Xanthine dehydrogenase

In enzymology, a xanthine dehydrogenase is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction


 * xanthine + NAD+ + H2O $$\rightleftharpoons$$ urate + NADH + H+

The 3 substrates of this enzyme are xanthine, NAD+, and H2O, whereas its 3 products are urate, NADH, and H+.

This enzyme belongs to the family of oxidoreductases, specifically those acting on CH or CH2 group with NAD+ or NADP+ as acceptor. The systematic name of this enzyme class is xanthine:NAD+ oxidoreductase. Other names in common use include NAD+-xanthine dehydrogenase, xanthine-NAD+ oxidoreductase, xanthine/NAD+ oxidoreductase, and xanthine oxidoreductase. This enzyme participates in purine metabolism.

Structural studies
As of late 2007, two structures have been solved for this class of enzymes, with PDB accession codes and.