Conversion of dopamine to noradrenaline. dopamine + 2 L-ascorbate + O2 = (R)-noradrenaline + H2O + 2 monodehydro-L-ascorbate radical Binds 2 copper ions per subunit. Catecholamine biosynthesis; (R)-noradrenaline biosynthesis; (R)-noradrenaline from dopamine: step 1/1. Homotetramer; composed of two disulfide-linked dimers. Detected in adrenal gland secretory granules (at protein level) (PubMed:7961964). Detected in adrenal gland (PubMed:1280432). Proteolytic cleavage after the membrane-anchor leads to the release of the soluble form. N-glycosylated. Complete embryonic lethality in homozygous dams, and 88% embryonic lethality for homozygous embryos in heterozygous dams. Only 12% of the homozygous pups from heterozygous dams are alive at birth. Mutant pups have no obvious phenotype at birth, but nearly half of them die within 48 h, and only 5% survive to adulthood. Three weeks after birth, mutant pups are runted and weigh only half as much as their littermates. Still, the weight of adult males reaches 80% and that of females 88% of that of their littermates. Besides, mutant mice display ptosis. Embryonic lethality is due to a lack of noradrenaline and can be prevented by treatment with dihydroxyphenylserine, a compound that can be converted into noradrenaline in the absence of Dbh. Belongs to the copper type II ascorbate-dependent monooxygenase family.