This group contains arabinose dehydrogenase (AraDH) and related alcohol dehydrogenases. AraDH is a member of the medium chain dehydrogenase/reductase family and catalyzes the NAD(P)-dependent oxidation of D-arabinose and other pentoses, the initial step in the metabolism of d-arabinose into 2-oxoglutarate. Like the alcohol dehydrogenases, AraDH binds a zinc in the catalytic cleft as well as a distal structural zinc. AraDH forms homotetramers as a dimer of dimers. AraDH replaces a conserved catalytic His with replace with Arg, compared to the canonical ADH site. NAD(P)(H)-dependent oxidoreductases are the major enzymes in the interconversion of alcohols and aldehydes, or ketones. Alcohol dehydrogenase in the liver converts ethanol and NAD+ to acetaldehyde and NADH, while in yeast and some other microorganisms ADH catalyzes the conversion acetaldehyde to ethanol in alcoholic fermentation. ADH is a member of the medium chain alcohol dehydrogenase family (MDR), which has a NAD(P)(H)-binding domain in a Rossmann fold of a beta-alpha form. The NAD(H)-binding region is comprised of 2 structurally similar halves, each of which contacts a mononucleotide. A GxGxxG motif after the first mononucleotide contact half allows the close contact of the coenzyme with the ADH backbone. The N-terminal catalytic domain has a distant homology to GroES. These proteins typically form dimers (typically higher plants, mammals) or tetramers (yeast, bacteria), and have 2 tightly bound zinc atoms per subunit, a catalytic zinc at the active site and a structural zinc in a lobe of the catalytic domain. NAD(H) binding occurs in the cleft between the catalytic and coenzyme-binding domains at the active site, and coenzyme binding induces a conformational closing of this cleft. Coenzyme binding typically precedes and contributes to substrate binding. In human ADH catalysis, the zinc ion helps coordinate the alcohol, followed by deprotonation of a histidine, the ribose of NAD, a serine, then the alcohol, which allows the transfer of a hydride to NAD+, creating NADH and a zinc-bound aldehyde or ketone. In yeast and some bacteria, the active site zinc binds an aldehyde, polarizing it, and leading to the reverse reaction.
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