G6PD E.Coli

G6PD is the rate-limiting enzyme of the pentose phosphate pathway, a metabolic pathway that supplies reducing energy to cells by maintaining the level of NADPH. G6PD converts glucose-6-phosphate into 6-phosphoglucono-?-lactone and at the same time produces NADPH. The NADPH maintains the level of glutathione in these cells that helps protect the red blood cells against oxidative damage. G6PD deficiency causes acute hemolytic anemia, neonatal jaundice or acute hemolysis. G6PD is a cytosolic enzyme encoded by an X-linked gene whose main function is to produce NADPH, a crucial electron donor in the defense against oxidizing agents and in reductive biosynthetic reactions. G6PD produces pentose sugars for nucleic acid synthesis and is a main producer of NADPH reducing power.