Vitamin C (ascorbate) is an antioxidant and a cofactor in reactions catalyzed by Cu+-dependent monooxygenases and Fe++-dependent dioxygenases. Many mammals can synthesize ascorbate de novo; humans and other primates cannot due to an evolutionarily recent mutation in the gene catalyzing the last step of the biosynthetic pathway. Reactions annotated here mediate the uptake of ascorbate and its fully oxidized form, dehydroascorbate (DHA) by cells, and the reduction of DHA and monodehydroascorbate to regenerate ascorbate (Linster and Van Schaftingen 2007).
Linster, CL, Van Schaftingen, E
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