Citric dehydrogenase

Apparently the entry of citric acid into the scheme can be explained by the conversion of citrate into a-ketoglutarate under the action of a citric dehydrogenase. But an examination of the formulas of citric acid and a-ketoglutaric add shows that dtric dehydrogenase cannot convert the first into the second in one step. 

Citric dehydrogenase, from liver, muscle and vegetable extracts, converts citric acid into acetone dicarboxylic acid, which by a second decarboxylation gives rise to acetoacetic acid. 

Cucumber seed is a good source of citric dehydrogenase, and, used with methylene blue as a hydrogen acceptor, forms a very delicate test for citric acid (Thunberg). 

L-glutamate dehydrogenase L-glutamate test for citric acid cycle... 

The conversion occurs through a multistep sequence of reactions catalyzed by a complex of enzymes and cofactors called the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex. The process occurs in three stages, each catalyzed by one of the enzymes in the complex, as outlined in Figure 29.11 on page 1152. Acetyl CoA, the ultimate product, then acts as fuel for the final stage of catabolism, the citric acid cycle. All the steps have laboratory analogies. 

The final step is the oxidation of (S)-malate by NAD+ to give oxaloacetate, a reaction catalyzed by malate dehydrogenase. The citric acid cycle has now returned to its starting point, ready to revolve again. The overall result of the cycle is... 

The diagram looks very promising in terms of citric acid formation in that a-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase is inactive, isodtrate dehydrogenase has veiy low activity and aconitase equilibrates 90% towards dtric add. 

Ethanol is oxidized by alcohol dehydrogenase (in the presence of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide [NAD]) or the microsomal ethanol oxidizing system (MEOS) (in the presence of reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate [NADPH]). Acetaldehyde, the first product in ethanol oxidation, is metabolized to acetic acid by aldehyde dehydrogenase in the presence of NAD. Acetic acid is broken down through the citric acid cycle to carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O). Impairment of the metabolism of acetaldehyde to acetic acid is the major mechanism of action of disulfiram for the treatment of alcoholism. 

Generally, NAD-linked dehydrogenases catalyze ox-idoreduction reactions in the oxidative pathways of metabolism, particularly in glycolysis, in the citric acid cycle, and in the respiratory chain of mitochondria. NADP-linked dehydrogenases are found characteristically in reductive syntheses, as in the extramitochon-drial pathway of fatty acid synthesis and steroid synthesis—and also in the pentose phosphate pathway. 

As a result of oxidations catalyzed by the dehydrogenases of the citric acid cycle, three molecules of NADH and one of FADHj are produced for each molecule of acetyl-CoA catabohzed in one mrn of the cycle. These reducing equivalents are transferred to the respiratory chain (Figure 16-2), where reoxidation of each NADH results in formation of 3 ATP and reoxidation of FADHj in formation of 2 ATP. In addition, 1 ATP (or GTP) is formed by substrate-level phosphorylation catalyzed by succinate thiokinase. 

Four of the B vitamins are essential in the citric acid cycle and therefore in energy-yielding metabolism (1) riboflavin, in the form of flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD), a cofactor in the a-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase complex and in succinate dehydrogenase (2) niacin, in the form of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD),... 

The criteria for gene displacement in this study were strict. The reactions catalyzed were required to have the same EC (Enzyme Commission) number, which implies that the same cofactors had to be involved. In the example of reactions involved in the citric acid cycle given previously, when only the carbohydrate substrate and product of the reaction were the same, we could identify gene displacements at 6 of the 11 steps included in the analysis. Only two of those (malate dehydrogenase and fumarase) met the criteria in Galperin et al. (1998). 

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