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Histamine N-methyltransferase

Histamine N-methyltransferase (HMT, HNMT) is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the HNMT gene.[1]

Histamine N-methyltransferase is one of two enzymes involved in the metabolism of histamine, the other being diamine oxidase. Histamine N-methyltransferase catalyzes the methylation of histamine in the presence of S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) forming N-methylhistamine. HMT is present in most body tissues but is not present in serum.[2] Histamine N-methyltransferase is encoded by a single gene which has been mapped to chromosome 2.

Function

In mammals, histamine is metabolized by two major pathways: N(tau)-methylation via histamine N-methyltransferase and oxidative deamination via diamine oxidase. This gene encodes the first enzyme which is found in the cytosol and uses S-adenosyl-L-methionine as the methyl donor. In the mammalian brain, the neurotransmitter activity of histamine is controlled by N(tau)-methylation as diamine oxidase is not found in the central nervous system. A common genetic polymorphism affects the activity levels of this gene product in red blood cells.[1]

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 “Entrez Gene: Histamine N-methyltransferase”.
  2. Brown DD, Tomchick R, Axelrod J (November 1959). “The distribution and properties of a histamine-methylating enzyme” (pdf). J. Biol. Chem. 234 (11): 2948–50. PMID 13804910.

Further reading

This article incorporates text from the United States National Library of Medicine, which is in the public domain.


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