In enzymology, an adenine deaminase () is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction

adenine + H₂O \rightleftharpoons hypoxanthine + NH₃

Thus, the two substrates of this enzyme are adenine and H₂O, whereas its two products are hypoxanthine and NH₃.

This enzyme belongs to the family of hydrolases, those acting on carbon-nitrogen bonds other than peptide bonds, specifically in cyclic amidines. The systematic name of this enzyme class is adenine aminohydrolase. Other names in common use include adenase, adenine aminase, and ADase. This enzyme participates in purine metabolism.

Structural studies

As of late 2007, only one structure has been solved for this class of enzymes, with the PDB accession code .

References