Alcohol dehydrogenase compounds involving

Many biological processes involve oxidation of alcohols to carbonyl compounds or the reverse process reduction of carbonyl compounds to alcohols Ethanol for example is metabolized m the liver to acetaldehyde Such processes are catalyzed by enzymes the enzyme that catalyzes the oxidation of ethanol is called alcohol dehydrogenase... 

As you can judge from Table A, transition metal cations are frequently found in enzymes. The Zn2+ ion alone is known to be a component of at least 70 different enzymes. One of these, referred to as "alcohol dehydrogenase," is concentrated in the liver, where it acts to break down alcohols. Another zinc-containing enzyme is involved in the normal functioning of oil glands in the skin, which accounts for the use of Zn2+ compounds in the treatment of acne. 

It is well known that certain microorganisms are able to effect the deracemization of racemic secondary alcohols with a high yield of enantiomerically enriched compounds. These deracemization processes often involve two different alcohol dehydrogenases with complementary enantiospedficity. In this context Porto ef al. [24] have shown that various fungi, induding Aspergillus terreus CCT 3320 and A. terreus CCT 4083, are able to deracemize ortho- and meta-fluorophenyl-l-ethanol in good... 

Ethylene glycol, an industrial solvent and an antifreeze compound, is involved in accidental and intentional poisonings. This compound is initially oxidized by alcohol dehydrogenase and then further biotransformed to oxalic acid and other products. Oxalate crystals are found in various tissues of the body and are excreted by the kidney. Deposition of oxalate crystals in the kidney causes renal toxicity. Ethylene glycol is also a CNS depressant. In cases of ethylene glycol poisoning, ethanol is administered to reduce the first step in the biotransformation of ethylene glycol and, thereby, prevent the formation of oxalate and other products. 

A novel and more general method to enable biocatalyzed conversion and synthesis of hydrophobic compounds involves the use of gel-stabilized aqueous-organic two-phase systems [8], Features, advantages, disadvantages, and perspectives of this method in asymmetric synthesis will be discussed in this chapter, illustrated for the stereoselective benzoin condensation and the reduction of ketones catalyzed by thiamine pyrophosphate (TPP)-dependent lyases and NAD(P)H-dependent alcohol dehydrogenases, respectively. 

For foreign compounds, the majority of oxidation reactions are catalyzed by monooxygenase enzymes, which are part of the mixed function oxidase (MFO) system and are found in the SER (and also known as microsomal enzymes). Other enzymes involved in the oxidation of xenobiotics are found in other organelles such as the mitochondria and the cytosol. Thus, amine oxidases located in the mitochondria, xanthine oxidase, alcohol dehydrogenase in the cytosol, the prostaglandin synthetase system, and various other peroxidases may all be involved in the oxidation of foreign compounds. 

Other types of reduction catalyzed by non-microsomal enzymes have also been described for xenobiotics. Thus, reduction of aldehydes and ketones may be carried out either by alcohol dehydrogenase or NADPH-dependent cytosolic reductases present in the liver. Sulfoxides and sulfides may be reduced by cytosolic enzymes, in the latter case involving glutathione and glutathione reductase. Double bonds in unsaturated compounds and epoxides may also be reduced. Metals, such as pentavalent arsenic, can also be reduced. 

Thus far no sex pheromone has been described in the Phasmida. Some phasmids produce toxic monoterpenes in typical Class III integumentary glands located behind the head (e.g. Happ et al., 1966). The glands exhibit lipid reserves, carboxylic esterases, phosphatases, alcohol dehydrogenase, and a mevalonate kinase, all of which are suggested to be involved in the production of the toxic compounds (Happ et al., 1966). 

Non-cytochrome P450 enzymes may also be involved in oxidative reactions. One such enzyme is alcohol dehydrogenase whose substrates include vitamin A, ethanol, and ethylene glycol. Aldehyde dehydrogenase is another enzyme. Most reduction reactions also involve microsomal enzymes, with the exception of ketone reduction. Nitro compounds are reduced to amines and volatile anesthetics undergo dehalo-genation by microsomal enzymes. Hydrolysis reactions are involved in metabolism of compounds with amide bonds or ester linkages, as in the conversion of aspirin to salicylate (Brown, 2001). 

The activity of cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD EC 1.1.1.195) was already described in the 1970s and was mainly investigated with respect to lignin biosynthesis (see Petersen et al, 1999, for further information). It catalyses the reduction of cinnamaldehydes to cinnamyl alcohols with the help of NADPH the reaction is readily reversible (Fig. 4.7). From a functional point of view, CAD activity is involved in developmental lignification and in the formation of defence compounds. Several reviews have treated the involvement of this enzyme in lignin monomer formation (Boudet et al, 1998,... 

This reaction involves electron transfer to make NADH, decarboxylation of pyruvate, and formation of actetyl-CoA, an activated two carbon compound. In yeast, acetaldehyde is formed by pyruvate decarboxylase, which is subsequently converted to ethanol by action of the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase. 

Cinnamic (1), p-coumaric (2), and related acids may be activated by conversion to CoA esters by CoA ligases [e.g., 4-coumarate CoA ligase (EC 6.2.1.12)] in much the same way that fatty acids are activated. The reduction of the CoA esters of cinnamic acids to cinnamyl alcohols involves two enz)mies cinnamoyl-CoA oxidoreductase (which forms the aldehydes) and cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (Grisebach, 1981). Phenylpropanoids appear to be synthesized from the CoA esters of this series of acids by conversion to the corresponding aldehydes, then to the alcohols, and finally, by elimination of a phosphate group, to allyl and propenyl compounds. In many plants, mixtures of all t3q>es co-occur (Fig. 8.7) (Gross, 1981 Mann, 1987). Reduction of the side chain to produce dihydrocinnamic acids and related compounds is also known to occur in nature. 

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