Arylsulfatase A
Encyclopedia
Arylsulfatase A is an enzyme
that breaks down cerebroside 3-sulfate into cerebroside
and sulfate
. In humans, arylsulfatase A is encoded by the ARSA gene
.
Enzyme
Enzymes are proteins that catalyze chemical reactions. In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process, called substrates, are converted into different molecules, called products. Almost all chemical reactions in a biological cell need enzymes in order to occur at rates...
that breaks down cerebroside 3-sulfate into cerebroside
Cerebroside
Cerebrosides is the common name for a group of glycosphingolipids called monoglycosylceramides which are important components in animal muscle and nerve cell membranes.They consist of a ceramide with a single sugar residue at the 1-hydroxyl moiety...
and sulfate
Sulfate
In inorganic chemistry, a sulfate is a salt of sulfuric acid.-Chemical properties:...
. In humans, arylsulfatase A is encoded by the ARSA gene
Gene
A gene is a molecular unit of heredity of a living organism. It is a name given to some stretches of DNA and RNA that code for a type of protein or for an RNA chain that has a function in the organism. Living beings depend on genes, as they specify all proteins and functional RNA chains...
.