Acetylation, the process of adding an acetyl radical to proteins, controls protein formation, drug biotransformation, and DNA regulation. Acetyltransferases trigger the reaction, which is essential for DNA replication and repair. Regulating acetylation could delay genetic diseases and the aging process, but no drug can currently do so. Acetylation also plays a significant role in drug processing and protein interaction with the genome.
Most of the proteins in the human body are altered through acetylation. This process involves adding an acetyl radical as a hydrogen atom leaves the molecule, thus forming an acetate. It has control over the formation of proteins, the biotransformation of drugs, as well as the regulation of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and other genetic elements, as part of a process called histone acetylation. Substances called acetyltransferases trigger the reactions to occur, and some types of these have been seen in people prone to developing cancer and other diseases.
For acetylation to occur, N-alpha-acetyltransferase must be present. There are three common variants of these which are labeled A, B and C which act within cells to transfer molecules. They also control proteins that build the cell cytoskeleton and help transcription of DNA. Proteins that replicate DNA and repair damaged genetic material are created directly by acetylation. The reaction also determines the energy that proteins use during duplication, which has an effect on how accurately genes can be copied.
Copying DNA usually causes errors in some part of the segment. The parts that have errors in the genetic coding are removed from the proteins and the segments are subsequently attached, but there are several ways that DNA copying can occur. Sometimes the least defective pieces are removed, while in other cases a greater percentage of the segments full of errors are removed. There is a way that acetylation is triggered by cellular proteins and when the reaction begins, chemicals are added to the proteins that control the DNA.
Acetylation is one of the most studied processes in epigenetics. If proteins can control how DNA is replicated and the amount of damaged components that increase with age, researchers believe that regulating acetylation could prevent or at least delay the onset of genetic diseases . The aging process could also be delayed, but as of 2011 there is no drug that can regulate the protein activity of biological molecules in this way.
Many drugs are processed in the body through acetylation, either by biotransformation into an effective compound or by being metabolized into substances that the body can more easily get rid of. Up to 90% of the protein is converted or controlled in some way by the reaction. This does not occur in dogs, but in many organisms it is the primary method by which proteins interact with the genome.
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