Formiminotransferase Cyclodeaminase (FTCD)

FTCD is a bifunctional enzyme that channels 1-carbon units from formiminoglutamate, a metabolite of the histidine degradation pathway, to the folate pool.

Nearly 30% of patients with autoimmune hepatitis (AIH), which destroys liver parenchyma, have antibodies to a cytosolic 62-kD liver antigen, LC1. The deduced 541-amino acid major protein is 85% identical to the pig protein and contains multiple N-glycosylation, N-myristoylation, and phosphorylation sites. Other isoforms have 572 and 495 amino acids. Northern blot analysis revealed expression of a 2.0-kb transcript in adult and fetal liver, with additional 3.5-, 7.5-, and 8.0-kb transcripts in adult liver and, at lower levels, in kidney and testis.