Human antiquitin: structural and functional studies.

Antiquitin (ALDH7) is a member of the aldehyde dehydrogenase superfamily which oxidizes various aldehydes to form the corresponding carboxylic acids. Human antiquitin (ALDH7A1) is believed to play a role in detoxification, osmoregulation and more specifically, in lysine metabolism in which alpha-aminoadipic semialdehyde is identified as the specific, physiological substrate of the enzyme. In the present study, the structural basis for the substrate specificity was studied by site-directed mutagenesis.