Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:3.1.1.7 (acetylcholinesterase)
28,390 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The sulfide-silver method of Timm has been a widely used histochemical technique to demonstrate the presence of heavy metals in biological tissue, particularly in the central nervous system. However, the use of this method or its several modifications results in less than optimal morphological preservation and requires embedding the tissue in paraffin or freezing it and cutting it directly onto slides with a cryostat. These procedures can decrease the sensitivity and limit the application of other histochemical procedures, particularly when experiments necessitate processing large specimens or reaction procedures require techniques using free-floating sections. A perfusion-fixation protocol is described that yields sufficient fixation to cut whole frozen blocks of tissue with a sliding microtome, permits the use of free-floating sections, and allows the concurrent demonstration of horseradish peroxidase and acetylcholinesterase histochemistry without loss of sensitivity. The method consists of a short initial exposure to a sodium sulfide solution followed by a prolonged exposure to a combined sulfide-aldehyde fixative solution.
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PMID:A perfusion-fixation procedure for the concurrent demonstration of Timm's, horseradish peroxidase (HRP), and acethycholinesterase (AChE) histochemistry. 648 Nov 50

Consumption of ethanol by rats during pregnancy reduces the body and brain weight of their fetuses and pups. The reduction is greater if the offspring are kept with their alcohol-fed mothers rather than with control surrogate mothers during lactation. The activity of several enzymes of the neuronal cell membranes (Na+, K+-ATPase, Ca2+-ATPase, acetylcholinesterase, 5'-nucleotidase) is also reduced. This decrease in enzyme activity may be related to the decrease in neuronal development and could produce profound alterations in brain function. Altered hypothalamic-hypophysial function may be partly responsible for developmental anomalies found in the fetal alcohol syndrome. The levels of plasma luteinizing hormone are lower in pups exposed prenatally to ethanol, and prolactin levels are much higher. Concentrations of ethanol were essentially the same in maternal blood and in the fetus. Acetaldehyde levels in the placenta, amniotic fluid and the remaining fetal tissue at days 15 and 19 of gestation were about 40-50% of those in maternal blood. Acetaldehyde may be important in the pathogenesis of the fetal alcohol syndrome.
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PMID:Growth, enzymes and hormonal changes in offspring of alcohol-fed rats. 656 94

This study investigated the cholinesterasic reactivity of catecholamine neurons in the rat hindbrain with the aid of a two-step histochemical procedure. First, catecholamine cells were visualized by their formaldehyde/glutaraldehyde induced specific histofluorescence and then poststained in the same tissue with a thiocholine technique for acetylcholinesterase (AChE). Processing the vibratome-sectioned tissue in phosphate buffer subsequent to initial aldehyde fixation permitted satisfactory preservation of both amine fluorophores and esterasic reactivity. Our results, in both randomly sampled and serially sectioned material, unequivocally establish the presence of AChE in all pontomedullary cell groups emitting catecholamine fluorescence, the majority of which are known to consist of noradrenaline perikarya. Hence in contrast to previous reports the occurrence of AChE in central noradrenaline neurons appears to be generalized. The intensity of histofluorescence and esterasic staining were uncorrelated in most regions. It remains for future study to determine whether AChE in brain catecholamine neurons indicates their cholinoceptivity or subserves the catabolism of other neuromediators such as substance P.
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PMID:Acetylcholinesterase in pontomedullary catecholamine neurons of the adult albino rat. 706 9

Rat motor end plates were supramaxillary stimulated by means of acute systemic inhibition of acetylcholinesterase. Electron micrographs obtained from samples subjected to perfusion with a calcium-containing (5 mM) aldehyde fixative demonstrates profound alterations in the fine structures and localization of calcium binding sites, markedly differring from those prevailing in the resting state and/or under conditions of physiological function. Neither "A" sites at the active zones of the synapse, nor "B" sites within the terminal proper, which are apparent in the resting state, do bind calcium after supramaximal stimulation which is characterized by a conspicuous vacuolization of the sole plate, brought about by destruction of the post-synaptic mitochondria. Calcium binding after supramaximal stimulation is partly postsynaptic (in granules of varying sizes within the sole plate) partly presynaptic (in synaptic vesicles, as well as in the whole extent of the presynaptic membrane). Limited resolving power of light microscopy and artificial translocation of the reaction product of the histochemical reaction may account for the earlier interpretation of exclusively post-synaptic localization of calcium after supramaximal stimulation.
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PMID:Structural localization of calcium binding sites in the neuromuscular junction after supramaximal stimulation. 728 80

The acute effects of ethanol on the nervous system are thought to be associated with disturbance of neural membrane function. In the present study the effects of ethanol, its immediate metabolite, acetyldehyde, and tertiary butanol which is not further metabolized to an aldehyde, on selected membrane-bound enzymes were examined in vitro in rat brain. The enzymes included acetylcholinesterase, succinate dehydrogenase, Na+K+-ATPase and cytochrome c oxidase. At concentrations ranging from 0.07 - 2% w/v (15 - 435 mM) ethanol did not produce significant inhibition of any of the enzymes tested. On the other hand acetaldehyde at concentrations ranging from 0.01 - 0.5% w/v (2 - 114 mM) showed marked inhibition of all the abovementioned enzymes except acetylcholinesterase. The responses of the various enzymes to tertiary butanol were intermediate between those obtained with ethanol and acetaldehyde. Further studies are in progress to evaluate the significance of these findings to the understanding of alcohol intoxication, tolerance and dependence in man.
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PMID:Effect of ethanol and acetaldehyde on membrane-bound enzymes in rat brain. 742 41

The structure-activity relationship of phenylene-polymethylene bis-ammonium (PMBA) derivatives, C6H4[X(CH2)nR]2, on isolated mouse phrenic nerve-diaphragm muscle was investigated to obtain more potent and stable compounds for use as pharmacological tools to clarify the mechanism of succinylcholine (SuCh)-induced neuromuscular blockade. The neuromuscular blocking effect of all the PMBA derivatives was not reversed by neostigmine, a cholinesterase inhibitor. The potency of the neuromuscular blockade was in the order p- > o- > m- with respect to the side-chain substituents. A PMBA composed of X = CH2, n = 5 and R = N+Et3 was 5.9- and 23-fold more potent than SuCh and decamethonium, respectively. The derivatives of R = N+Et3 were observed to be more potent than those of R = N+Me3, N-Me-piperidinio and pyridinio derivatives. Replacement of X = CH2 with O, CHOH and CHOAc decreased the neuromuscular activity while replacement with S, SO and SO2 increased it. Introduction of NO2 into the phenylene ring increased the activity, while the introduction of an alcohol, aldehyde and ketone group decreased it. Removal of a carbonyl or ether group from SuCh decreased its activity, whereas the introduction of these into PMBA failed to increase it. We managed to synthesize unhydrolyzable neuromuscular blocking agents which are more potent than SuCh.
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PMID:The structure-activity relationship between phenylene-polymethylene bis-ammonium derivatives and their neuromuscular blocking action on mouse phrenic nerve-diaphragm muscle. 784 44

The chlorofluorocarbon substitute 1,2-dichloro-1,1-difluoroethane (HCFC-132b) undergoes oxidative metabolism in rats to give a range of metabolites, including chlorodifluoroacetaldehyde [Harris and Anders (1991) Chem. Res. Toxicol. 4, 180]. The present experiments were undertaken after studies to characterize an unidentified metabolite of HCFC-132b revealed that chlorodifluoroacetaldehyde was toxic in vivo: rats given chlorodifluoroacetaldehyde died showing signs of cholinergic stimulation. Because some fluoroketones are known inhibitors of hydrolases, including acetylcholinesterase, the inhibitory effects of chlorodifluoroacetaldehyde on acetylcholinesterase (electric eel and human erythrocyte), on pseudocholinesterase (horse serum), on carboxylesterase (pig liver), and on alpha-chymotrypsin (bovine pancreas) were studied. In aqueous solution, the ratio chlorodifluoroacetaldehyde:chlorodifluroacetaldehyde hydrate, as determined by 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, was 1:157. Chlorodifluoroacetaldehyde was a slow-binding inhibitor of both acetylcholinesterases, of pseudocholinesterase, and of carboxylesterase; the Ki values, corrected for the aldehyde:hydrate ratio, were 150 nM, 1.7 nM, 3.7 nM, and 23 pM, respectively, as determined by final velocity of the progress curves; the kon values were 9.1 x 10(4), 1.1 x 10(5), 3.2 x 10(4), and 9.2 x 10(5) M-1 min-1, respectively. Chlorodifluoroacetaldehyde did not inhibit alpha-chymotrypsin. Acetaldehyde and trichloroacetaldehyde were classical competitive inhibitors of acetylcholinesterase. These results show that hydrochlorofluorocarbon metabolites may exert significant biological effects.
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PMID:Slow-binding inhibition of carboxylesterase and other serine hydrolases by chlorodifluoroacetaldehyde. 829 40

A dynamic combinatorial library composed of interconverting acylhydrazones has been generated and screened towards inhibition of acetylcholinesterase from the electric ray Torpedo marmorata. Starting from a small set (13) of initial hydrazide and aldehyde building blocks, a library containing possibly 66 different species was obtained in a single operation. Of all possible acylhydrazones formed, active compounds containing two terminal cationic recognition groups separated by an appropriate distance, permitting two-site binding, could be rapidly identified by using a dynamic deconvolution--screening procedure, based on the sequential removal of starting building blocks. A very potent bis-pyridinium inhibitor (K(i)=1.09 nM, alphaK(i)=2.80 nM) was selected from the process and the contribution of various structural features to inhibitory potency was evaluated.
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PMID:Dynamic deconvolution of a pre-equilibrated dynamic combinatorial library of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors. 1182 75

THE ALDEHYDES INTRODUCED IN THIS PAPER AND THE MORE APPROPRIATE CONCENTRATIONS FOR THEIR GENERAL USE AS FIXATIVES ARE: 4 to 6.5 per cent glutaraldehyde, 4 per cent glyoxal, 12.5 per cent hydroxyadipaldehyde, 10 per cent crotonaldehyde, 5 per cent pyruvic aldehyde, 10 per cent acetaldehyde, and 5 per cent methacrolein. These were prepared as cacodylate- or phosphate-buffered solutions (0.1 to 0.2 M, pH 6.5 to 7.6) that, with the exception of glutaraldehyde, contained sucrose (0.22 to 0.55 M). After fixation of from 0.5 hour to 24 hours, the blocks were stored in cold (4 degrees C) buffer (0.1 M) plus sucrose (0.22 M). This material was used for enzyme histochemistry, for electron microscopy (both with and without a second fixation with 1 or 2 per cent osmium tetroxide) after Epon embedding, and for the combination of the two techniques. After fixation in aldehyde, membranous differentiations of the cell were not apparent and the nuclear structure differed from that commonly observed with osmium tetroxide. A postfixation in osmium tetroxide, even after long periods of storage, developed an image that-notable in the case of glutaraldehyde-was largely indistinguishable from that of tissues fixed under optimal conditions with osmium tetroxide alone. Aliesterase, acetylcholinesterase, alkaline phosphatase, acid phosphatase, 5-nucleotidase, adenosine triphosphatase, and DPNH and TPNH diaphorase activities were demonstrable histochemically after most of the fixatives. Cytochrome oxidase, succinic dehydrogenase, and glucose-6-phosphatase were retained after hydroxyaldipaldehyde and, to a lesser extent, after glyoxal fixation. The final product of the activity of several of the above-mentioned enzymes was localized in relation to the fine structure. For this purpose the double fixation procedure was used, selecting in each case the appropriate aldehyde.
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PMID:Cytochemistry and electron microscopy. The preservation of cellular ultrastructure and enzymatic activity by aldehyde fixation. 1397 66

An amperometric silica sol-gel film immobilized biosensor doped with acetylcholinesterase was fabricated in the laboratory finding application in organophosphate detection based on enzyme inhibition. The substrate used was acetylthiocholine chloride and thiocholine released from the enzymatic hydrolysis was electrochemically oxidized giving larger anodic current at 0.5-0.6 V (versus Ag/AgCl reference). The dependencies of the current response on pH, enzyme loading and thermal stability of the developed biosensor were evaluated. The analytical performance of enzyme electrode towards substrate and inhibitor was investigated. Oxydemeton methyl was taken as a model compound for the inhibition studies. Linear calibration for oxydemeton methyl was obtained in the range of 2-200 ppb under the optimized conditions following an incubation time of 20 min. Treatment of the inhibited enzyme with pyridine-2-aldehyde restored 92% of its original activity. The sensor stored at -20 degrees C had a good storage and operational stability retaining 85% of its original activity for 60 successive measurements.
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PMID:Development of acetylcholinesterase silica sol-gel immobilized biosensor--an application towards oxydemeton methyl detection. 1552 1


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