Acetaldehyde dehydrogenases () are dehydrogenase

enzyme Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as products ...

s which catalyze the conversion of

acetaldehyde Acetaldehyde (IUPAC systematic name ethanal) is an organic chemical compound with the formula CH3 CHO, sometimes abbreviated by chemists as MeCHO (Me = methyl). It is a colorless liquid or gas, boiling near room temperature. It is one of the ...

into

acetic acid Acetic acid , systematically named ethanoic acid , is an acidic, colourless liquid and organic compound with the chemical formula (also written as , , or ). Vinegar is at least 4% acetic acid by volume, making acetic acid the main componen ...

. The oxidation of acetaldehyde to acetate can be summarized as follows: Acetaldehyde + NAD⁺ +

Coenzyme A Coenzyme A (CoA, SHCoA, CoASH) 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 genomes sequenced to date encode enzymes that use coenzyme A as a subs ...

↔

Acetyl-CoA Acetyl-CoA (acetyl coenzyme A) is a molecule that participates in many biochemical reactions in protein, carbohydrate and lipid metabolism. Its main function is to deliver the acetyl group to the citric acid cycle (Krebs cycle) to be oxidized for ...

+ NADH + H⁺ In humans, there are three known genes which encode this enzymatic activity,

ALDH1A1 Aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 family, member A1, also known as ALDH1A1 or retinaldehyde dehydrogenase 1 (RALDH1), is an enzyme that is encoded by the ''ALDH1A1'' gene. Function This protein belongs to the aldehyde dehydrogenases family of proteins ...

, ALDH2, and the more recently discovered ALDH1B1 (also known as ALDH5). These enzymes are members of the larger class of aldehyde dehydrogenases. The CAS number for this type of the enzyme is 028-91-5

Structure

Cysteine-302 is one of three consecutive Cys residues and is crucial to the enzyme's catalytic function. The residue is alkylated by iodoacetamide in both the cytosolic and mitochondrial isozymes, with modifications to Cys-302 indicative of catalytic activity with other residues. Furthermore, the preceding sequence Gln-Gly-Gln-Cys is conserved in both isozymes for both human and horse, which is consistent with Cys-302 being crucial to catalytic function. As discovered by site-directed mutagenesis,

glutamate Glutamic acid (symbol Glu or E; the ionic form is known as glutamate) is an α-amino acid that is used by almost all living beings in the biosynthesis of proteins. It is a non-essential nutrient for humans, meaning that the human body can synt ...

-268 is a key component of liver acetaldehyde dehydrogenase and is also critical to catalytic activity. Since activity in mutants could not be restored by addition of general bases, it's suggested that the residue functions as a general base for activation of the essential Cys-302 residue. In bacteria, acylating acetaldehyde dehydrogenase forms a bifunctional heterodimer with metal-dependent 4-hydroxy-2-ketovalerate aldolase. Utilized in the bacterial degradation of toxic aromatic compounds, the enzyme's crystal structure indicates that intermediates are shuttled directly between active sites through a

hydrophobic In chemistry, hydrophobicity is the physical property of a molecule that is seemingly repelled from a mass of water (known as a hydrophobe). In contrast, hydrophiles are attracted to water. Hydrophobic molecules tend to be nonpolar and, ...

intermediary channel, providing an unreactive environment in which to move the reactive acetaldehyde intermediate from the aldolase active site to the acetaldehyde dehydrogenase active site. Such communication between proteins allows for the efficient transfer substrates from one active site to the next.

Evolution

Although the two isozymes (ALDH1 and ALDH2) do not share a common subunit, the homology between the human ALDH1 and ALDH2 proteins is 66% at the coding

nucleotide Nucleotides are organic molecules consisting of a nucleoside and a phosphate. They serve as monomeric units of the nucleic acid polymers – deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA), both of which are essential biomolecu ...

level and 69% at the

amino acid Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. Although hundreds of amino acids exist in nature, by far the most important are the alpha-amino acids, which comprise proteins. Only 22 alpha ...

level, which is found to be lower than the 91% homology between human ALDH1 and horse ALDH1. Such a finding is consistent with evidence suggesting the early evolutionary divergence between

cytosolic The cytosol, also known as cytoplasmic matrix or groundplasm, is one of the liquids found inside cells (intracellular fluid (ICF)). It is separated into compartments by membranes. For example, the mitochondrial matrix separates the mitochondrio ...

and

mitochondrial A mitochondrion (; ) is an organelle found in the cells of most Eukaryotes, such as animals, plants and fungi. Mitochondria have a double membrane structure and use aerobic respiration to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is used t ...

isozymes, as seen in the 50% homology between pig mitochondrial and cytosolic aspartate aminotransferases.

Role in metabolism of alcohol

In the

liver The liver is a major organ only found in vertebrates which performs many essential biological functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the synthesis of proteins and biochemicals necessary for digestion and growth. In humans, it i ...

ethanol Ethanol (abbr. EtOH; also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound. It is an alcohol with the chemical formula . Its formula can be also written as or (an ethyl group linked to a ...

is converted into harmless

(the main acid in

vinegar Vinegar is an aqueous solution of acetic acid and trace compounds that may include flavorings. Vinegar typically contains 5–8% acetic acid by volume. Usually, the acetic acid is produced by a double fermentation, converting simple sugars to eth ...

) by a two-step process. In the first step, ethanol is converted to acetaldehyde by alcohol dehydrogenase. In the second step, the acetaldehyde is converted to acetic acid by acetaldehyde dehydrogenase. Acetaldehyde is more

toxic Toxicity is the degree to which a chemical substance or a particular mixture of substances can damage an organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a sub ...

than alcohol and is responsible for many hangover symptoms. About 50% of people of Northeast Asian descent have a dominant

mutation In biology, a mutation is an alteration in the nucleic acid sequence of the genome of an organism, virus, or extrachromosomal DNA. Viral genomes contain either DNA or RNA. Mutations result from errors during DNA or viral replication, m ...

in their acetaldehyde dehydrogenase

gene In biology, the word gene (from , ; "...Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a b ...

, making this enzyme less effective, which causes the alcohol flush reaction, also known as Asian flush syndrome. A similar mutation is found in about 5–10% of blond-haired blue-eyed people of Northern European descent.Macgregor S., Lind P. A., Bucholz K. K., Hansell N. K., Madden P. A. F., Richter M. M., Montgomery G. W., Martin N. G., Heath A. C., Whitfield J. B. (2008.) "Associations of ''ADH'' and ''ALDH2'' gene variation with self report alcohol reactions, consumption and dependence: an integrated analysis", ''Human Molecular Genetics'', 18(3):580-93. In these people, acetaldehyde accumulates after drinking alcohol, leading to symptoms of acetaldehyde poisoning, including the characteristic flushing of the skin and increased heart and respiration rates. Other symptoms can include severe abdominal and urinary tract cramping, hot and cold flashes, profuse sweating, and profound

malaise As a medical term, malaise is a feeling of general discomfort, uneasiness or lack of wellbeing and often the first sign of an infection or other disease. The word has existed in French since at least the 12th century. The term is often used ...

. Individuals with deficient acetaldehyde dehydrogenase activity are far less likely to become

alcoholic Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomina ...

s, but seem to be at a greater risk of liver damage, alcohol-induced asthma, and contracting cancers of the oro-pharynx and esophagus due to acetaldehyde overexposure. Acetaldehyde Dehydrogenase Reaction

This demonstrates that many of ethanol's toxic effects are mediated via the acetaldehyde metabolite and can therefore be mitigated by substances such as fomepizole which effectively reduces the conversion rate of ethanol to acetaldehyde ''in vivo''. ALDH2, which has a lower K_M for acetaldehydes than ALDH1 and acts predominantly in the mitochondrial matrix, is the main enzyme in acetaldehyde metabolism and has three genotypes. A single point mutation (G → A) at exon 12 of the ALDH2 gene causes a replacement of glutamine with lysine at residue 487, resulting in the ALDH2K enzyme. ALDH2K has an increased K_M for NAD⁺, rendering it virtually inactive at cellular concentrations of NAD⁺. Since ALDH2 is a randomized tetramer, the hetero-mutated genotype is reduced to only 6% activity compared to wild type, while homo-mutated genotypes have virtually zero enzyme activity. The ALDH2-deficient subunit is dominant in

hybridization Hybridization (or hybridisation) may refer to: *Hybridization (biology), the process of combining different varieties of organisms to create a hybrid *Orbital hybridization, in chemistry, the mixing of atomic orbitals into new hybrid orbitals *Nu ...

with a wild type subunit, resulting in inactivation of the isozyme by interfering with catalytic activity and increasing turnover. ALDH2 genetic variation has been closely correlated with

alcohol dependence Alcohol dependence is a previous (DSM-IV and ICD-10) psychiatric diagnosis in which an individual is physically or psychologically dependent upon alcohol (also chemically known as ethanol). In 2013, it was reclassified as alcohol use disorder ...

, with heterozygotes at a reduced risk compared to wild type homozygotes and individual homozygotes for the ALDH2-deficient at a very low risk for alcoholism. The drug

disulfiram Disulfiram is a medication used to support the treatment of chronic alcoholism by producing an acute sensitivity to ethanol (drinking alcohol). Disulfiram works by inhibiting the enzyme acetaldehyde dehydrogenase, causing many of the effects o ...

(Antabuse) prevents the oxidation of acetaldehyde to acetic acid and is used in the treatment of alcoholism. ALDH1 is strongly inhibited by disulfiram, while ALDH2 is resistant to its effect. The cysteine residue at 302 in ALDH1 and 200 in ALDH2 is implicated as a disulfiram binding site on the enzyme and serves as a disulfiram sensitive thiol site.

Covalent A covalent bond is a chemical bond that involves the sharing of electrons to form electron pairs between atoms. These electron pairs are known as shared pairs or bonding pairs. The stable balance of attractive and repulsive forces between atom ...

binding of disulfiram to the thiol blocks the binding of one of the cysteine residues with iodoacetamide, thereby inactivating the enzyme and significantly lowering catalytic activity. Activity can be recovered by treatment with 2-mercaptoethanol, although not with glutathione.

Metronidazole Metronidazole, sold under the brand name Flagyl among others, is an antibiotic and antiprotozoal medication. It is used either alone or with other antibiotics to treat pelvic inflammatory disease, endocarditis, and bacterial vaginosis. It is ...

(Flagyl), which is used to treat certain parasitic infections as well as pseudomembranous colitis, causes similar effects to disulfiram. Coprine (which is an amino acid found in certain coprinoid mushrooms) metabolizes in vivo to 1-aminocyclopropanol which causes similar effects as well.

Role in fat metabolism

ALDH1 is involved in the metabolism of Vitamin A. Animal models suggest that absence of the gene is associated with protection against visceral adiposity ().

References

External links