Nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide nomenclature

NAD(P)+ as Anode Mediator. A majority of redox enzymes require the cation nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, possibly phosphorylated (NAD(P)+) as a cofactor. Of the oxidoreductases listed in Enzyme Nomenclature, over 60% have NAD(P)+ as a reactant or product.For example, methanol can be oxidized to form formaldehyde by methanol dehydrogenase (MDH, EC 1.1.1.244) according to... 

NADH (reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) is utilized in biological reductions to deliver hydride to an aldehyde or ketone carbonyl group (see Box 7.6). A proton from water is used to complete the process, and the product is thus an alcohol. The reaction is catalysed by an enzyme called a dehydrogenase. The reverse reaction may also be catalysed by the enzyme, namely the oxidation of an alcohol to an aldehyde or ketone. It is this reverse reaction that provides the dehydrogenase nomenclature. 

In this historical account, I will keep the original names for these pyridine nucleotides. In 1964 the Enzyme Nomenclature Commission proposed the new names nicotinami adenine dinucleotide (NAD) and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP) and the new names, although less convenient and evocative, have unfortunately tended to displace the names proposed by the original workers. 

An old name for a coenzyme employed as an electron transporter in biological oxidations. Following the recommendation of the International Commission on Nomenclature, it is more frequently called nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide or NAD. 

By recent, official recommendation (see Chapt. VI-4) the two hydrogen-transferring coenzymes, formerly known as di- and triphosphopyridine nucleotide (abbreviated as DPN and TPN) are, to be called nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide (NAD) and nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP). The new nomenclature offers greater correctness and consistency, among other advantages. 

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