Mammalian forms of this enzyme, including this bovine form, can use either NADP(H) or NAD(H) as coenzymes. L-glutamic dehydrogenase plays a unique role in mammalian metabolism. The reverse reaction catalyzed by this enzyme is the only pathway by which ammonia can become bound to the α-carbon atom of an α-carboxylic acid and thus, is the only source of de novo amino acid synthesis in mammalian species. The bovine enzyme is characterized by three sets of properties: It has a reversible concentration-dependent association, producing higher molecular weight forms.Forms tight enzyme-reduced coenzyme-substrate ternary complexes whose rates of dissociation modulate the steady-state reaction rates.Exhibits a wide variety of effects from the binding of any of a number of nucleotide modifiers.L-glutamic dehydrogenase catalyzes the conversion of glutamate to α-ketoglutarate.
