UGT2A3
Description
The UGT2A3 (UDP glucuronosyltransferase family 2 member A3) is a protein-coding gene located on chromosome 4.
Uridine 5'-diphospho-glucuronosyltransferase (UDP-glucuronosyltransferase, UGT) is a microsomal glycosyltransferase that catalyzes the transfer of the glucuronic acid component of UDP-glucuronic acid to a small hydrophobic molecule. This is a glucuronidation reaction. Glucuronosyltransferases are responsible for the process of glucuronidation, a major part of phase II metabolism. Arguably the most important of the Phase II (conjugative) enzymes, UGTs have been the subject of increasing scientific inquiry since the mid-to-late 1990s. The reaction catalyzed by the UGT enzyme involves the addition of a glucuronic acid moiety to xenobiotics and is the most important pathway for the human body's elimination of the most frequently prescribed drugs. It is also the major pathway for foreign chemical (dietary, environmental, pharmaceutical) removal for most drugs, dietary substances, toxins and endogenous substances. UGT is present in humans, other animals, plants, and bacteria. Famously, UGT enzymes are not present in the genus Felis, and this accounts for a number of unusual toxicities in the cat family. The glucuronidation reaction consists of the transfer of the glucuronosyl group from uridine 5'-diphospho-glucuronic acid (UDPGA) to substrate molecules that contain oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur or carboxyl functional groups. The resulting glucuronide is more polar (e.g.
UGT2A3 is also known as -.
