Aldehyde dehydrogenase catalyses acetaldehyde formation from 4-nitrophenyl acetate and NADH

Incubation of sheep liver cytoplasmic aldehyde dehydrogenase with the substrate 4-nitrophenyl [14C]acetate in the presence of NADH leads to the formation of 14C-labelled acetaldehyde. This observation strongly supports the idea that the esterase and dehydrogenase activities of the enzyme occur at the same site and involve the intermediacy of a common acyl-enzyme.