Opine dehydrogenases in marine invertebrates.

It is well known today that opine production anaerobic pathways are analogs to the classical glycolytic pathway (lactate production pathway). These pathways, catalyzed by a group of enzymes called opine dehydrogenases (OpDHs), ensure continuous flux of glycolysis and a constant supply of ATP by maintaining the NADH/NAD(+) ratio during exercise and hypoxia, thus regulating the cytosolic redox balance in glycolysis under anoxia. OpDHs are distributed in a wide range of marine invertebrate phyla, including sponges (Porifera). Phylogenetic analyses supported with enzymatic assays strongly indicate that sponge OpDHs constitute an enzyme class unrelated to other OpDHs. Therefore, OpDHs in marine invertebrates are divided into two groups, a mollusk/annelid type and a sponge type, which belongs to the OCD/mu-crystallin family.