{"symbol":"ALAD","synonyms":["PBGS","ALADH"],"name":"aminolevulinate dehydratase","description":"The ALAD enzyme is composed of 8 identical subunits and catalyzes the condensation of 2 molecules of delta-aminolevulinate to form porphobilinogen (a precursor of heme, cytochromes and other hemoproteins). ALAD catalyzes the second step in the porphyrin and heme biosynthetic pathway; zinc is essential for enzymatic activity. ALAD enzymatic activity is inhibited by lead and a defect in the ALAD structural gene can cause increased sensitivity to lead poisoning and acute hepatic porphyria. Alternative splicing of this gene results in multiple transcript variants encoding different isoforms. [provided by RefSeq, Dec 2015]","ncbiEntrezGeneId":210,"ncbiEntrezGeneUrl":"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/210","proteins":[{"symbol":"HEM2_HUMAN","href":"/api/1.0/protein/HEM2_HUMAN"}],"hgncRootFamilies":[]}