- ATP (Adenosine triphosphate): An energy carrier in cells, essential for biological processes.
ATP provides energy for cellular activities and is indirectly affected by NAD+ and NMN through metabolic reactions. - cADPR (Cyclic ADP-Ribose): A molecule generated from NAD+, plays a role in calcium signaling.
- Calcium signaling: A crucial process in cells involved in numerous functions, including muscle contraction and neurotransmission.
- CD38/CD157/: Enzymes that degrade NAD+, which increases the need for NMN as a precursor.
- Chromatin Remodeling: a process in which NAD+ dependent enzymes are involved in regulating gene expression.
- Coenzyme: A nonprotein chemical compound that serves as a cofactor for enzymes, such as NAD+.
- Compartmentalized NAD+ synthesis: The synthesis of NAD+ takes place in different cellular compartments, with NMN playing a role as a precursor.
Thus, there are several ways that result in the synthesis of NAD+. - DNA Methylation: An epigenetic process that plays an important role in regulating gene expression and maintaining genome integrity.
Several NAD+ dependent enzymes play a role in this (such as Sirtuins and PARP enzymes). - eNAMPT: An enzyme that affects NAD+ levels.
- Enzymes: Enzymes are biological molecules, usually proteins, that act as catalysts in the body.
A catalyst is a substance that speeds up a chemical reaction without being consumed itself.
Enzymes play a crucial role in the body by facilitating and speeding up biochemical reactions. - Gene expression: This is the process by which the information in a gene is used to produce a functional product, usually a protein.
This is a fundamental process in all living organisms, as genes contain the instructions for the functioning of a cell.
The process of gene expression can be divided into two main steps: transcription and translation. - Genome Stability: The stability of the genome affected by NAD+-dependent processes.
- Kynurenine Pathway: An alternative pathway for NAD+ synthesis, not directly related to NMN.
- Metabolic process: A series of chemical reactions in an organism in which NAD+ and NMN play a key role.
For example, in energy production by converting nutrients into ATP, the energy carrier for your cells. - Mitchondrion: A mitochondrion (plural: mitochondria) is an organelle inside eukaryotic cells that plays a crucial role in energy production.
It is often described as the cell’s “power plant” because it produces most of the cellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the energy carrier that drives cellular functions.
Most cells contain somewhere between 500 and 2,000 mitochondria. - MNAM (N1-Methylnicotinamide): A product of NAM methylation, affects the recycling of NAM to NMN and NAD+.
- NA (Nicotinic Acid): Also known as niacin or vitamin B3, NA is an essential nutrient that must be absorbed through diet because it cannot be adequately produced by the body itself.
NA is one of the precursors of NAD+. - NAD+ (Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide): A crucial coenzyme in cells, of which NMN is a direct precursor.
NAD+ plays a key role in a variety of cellular processes such as energy production in the form of ATP, Sirtuin activation, Redox reaction, regulation of cellular stress responses, and signaling in cells. - NAD+ Synthetase (NADS): an enzyme in the final step of NAD+ synthesis, not directly related to NMN.
- NADH: The reduced form of NAD+ formed during metabolic reactions in which NAD+ accepts electrons and protons (hydrogen ions).
- NAM (Nicotinamide): A degradation product of NAD+, can be recycled to NMN and then to NAD+.
- NAM Salvage Pathway: A major pathway for recycling NAM back to NAD+ via NMN.
- NAMPT: An enzyme that converts NAM to NMN, a key step in NAD+ biosynthesis.
- NNMT (Nicotinamide N-Methyltransferase): converts NAM to MNAM, which affects the availability of NMN and NAD+.
- NR (Nicotinamide Riboside): An NAD+ precursor, similar to NMN.
- NRK1 (Nicotinamide Riboside Kinase 1): Converts NR to NMN, a crucial step in NAD+ biosynthesis.
- NMN (Nicotinamide Mononucleotide): A body’s own molecule that functions as a direct precursor of NAD+.
NMN is essential for maintaining NAD+ levels. - NMNAT (Nicotinamide Mononucleotide Adenylyltransferase): converts NMN to NAD+.
- PARPs (Poly(ADP-Ribose) Polymerases): Use NAD+ for DNA repair, and are a family of enzymes that play crucial roles in several cellular processes, mainly in DNA repair and maintaining genetic stability.
They are known for their involvement in repairing single-stranded DNA breaks. - Pathways: Also known as reaction pathways, these are sets of molecular and biochemical reactions and processes that take place in cells and organisms.
These pathways are essential for maintaining life functions and encompass a wide range of activities, including metabolic pathways, signal transduction pathways, and gene expression processes.
Each of these pathways consists of a series of tightly regulated steps, often catalyzed by enzymes, that work together to produce a specific end product or biological effect.
For example, there are several pathways to achieve NAD+ with NMN playing a role in a number of them. - Redox reaction: A chemical reaction in which NAD+ accepts and donates electrons.
These reactions are essential for many metabolic pathways, such as glycolysis, the citric acid cycle and oxidative phosphorylation. - SARM1: SARM1, or Sterile Alpha and TIR Motif Containing 1, is an enzyme involved in the metabolism (utilization) of NAD+ (Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide) and plays an important role in neuronal degeneration and the immune system.
- Sirtuins: A family of proteins involved in important metabolic processes, including DNA repair, gene expression, and response to cellular stress.
Sirtuins can enhance mitochondrial activity and are involved in the regulation of metabolism, longevity, and inflammatory processes.
NAD+ activates sirtuins.