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Functional Studies Of Human Cellular Detoxification Enzymes, Melanie Neely Willis

Department of Biochemistry: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Cellular detoxification allows for the maintenance of cellular homeostasis and prevention of abnormal cell growth by clearing harmful xenobiotics and endobiotics. After oxygenation by phase I enzymes, phase II enzymes such as glucuronosyltransferases and glutathione-s-transferases conjugate a small molecule to the compound, marking it for subsequent export. Many up-stream enzymes are also essential to cellular detoxification by supplying the small compounds for conjugation. These up-stream enzymes include UDP-glucose dehydrogenase, which synthesizes UDP-glucuronate, and glutamate cysteine ligase, which catalyzes the first and rate-limiting step in the synthesis of glutathione.
UDP-glucose dehydrogenase (UGDH) is an important enzyme in human development and in …