Dehydrogenase

Dehydrogenases, belonging to the class of oxidoreductases which catalyze donor-acceptor reactions to transfer electron molecules from the oxidant to the reluctant, are a diverse group of enzymes that are able to transfer one or more hydrides (H-) from a substrate to an electron acceptor, such as nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+), nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP+) or Riboflavin, through oxidation and reduction. Three commonly studied dehydrogenase enzymes include alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) which catalyzes the reduction of acetylaldehyde to ethanol in plant cells, succinate dehydrogenase which oxidizes succinate to fumarate, and lactate dehydrogenase which catalyzes the reversible oxidation of lactate to pyruvate.