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NICOTINAMIDE ADENINE DINUCLEOTIDE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A coenzyme present in most living cells and derived from the B vitamin nicotinic acid; serves as a reductant in various metabolic processes
Synonyms:
NAD; nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide" is a kind of...):
coenzyme (a small molecule (not a protein but sometimes a vitamin) essential for the activity of some enzymes)
Context examples:
Daporinad binds to and inhibits nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NMPRTase), inhibiting the biosynthesis of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) from niacinamide (vitamin B3), which may deplete energy reserves in metabolically active tumor cells and induce tumor cell apoptosis.
(Daporinad, NCI Thesaurus)
It is always difficult to put a value on the connection between meteorites and the origin of life; for example, earlier work has shown that vitamin B3 could have been produced non-biologically on ancient Earth, but it's possible that an added source of vitamin B3 could have been helpful, said Karen Smith of Pennsylvania State University in University Park, Pa. Vitamin B3, also called nicotinic acid or niacin, is a precursor to NAD (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide), which is essential to metabolism and likely very ancient in origin.
(Vitamin B3 might have been made in space, delivered to Earth by meteorites, NASA)
