Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide , alcohol oxidation with

Alcohol dehydrogenases (ADH EC 1.1.1.1), for which several X-ray structures are available ", catalyze the biological oxidation of primary and secondary alcohols via the formal transfer of a hydride anion to the oxidized form of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD ), coupled with the release of a proton. Liver alcohol dehydrogenase (LADH) consists of two similar subunits, each of which contains two zinc sites, but only one site within each subunit is catalytically active. The catalytic zinc is coordinated in a distorted tetrahedral manner to a histidine residue, two cysteine residues and a water molecule. The remaining zinc is coordinated tetrahedrally to four cysteine residues and plays only a structural role . 

Figure 6.1 Pathways involved in glucose oxidation by plant cells (a) glycolysis, (b) Krebs cycle, (c) mitochondrial cytochrome chain. Under anoxic conditions. Reactions 1, 2 and 3 of glycolysis are catalysed by lactate dehydrogenase, pyruvate decarboxylase and alcohol dehydrogenase, respectively. ATP and ADP, adenosine tri- and diphosphate NAD and NADHa, oxidized and reduced forms of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide PGA, phosphoglyceraldehyde PEP, phosphoenolpyruvate Acetyl-CoA, acetyl coenzyme A FP, flavoprotein cyt, cytochrome e, electron. (Modified from Fitter and Hay, 2002). Reprinted with permission from Elsevier...

NAD is one of Nature s most important oxidizing agents it can be considered as a biological equivalent of the chromium(VI) ion. NAD is shorthand for nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide it is a co-enzyme, which together with an enzyme is essential for several life-sustaining processes (Box 2.2). On reduction it forms the corresponding 1,4-dihydropyridine, NADH, The oxidation of ethanol to acetaldehyde (ethanal) is effected by the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase and mediated by NAD (Scheme 2.31). 

Several of the B vitamins function as coenzymes or as precursors of coenzymes some of these have been mentioned previously. Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) which, in conjunction with the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase, oxidizes ethanol to ethanal (Section 15-6C), also is the oxidant in the citric acid cycle (Section 20-10B). The precursor to NAD is the B vitamin, niacin or nicotinic acid (Section 23-2). Riboflavin (vitamin B2) is a precursor of flavin adenine nucleotide FAD, a coenzyme in redox processes rather like NAD (Section 15-6C). Another example of a coenzyme is pyri-doxal (vitamin B6), mentioned in connection with the deamination and decarboxylation of amino acids (Section 25-5C). Yet another is coenzyme A (CoASH), which is essential for metabolism and biosynthesis (Sections 18-8F, 20-10B, and 30-5A). 

We shall start the discussion with a classical experiment related to the stereochemistry of oxidation of ethanol and reduction of acetaldehyde mediated by the enzyme yeast alcohol dehydrogenase in the presence of the oxidized (NAD+) and reduced (NADH) forms, respectively, of the coenzyme nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (Fig. 54). The stereochemically interesting feature of this reaction stems from the fact that the methylene hydrogens in CH3CH2OH and the faces of the carbonyl in CH3CH = 0 are enantiotopic. The question thus arises which of the CH2-hydrogens... 

Horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase is a well-documented enzyme capable of operating with high stereoselectivity on a broad structural range of alcohol and carbonyl substrates. The present reaction proceeds via the pathway shown below, where NAD and NADH represent the oxidized and reduced forms, respectively, of the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide coenzyme. 

The 3-carbamidopyridinium ring is the chemically active portion of the enzymatic cofactors, NAD and NADP (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide and its phosphate). A typical reaction involving NAD is the stereospecific (with respect to both cofactor and substrate) oxidation of ethanol to acetaldehyde catalyzed by the enzyme, alcohol dehydrogenase (Eq. 33). 

Cyclopropanone hydrate forms a stable thiohemiketal with the active-site thiol which is not oxidized by nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD). This hydrate has also been found to be a suicide inhibitor for horseradish peroxidase flavoenzyme alcohol oxidase and quinoprotein alcohol dehydrogenases ... 

PROBLEM 15.12 The mechanism of enzymatic oxidation has been studied by isotopic labeling with the aid of deuterated derivatives of ethanol. Specify the number of deuterium atoms that you would expect to find attached to the dihydropyridine ring of the reduced form of the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide coenzyme following enzymatic oxidation of each of the alcohols given ... 

This reaction likely occurs in a stepwise manner with the oxidation from the alcohol to ketone 19 occurring prior to the decarboxylation. PdxA can use either NAD or nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate... 

Other examples of amperometric enzyme electrodes based on the measurement of oxygen or hydrogen peroxide include electrodes for the measurement of galactose in blood (galactose oxidase,enzyme), oxalate in urine (oxalate oxidase), and cholesterol in blood serum (cholesterol oxidase). Ethanol is determined by reacting with a cofactor, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD" ) in the presence of the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase to produce the reduced form of NAD", NADH, which is electrochemically oxidized. Lactate in blood is similarly determined (lactate dehydrogenase enzyme). 

Alcohol dehydrogenase and aldehyde dehydrogenase were used as the enzymes for anodic ethanol oxidation. Together with the coenzyme NAD" " (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide), they formed the NAD+/NADH redox system. Aided by these enzymes, this reaction occurs in two steps. First, the former enzyme oxidizes ethanol to acetaldehyde, and then the latter enzyme oxidizes the aldehyde to acetic acid. 

In the body, similar oxidations are accomplished by enzymes, together with a rather complex coenzyme called nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, NAD" (for its structure, see page 547). Oxidation occurs in the liver and is a key step in the body s attempt to rid itself of imbibed alcohol. 

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