Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:2.6.1.1 (aspartate aminotransferase)
 21,665 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The administration of L-alpha-amino-beta-chloropropionic acid hydroxamide (L-ACPH) to mice brought about an inhibition in GABA-T activity in the brain of the animals, a significant inhibition occurring with dosage levels as low as 0.25 mmol/kg. Minimum levels of GABA-T activity were reached 3 h after administration of the drug. Brain glutamic acid decarboxylase, DOPA decarboxylase and aspartate aminotransferase activities were not altered by the L-ACPH but alanine aminotransferase activity was totally inhibited. Slight changes in structure caused great changes in the potency of the drugs. For example, the elongation of the L-ACPH structure by one carbon, or a change in the configuration of the amino group from L- to D-, caused a significant decrease in GABA inhibition. The chloro and hydroxamide groups were necessary for inhibitory activity. The administration of L-ACPH to mice delayed the onset of drug induced seizures but had a less noticeable effect against maximal electroshock. The addition of L-ACPH to crude extracts from brain, or to preparations of semipurified GABA-T, also inhibited GABA-T activity. Again the development of the inhibition was time-dependent. Possible mechanisms of action with respect to L-ACPH induced inhibition of GABA-T activity are discussed in the light of the data presented.
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PMID:Alteration of GABA metabolism in mammalian brain by l-alpha-amino-beta-chloropropionic acid hydroxamide and related compounds. 45 23

The effect of carbonyl and non-carbonyl reagents on five pyridoxal phosphate-dependent enzymes in vitro is described. Specific histidine decarboxylase of rat stomach and non-specific histidine decarboxylase (aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase) of guinea-pig kidney are more susceptible to inhibition than are aspartate aminotransferase of pig heart, glutamic acid decarboxylase of mouse brain and kynurenine aminotransferase of rat kidney. This greater effect of inhibitors on the histidine decarboxylases is particularly marked in the case of carbonyl reagents, and it should limit the number of untoward side effects which might result from the inhibition of other pyridoxal phosphate-dependent enzymes when these compounds are used in vivo.
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PMID:The relative sensitivity of pyridoxal phosphate-dependent enzymes to inhibition in vitro. 90 12

When spinal cord cultures from embryonic day 12 rats were cultured at low density, both acidic and basic fibroblast growth factors significantly increased neuronal survival and neurite outgrowth in a dose-dependent manner. The effects of acidic fibroblast growth factor were independent of heparin, in contrast to its mitogenic effects on both NIH3T3 cells and cerebral cortical astrocytes. In high-density cultures, acidic fibroblast growth factor increased choline acetyltransferase activity by 57%, glutamic acid decarboxylase activity by 58%, and aspartate aminotransferase activity by 65%. Basic fibroblast growth factor increased choline acetyltransferase activity by 73% and glutamic acid decarboxylase activity by 200% but decreased aspartate aminotransferase activity by 40%. Growing these cultures in the presence of a mitotic inhibitor did not significantly alter the effect of acidic or basic fibroblast growth factor on these enzyme activities. These results demonstrate that acidic and basic fibroblast growth factors differentially affect neurotransmitter enzyme levels of multiple classes of neurons, rather than having effects on a single neuronal population.
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PMID:Differential effects of acidic and basic fibroblast growth factors on spinal cord cholinergic, GABAergic, and glutamatergic neurons. 171 Oct 96

The present study was undertaken to assess both the levels of acidic and basic fibroblast growth factors in spinal cord cultures and to determine how they were presented to responsive cells. Western blots detected a single acidic fibroblast growth factor-like protein (17 kDa) and two (18 kDa, 24 kDa) basic fibroblast growth factor-immunoreactive proteins, the levels of which varied with the antibody used. Levels of all three proteins were unaltered in cultures grown in the presence of a mitotic inhibitor, which greatly reduced the number of astrocytes. Cell blots showed increased survival of spinal cord neurons at Mr that corresponded with the three proteins detected immunologically. Solubilized cultures separated on a P100 column showed mitogenic activity for NIH3T3 cells from 17-18 and 24 kDa fractions. Treatment of the cultures with heparitinase did not decrease the levels of acidic and basic fibroblast growth factors detected by Western blots, suggesting that these proteins were not associated with extracellular membrane heparan sulfate proteoglycans. The major fraction of both proteins appeared to be intracellular with a minor amount complexed with extracellular matrix proteins. An inhibitor of xylose-linked proteoglycan synthesis significantly altered heparan sulfate proteoglycan deposition into extracellular matrix, but did not alter the levels of acidic or basic fibroblast growth factors detected by Western blots, or the levels of choline acetyltransferase, glutamic acid decarboxylase, or aspartate aminotransferase activities. These results indicate that both acidic and basic fibroblast growth factors are stored predominantly intracellularly, with only a minor fraction complexed with extracellular proteins. We suggest that these intracellular proteins may be released following injury in the CNS and mediate a cascade of neuroprotective events.
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PMID:Acidic and basic fibroblast growth factor levels in spinal cord cultures are not regulated by alterations in heparan sulfate proteoglycan expression. 172 84

In situ hybridization histochemistry (ISHH) using synthetic oligonucleotide probes has been used to identify cells containing the mRNAs coding for glutaminase (GluT), aspartate aminotransferase (AspT) and glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD). The distribution of GAD mRNA confirms previous descriptions and matches the distribution of GAD detected using specific antibodies. AspT mRNA is widely distributed in the brain, but is present at high levels in GABAergic neuronal populations, some that may be glutamatergic, and in a subset of neurons which do not contain significant levels of either GAD or GluT mRNA. Particularly prominent are the neurons of the magnocellular division of the red nucleus, the large cells in the deep cerebellar nuclei and the vestibular nuclei and neurons of the lateral superior olivary nucleus. GluT mRNA does not appear to be present at high levels in all GAD-containing neurons, but is seen prominently in many neuronal populations that may use glutamate as a neurotransmitter, such as neocortical and hippocampal pyramidal cells, the granule cells of the cerebellum and neurons of the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. The heaviest labelling of GluT mRNA is seen in the lateral reticular nucleus of the medulla. ISHH using probes directed against the mRNAs encoding these enzymes may be an important technique for identifying glutamate and aspartate using neuronal populations and for examining their regulation in a variety of experimental and pathological circumstances.
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PMID:Distribution of messenger RNAs encoding the enzymes glutaminase, aspartate aminotransferase and glutamic acid decarboxylase in rat brain. 216 7

Although alcoholic intoxication is attributed to its pharmacological effects on the cell membranes in brain, the rapid metabolic utilisation of the same alters the metabolism of brain affecting the metabolism of glutamate and GABA which have varied metabolic roles besides serving a major proportion of synaptic activity. A study on the effects of ethanol, both acute and short-term, on glutamate (glu) and GABA metabolism in various regions of rat brain was carried out. Increased activities of glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) and aspartic acid aminotransferase (AST) in all brain regions, but decreased activity of glutamic acid dehydrogenase (GDH) in cerebral cortex (CC) and cerebellum (CB) following ethanol administration in brain was observed. Differential effects of ethanol were also obtained on the contents of glu and aspartate (asp), which were increased in CC, CB, and brain stem (BS) regions, as opposed to GABA content, which, although found to increase in acute toxicity, showed a decrease in all of the above brain regions in short-term toxicity. It is concluded that the above changes in glu, asp and GABA represent the consequences of metabolic utilization of alcohol in the brain, probably more a state of cerebral excitation than depression, and the changes may be a compensatory phenomenon.
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PMID:Acute and short term effects of ethanol on the metabolism of glutamic acid and GABA in rat brain. 285 37

Amino acids of the glutamate family, viz. glutamic acid, aspartic acid, glutamine, gamma-amino-butyric acid (GABA) and alanine, along with the activities of glutamic acid dehydrogenase (GDH), aspartic acid aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), glutamine synthetase (GS), glutaminase, glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) and GABA-aminotransferase (GABA-T) were estimated in cerebral cortex, cerebellum and brain stem of rats treated with a single dose of lithium or with seven daily doses of lithium (3 m-equiv./kg body wt). The levels of GABA were found to increase in cerebral cortex and brain stem following the administration of a single dose and also were found to be increased in cerebral cortex and cerebellum after treatment for 7 days. The content of glutamic acid was increased in all three brain regions after treatment for 7 days. Glutamine was increased in both cerebral cortex and brain stem after treatment for 7 days, whereas aspartic acid was increased in brain stem after both the administration of single dose and treatment for 7 days. A significant increase (P less than 0.05) in the activity of GS was observed in brain stem after 7 days of treatment. Similarly, a significant increase (P less than 0.01) in the activity of AST was observed in all three regions of the brain following the treatment for 7 days. The above results are discussed in relation to the known effects of lithium on brain cation metabolism and a suggestion is made that an imbalance in the functional activities of glutamic acid and GABA as a result of quantitative changes in these amino acids, brought about by lithium, may play a role in the therapeutic efficacy of lithium in bipolar disorders.
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PMID:Acute and short-term effects of lithium on glutamate metabolism in rat brain. 286 24

Taurine is an important age- and compartment-specific part of the pool of free amino acids in all human tissues and fluids examined. Besides an active taurine transport system, the mechanisms to assure compartment-specific taurine-homeostasis in humans is presumably due to a compartment-specific taurine synthesis. By the identity of cysteine-sulfinic acid - and glutamate-oxalate transaminase as well as of cysteine-sulfinic acid - and glutamic acid decarboxylase taurine biosynthesis via cysteine-sulfinic acid shows direct metabolic relationship between biochemical pathway of cysteine-sulfinic acid and taurine on one side, and of the dicarbonic acid and their biological decarboxylates on the other side. In the parenteral and enteral nutrition of premature babies as well as of adults with portosystemic encephalopathy or with extreme thiamine deficiency, there is - besides an inconstant parallel of exogenous taurine supply and plasma taurine homeostasis - a constant parallel between definitely lowered plasma taurine concentrations and comparably distinct disturbance of the homeostasis of the dicarbonic acids and/or their biosynthetic products. A metabolic connection seems likely. The hypothesis of Sturman et al. in 1976 that taurine is an essential part of the human nutrition at least in the premature or full-term newborn phase of life could not be supported in the subsequent studies of different groups of authors - neither in relation to the nitrogen balance, childhood-development, hepatic cellular function, biliary-acid metabolism, intestinal fat absorption nor any organ-specific function. The nutritional value of taurine in humans still remains unclear in regard to specific physiologic as well as specific pathophysiologic phase of metabolism.
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PMID:[Taurine--recent views and importance for artificial feeding]. 313 85

Metabolism of the glutamate group of amino acids--glutamic acid, gamma-amino-butyric acid, glutamine, aspartic acid and alanine--was studied in the brain of rat as a function of age. The levels of glutamic acid, glutamine and aspartic acid decreased while those of gamma-aminobutyric acid, and alanine increased with age. The results on the activity of the twelve enzymes involved in the metabolism showed that five of them (glutamate dehydrogenase, glutamine synthase, gamma-aminobutyric acid transaminase, succinic semialdehyde dehydrogenase and NAD+-isocitrate dehydrogenase) decreased, while four of them (glutaminase, glutamotransferase, glutamic acid decarboxylase, and alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase) increased. The other three enzymes (aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase and NADP+-isocitrate dehydrogenase) did not show any significant change in activity. An age-related increase was seen in alpha-ketoglutarate and ammonia, the intermediates involved in the metabolism of these amino acids. The changes in the level of these amino acids are discussed in relation to the altered energy metabolism during aging.
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PMID:Metabolism of the glutamate group of amino acids in rat brain as a function of age. 614 62

L-Glutamate is the immediate precursor of the inhibitory transmitter GABA, and considered to be supplied from alpha-ketoglutarate through a transamination reaction or from glutamine through a glutaminase reaction. In the present study, the localization of aspartate aminotransferase and glutaminase in GABAergic neurons was investigated in the rat neocortex by a double immunofluorescence method. Immunoreactivities for both soluble and mitochondrial aspartate aminotransferases were detected in more than 90% of GABA-positive neurons, whereas glutaminase immunoreactivity was not found in GABA-positive neurons. All neocortical neurons with soluble aspartate aminotransferase immunoreactivity were immunopositive for GABA, but none for glutaminase. Neurons with mitochondrial aspartate aminotransferase immunoreactivity showed either glutaminase or GABA immunoreactivity. Under confocal laser scan microscopy, immunoreactivity for soluble aspartate aminotransferase was observed in many axons and axon terminals showing immunoreactivity for glutamic acid decarboxylase, whereas immunoreactivity for mitochondrial aspartate aminotransferase was seen in only a few axons displaying immunoreactivity for glutamic acid decarboxylase. The present results indicate that soluble aspartate aminotransferase is selectively localized to cell bodies and axon terminals of GABAergic non-pyramidal neurons in the cerebral neocortex. This suggests that glutamate is supplied from alpha-ketoglutarate via transamination and works as the immediate precursor for GABA in axon terminals of GABAergic neurons. The absence of glutaminase immunoreactivity in GABAergic neurons indicates that glutamine is a "metabolically remote" precursor for GABA. Mitochondrial aspartate aminotransferase was located in perikarya, rather than in axon terminals of GABAergic neurons, suggesting a transmitter-irrelevant role of this enzyme in neurons.
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PMID:Glutamate-synthesizing enzymes in GABAergic neurons of the neocortex: a double immunofluorescence study in the rat. 783 83


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