Lipoamide dehydrogenase is a component of the glycine cleavage system as well as an E3 component of three alpha-ketoacid dehydrogenase complexes (pyruvate-, alpha-ketoglutarate-, and branched-chain amino acid-dehydrogenase complex). The 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase complex is mainly active in the mitochondrion. A fraction of the 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase complex also localizes in the nucleus and is required for lysine succinylation of histones: associates with KAT2A on chromatin and provides succinyl-CoA to histone succinyltransferase KAT2A. In monomeric form may have additional moonlighting function as serine protease (By similarity). Involved in the hyperactivation of spermatazoa during capacitation and in the spermatazoal acrosome reaction (By similarity).
Subcellular locations: Mitochondrion matrix, Nucleus, Cell projection, Cilium, Flagellum, Cytoplasmic vesicle, Secretory vesicle, Acrosome
Mainly localizes in the mitochondrion. A small fraction localizes to the nucleus, where the 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase complex is required for histone succinylation.