Carnosine synthase

In enzymology, a carnosine synthase is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction


 * ATP + L-histidine + beta-alanine $$\rightleftharpoons$$ AMP + diphosphate + carnosine

The 3 substrates of this enzyme are ATP, L-histidine, and beta-alanine, whereas its 3 products are AMP, diphosphate, and carnosine.

This enzyme belongs to the family of ligases, specifically those forming carbon-nitrogen bonds as acid-D-amino-acid ligases (peptide synthases). The systematic name of this enzyme class is L-histidine:beta-alanine ligase (AMP-forming). Other names in common use include carnosine synthetase, carnosine-anserine synthetase, homocarnosine-carnosine synthetase, and carnosine-homocarnosine synthetase. This enzyme participates in 4 metabolic pathways: urea cycle and metabolism of amino groups, alanine and aspartate metabolism, histidine metabolism, and beta-alanine metabolism.