N-acetyltransferase is an enzyme that catalyzes the transfer of acetyl groups from acetyl-CoA to arylamines. They have wide specificity for aromatic amines, particularly serotonin, and can also catalyze acetyl transfer between arylamines without CoA. EC 2.3.1.5.
Contents
Importance in humans
Acetyl groups are important in the conjugation of metabolites from the liver, to allow excretion of the byproducts (phase II metabolism). This is especially important in the metabolism and excretion of drug products.
50% of the British population are deficient in hepatic N-acetyltransferase. This is known as a negative acteylator status. Drugs affected by this are:
Examples
The following is a list of human genes that encode N-acetyltransferase enzymes:
References
N-acetyltransferase Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA