Cytosolic UDP-galactose 4'-epimerase (GALE) catalyses the re...

created [InstanceEdit:5610019] Jassal, Bijay, 2014-07-21
dbId 5610024
displayName Cytosolic UDP-galactose 4'-epimerase (GALE) catalyses the re...
modified [InstanceEdit:5678623] Jassal, Bijay, 2015-02-25
schemaClass Summation
text Cytosolic UDP-galactose 4'-epimerase (GALE) catalyses the reversible interconversion of UDP-D-galactose (UDP-Gal) and UDP-glucose (UDP-Glc), the third reacton in the Leloir pathway of galactose metabolism. GALE can also catalyse the epimerisation of UDP-N-acetylglucosamine to UDP-N-acetylgalactosamine. The active form of the enzyme is a homodimer with one molecule of bound NAD per monomer (GALE:NAD+ dimer). Defects in GALE can cause Epimerase-deficiency galactosemia (EDG; MIM:230350), or type III galactosemia (diseases of galactose metabolism) whose clinical features include early-onset cataracts, liver damage, deafness and mental retardation. Historically, it was considered that there were two forms of GALE deficidency; a benign ("peripheral") form where there is no GALE activity in red blood cells and characterised by mild symptoms (Gitzelmann 1972) and a rarer "generalised" form with no detectable GALE activity in all tissues resulting in more severe symptoms (Holton et al. 1981). The disease is now considered to be a continuum (Openo et al. 2006).
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