ALDH2 Antibody / Acetaldehyde dehydrogenase 2

ALDH2 (Aldehyde Dehydrogenase 2 Family) is a human gene. The enzyme encoded by this gene belongs to the aldehyde dehydrogenase family of enzymes that catalyze the chemical transformation from acetaldehyde to acetic acid. Aldehyde dehydrogenase is the second enzyme of the major oxidative pathway of alcohol metabolism. Hsu et al. (1985) assigned the ALDH2 locus to chromosome 12 by means of a cDNA probe and Southern blot analysis of somatic cell hybrids. Using an unbiased proteomic search, Chen et al. (2008) identified mitochondrial ALDH2 as an enzyme whose activation correlated with reduced ischemic heart damage in rodent models. A high-throughput screen identified a small molecule activator of ALDH2, which they called Alda-1, that, when administered to rats before an ischemic event, reduced infarct size by 60%, most likely through its inhibitory effect on the formation of cytotoxic aldehydes.