The mouse aldehyde oxidase AOH2 (aldehyde oxidase homolog 2) is a molybdoflavoenzyme. Harderian glands are the richest source of AOH2, although the protein is detectable also in sebaceous glands, epidermis, and other keratinized epithelia. The levels of AOH2 in the Harderian gland and skin are controlled by genetic background, being maximal in CD1 and C57BL/6 and minimal in DBA/2, CBA, and 129/Sv strains. Testosterone is a negative regulator of AOH2 in Harderian glands. Purified AOH2 oxidizes retinaldehyde into retinoic acid, while it is devoid of pyridoxal-oxidizing activity. Aoh2 ؊/؊ mice, the first aldehyde oxidase knockout animals ever generated, are viable and fertile. The data obtained for this knockout model indicate a significant role of AOH2 in the local synthesis and biodisposition of endogenous retinoids in the Harderian gland and skin. The Harderian gland's transcriptome of knockout mice demonstrates overall downregulation of direct retinoid-dependent genes as well as perturbations in pathways controlling lipid homeostasis and cellular secretion, particularly in sexually immature animals. The skin of knockout mice is characterized by thickening of the epidermis in basal conditions and after UV light exposure. This has correlates in the corresponding transcriptome, which shows enrichment and overall upregulation of genes involved in hypertrophic responses.Aldehyde oxidases (AOXs) (EC 1.2.3.1) are structurally conserved proteins belonging to the family of molybdoflavoenzymes along with xanthine oxidoreductase (XOR), the key enzyme in the catabolism of purines (25,28). In their catalytically active form, both AOXs and XORs are dimers of identical subunits characterized by three conserved domains separated by nonconserved hinge regions (28). The amino-terminal 25-kDa domain contains two nonidentical 2Fe-2S redox centers. The flavin adenine dinucleotide binding region is located in the intermediate 45-kDa domain, while the substrate and the molybdopterin cofactor binding pocket reside in the carboxy-terminal 85-kDa domain (28). AOXs have broad substrate specificity, hydroxylating N-heterocycles or oxidizing aliphatic as well as aromatic aldehydes into the corresponding acids (35,41,42).The primary structures of mammalian AOXs and XORs are more than 40% identical, and the two types of enzymes are evolutionary related. Most of the available data indicate that AOXs evolved from a primordial form of XOR through a series of gene duplication events (28). In mammals, the number of AOX genes is variable and species specific (25,28,37,65). Rodents have four AOX genes (Aox1, Aoh1, Aoh2, and Aoh3) which are the products of asynchronous duplication events and cluster at a short distance from one another on the same chromosome (chromosome 1c1 in mice and chromosome 9 in rats) (Fig. 1). The Aoh1, Aoh2, and Aoh3 genes are also known as Aox3, Aox4, and Aox3l, respectively, and are currently designated with the latter names in the NCBI database.(The designation of the four mouse AOX genes as Aox1, Aox3, Aox4, and Aox3l in...