this accounts for a number of unusual toxicities in the cat family. The glucuronidation reaction consists of the transfer of the glucuronosyl group from uridine 5'-diphospho-glucuronic acid (UDPGA) to substrate molecules that contain oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur or carboxyl functional groups. The resulting

glucuronide A glucuronide, also known as glucuronoside, is any substance produced by linking glucuronic acid to another substance via a glycosidic bond. The glucuronides belong to the glycosides. Glucuronidation, the conversion of chemical compounds to glucur ...

is more polar (e.g. hydrophilic) and more easily excreted than the substrate molecule. The product solubility in blood is increased allowing it to be eliminated from the body by the

kidney The kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped organs found in vertebrates. They are located on the left and right in the retroperitoneal space, and in adult humans are about in length. They receive blood from the paired renal arteries; blood ...

Diseases

A deficiency in the

bilirubin Bilirubin (BR) (Latin for "red bile") is a red-orange compound that occurs in the normal catabolic pathway that breaks down heme in vertebrates. This catabolism is a necessary process in the body's clearance of waste products that arise from the ...

specific form of glucuronosyltransferase is thought to be the cause of Gilbert's syndrome, which is characterized by unconjugated hyperbilirubinemia. It is also associated with Crigler–Najjar syndrome, a more serious disorder where the enzyme's activity is either completely absent (Crigler–Najjar syndrome type I) or less than 10% of normal (type II). Infants may have a developmental deficiency in UDP-glucuronyl transferase, and are unable to hepatically metabolize the antibiotic drug

chloramphenicol Chloramphenicol is an antibiotic useful for the treatment of a number of bacterial infections. This includes use as an eye ointment to treat conjunctivitis. By mouth or by injection into a vein, it is used to treat meningitis, plague, cholera, a ...

which requires glucuronidation. This leads to a condition known as gray baby syndrome.

Causes

Causes of unconjugated hyperbilirubinemia are divided into three main categories, namely, excessive

synthesis, liver bilirubin uptake malfunction, and bilirubin conjugation compromise. As to excessive bilirubin synthesis, both

intravascular hemolysis Intravascular hemolysis describes hemolysis that happens mainly inside the vasculature. As a result, the contents of the red blood cell are released into the general circulation, leading to hemoglobinemia and increasing the risk of ensuing hyperbili ...

and

extravascular hemolysis Hemolysis or haemolysis (), also known by #Nomenclature, several other names, is the rupturing (lysis) of red blood cells (erythrocytes) and the release of their contents (cytoplasm) into surrounding fluid (e.g. blood plasma). Hemolysis may o ...

can involve in the pathophysiology. Additionally, dyserythropoiesis and extravasation of

blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood in the c ...

into tissues such as angioedema and

edema Edema, also spelled oedema, and also known as fluid retention, dropsy, hydropsy and swelling, is the build-up of fluid in the body's Tissue (biology), tissue. Most commonly, the legs or arms are affected. Symptoms may include skin which feels t ...

can also lead to indirect hyperbilirubinemia, along with

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...

medication A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field and re ...

-induced,

ethinyl estradiol Ethinylestradiol (EE) is an estrogen medication which is used widely in birth control pills in combination with progestins. In the past, EE was widely used for various indications such as the treatment of menopausal symptoms, gynecological disord ...

, chronic hepatitis, and

cirrhosis Cirrhosis, also known as liver cirrhosis or hepatic cirrhosis, and end-stage liver disease, is the impaired liver function caused by the formation of scar tissue known as fibrosis due to damage caused by liver disease. Damage causes tissue repai ...

that are, otherwise, attributed to hepatic bilirubin mal-uptake and bilirubin conjugation compromise, respectively.

Genes

Human genes which encode UGT enzymes include: *

B3GAT1 3-beta-glucuronosyltransferase 1 (B3GAT1) is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ''B3GAT1'' gene, whose enzymatic activity creates the CD57 epitope on other cell surface proteins. In immunology, the CD57 antigen (CD stands for cluster of di ...

B3GAT2 Galactosylgalactosylxylosylprotein 3-beta-glucuronosyltransferase 2 is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ''B3GAT2'' gene. The product of this gene is a transmembrane protein belonging to the glucuronyltransferase family, and catalyzes th ...

B3GAT3 Galactosylgalactosylxylosylprotein 3-beta-glucuronosyltransferase 3 is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ''B3GAT3'' gene. The protein encoded by this gene is a member of the glucuronyltransferase gene family, enzymes that exhibit strict ...

* UGT1A1,

UGT1A3 UDP-glucuronosyltransferase 1-3 is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ''UGT1A3'' gene. This gene encodes a UDP-glucuronosyltransferase, an enzyme of the glucuronidation pathway that transforms small lipophilic molecules, such as steroids, ...

UGT1A4 UDP-glucuronosyltransferase 1-4 is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ''UGT1A4'' gene. This gene encodes a UDP-glucuronosyltransferase, an enzyme of the glucuronidation pathway that transforms small lipophilic molecules, such as steroids ...

, UGT1A5,

UGT1A6 UDP-glucuronosyltransferase 1-6 is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ''UGT1A6'' gene. Function UDP-glucuronosyltransferase 1-6 is a UDP-glucuronosyltransferase, an enzyme of the glucuronidation pathway that transforms small lipophilic ...

UGT1A7 UDP glucuronosyltransferase 1 family, polypeptide A7 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''UGT1A7'' gene. This gene encodes a UDP-glucuronosyltransferase, an enzyme of the glucuronidation pathway that transforms small lipophilic molecu ...

UGT1A8 UDP-glucuronosyltransferase 1-8 is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ''UGT1A8'' gene. Function This gene encodes a UDP-glucuronosyltransferase, an enzyme of the glucuronidation pathway that transforms small lipophilic molecules, such a ...

, UGT1A9, UGT1A10 *

UGT2A1 UDP glucuronosyltransferase 2 family, polypeptide B1, also known as UGT2B1, is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ''UGT2B1'' gene. Function The olfactory neuroepithelium, which lines the posterior nasal cavity, is exposed to a wide ra ...

UGT2A2 UDP glucuronosyltransferase 2 family, polypeptide A2, also known as UGT2A2, is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ''UGT2A2'' gene. Function The olfactory neuroepithelium, which lines the posterior nasal cavity, is exposed to a wide ra ...

UGT2A3 Uridine 5'-diphospho-glucuronosyltransferase ( UDP-glucuronosyltransferase, UGT) is a microsomal glycosyltransferase () that catalyzes the transfer of the glucuronic acid component of UDP-glucuronic acid to a small hydrophobic molecule. This is ...

, UGT2B4,

UGT2B7 UGT2B7 (UDP-Glucuronosyltransferase-2B7) is a phase II metabolism isoenzyme found to be active in the liver, kidneys, epithelial cells of the lower gastrointestinal tract and also has been reported in the brain. In humans, UDP-Glucuronosyltransf ...

, UGT2B10,

UGT2B11 UDP glucuronosyltransferase 2 family, polypeptide B4, also known as UGT2B4, is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ''UGT2B4'' gene. Function UGT2B4 is mainly involved in the glucuronidation of hyodeoxycholic acid, a bile acid, and catec ...

UGT2B15 UDP-glucuronosyltransferase 2B15 is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ''UGT2B15'' gene. The UGTs are of major importance in the conjugation and subsequent elimination of potentially toxic xenobiotics and endogenous compounds. UGT2B8 demo ...

UGT2B17 UDP-glucuronosyltransferase 2B17 is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ''UGT2B17'' gene. UGT2B17 belongs to the family of UDP-glucuronosyltransferases (UGTs; EC 2.4.1.17), enzymes that catalyze the transfer of glucuronic acid from uridine ...

, UGT2B28

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, Biology, border=no Transferases EC 2.4.1