Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:4.1.1.15 (glutamate decarboxylase)
2,169 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Glutamate decarboxylase (GAD; EC 4.1.1.15) is responsible for the synthesis of the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). We have used a cDNA sequence encoding GAD to produce a single-stranded RNA hybridization probe for GAD mRNA. This probe detects GAD mRNA in individual cells in sections of mouse cerebellum. The specificity of in situ hybridization with this probe rests on four criteria: the distribution of labeled cells matched the results we and others obtain with GAD immunohistochemistry (Purkinje, Golgi II, stellate, and basket neurons were labeled, whereas granule cells and glia were not); a negative control probe having a sequence identical to GAD mRNA did not specifically label any cerebellar cells; prior treatment of the sections with RNase abolished specific labeling; the labeling showed the melting behavior typical of nucleic acid hybrids. Translation of GAD mRNA is apparently restricted to neuronal cell bodies since GAD mRNA was detectable in neuronal perikarya but not in terminals. Also, the choice of GABA as a neurotransmitter appears to be made at the level of transcription since granule neurons did not contain detectable GAD mRNA. The level of GAD mRNA varied among the classes of neurons as well as from cell to cell within each neuron type.
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PMID:In situ hybridization to localize mRNA encoding the neurotransmitter synthetic enzyme glutamate decarboxylase in mouse cerebellum. 287 58

The present study was designed to test the hypothesis that chronic gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) disinhibition of granule cells could explain permanent kindled epileptogenicity. Quantitative and statistical comparisons of glutamate decarboxylase immunoreactivity (GAD-IR), the synthesizing enzyme for GABA, were made of GAD-IR cells and puncta in stratum granulosum of the fascia dentata. The use of GAD immunocytochemistry in kindled and control tissue was used to allow direct anatomic confirmation that we were measuring changes in GAD-IR which would represent GABA synthesis for release by the recurrent inhibitory system of the fascia dentata. Immediately after the last kindled seizure, optically detected GAD-IR puncta densities were significantly reduced in stratum granulosum. At 3 or 7 days after the last kindled seizure, GAD-IR was normal in puncta, indicating that the transient GAD-IR loss was probably a metabolic response to the recent seizure represented by over-use of GAD needed for synthesis of GABA after a prolonged kindled seizure. When the prolonged kindled seizures were discontinued GAD-IR recovered in the puncta. This transient effect did not occur in other areas such as Ammon's horn (CA3) or substantia nigra. The extent of the GAD-IR loss showed no correlation with the severity of the final behavioral seizure (R = 0.23), or the final afterdischarge (AD) duration in entorhinal cortex (R = 0.17) or motor cortex (R = 0.53). A massed stimulation control group given 19 shorter-duration ADs every 10 min (non-kindling) did not reduce GAD-IR. These findings support the hypothetical model that prolonged kindled seizures release excessive GABA which depletes GAD in axon terminals for 1 day after the seizure. However, such a transient suppression of GAD-IR provides no evidence that disinhibition contributes to the kindling process, because kindling proceeds normally with inter-seizure intervals as long as 1 week. The finding of full recovery of GAD-IR within 1 week does not support the model of loss of GABA inhibition to explain the permanency of kindled epileptogenesis.
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PMID:Recovery of decreased glutamate decarboxylase immunoreactivity after rat hippocampal kindling. 291 45

Repeated but not single injections of estradiol benzoate significantly reduced nigral glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD, EC 4.1.1.15). A single injection of the catecholestrogen 2-hydroxyestradiol produced similar results. Tolerance developed to the latter effect, as reflected by the lack of nigral GAD activity changes in rats repeatedly injected with 2-hydroxyestradiol. Repeated injection of the antiestrogen tamoxifen not only failed to antagonize the action of estradiol benzoate but itself reduced nigral GAD activity. Hypophysectomy, which itself decreased nigral GAD activity prevented the lowering effects of either repeated estradiol benzoate administration or single 2-hydroxyestradiol injection on the enzymatic activity.
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PMID:Estrogen effects on nigral glutamic acid decarboxylase activity: a possible role for catecholestrogen. 299 27

Immunocytochemical and electron microscopic methods were used to examine the GABAergic innervation of the inferior olivary nucleus in adult rats. This neuronal system was visualized with an antibody against glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD, EC 4.1.1.15), the GABA-synthesizing enzyme. A GAD-positive reaction product was encountered only in short segments of preterminal axons and in axon terminals. Their relative number per unit area of neuropil was very similar in all olivary subnuclei. Despite this homogeneity in density, obvious intraregional differences existed. Some regions were strongly immunoreactive (the "c" subgroup, the beta nucleus, and the mediolateral outgrowth of the medial accessory olive), whereas others were weakly labeled (the dorsomedial cell column and the central zones of the medial accessory and principal olives). The strongly immunoreactive areas contained the largest and most intensively labeled axon terminals. Areas of weak labeling were filled with small, weakly immunoreactive nerve terminals. Thus, variations in size and in intensity of labeling create a specific pattern of GABA innervation, revealed by an almost continuous gradient between the above-mentioned extremes. The GAD-positive axon terminals established conventional synapses with dendrites (94% of the samples) or with cell bodies (6%). The vast majority of these synapses were type II (84%) and only a small proportion formed type I synaptic contacts (16%), regardless of the nature of the postsynaptic element. Immunoreactive terminals were also involved in the complex synaptic arrangements--the glomeruli, which characterize the olivary neuropil. Within these formations, olivary neurons were electrotonically coupled through dendrodendritic gap junctions. There was a constant association between GAD-positive axon terminals and small dendritic appendages linked by gap junctions. This association was revealed not only by the systematic presence of immunolabeled terminals directly apposed to the dendritic appendages but, more importantly, by the frequent presence of type II synapses straddling both elements. These synapses were in close proximity to the low-resistance pathways represented by the gap junctions. The strategic location of these GABA synapses is discussed in relation to recent findings indicating the possibility of a synaptic modulation of the electrical coupling: the release of GABA, by increasing nonjunctional membrane conductance, could shunt the coupling between olivary neurons. The functional decoupling of selected gap junctions would be responsible for the spatial organization of the olivary electrotonic coupling.
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PMID:Localization of glutamic-acid-decarboxylase-immunoreactive axon terminals in the inferior olive of the rat, with special emphasis on anatomical relations between GABAergic synapses and dendrodendritic gap junctions. 302 70

Several previous studies have suggested a strong GABA-mimetic action of the endogenous brain imino acid, L-pipecolic acid (L-PA). In the present study, these observations were evaluated using electrophysiological and neurochemical methods. In contrast to published data our electrophysiological studies on rat cortical neurones in situ showed only a weak, but bicuculline-sensitive depressant action of L-PA on cortical neurones. Furthermore, L-PA proved to have no affinity for any of the three components of the GABA-benzodiazepine-chloride channel receptor complex. However, using a modification of published methods a weak affinity for the GABA-B receptor site was demonstrated (IC50 = 1.8 X 10(-3) M). L-PA showed no anticonvulsive activity in several tests; in particular, it did not protect mice from seizures induced by inhibition of L-glutamate-1-decarboxylase (EC 4.1.1.15: GAD). L-PA had a very weak action on brain GABA levels of mice, and did not modify the rate of GABA synthesis. In conclusion, these results are not compatible with a strong in vivo interaction between L-PA and GABA-mediated inhibitory transmission.
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PMID:Dose pipecolic acid interact with the central GABA-ergic system? 302 50

Putative GABAergic neurons in the larval tiger salamander retina were localized by a comparative analysis of glutamate decarboxylase immunoreactivity (GAD-IR), GABA-like immunoreactivity (GABA-IR), and high-affinity 3H-GABA uptake at the light microscopical level. Preliminary data showed that all GAD-IR neurons were double labeled for GABA-IR. However, because the weak somatic labeling with GAD-IR, we could not determine if the converse were true. Neurons commonly labeled with GABA-IR and 3H-GABA uptake include horizontal cells, type I (outer) and type II (inner) bipolar cells, type I (inner) and type II (outer) amacrine cells, and cell bodies in the ganglion cell layer (GCL). In addition, interplexiform cells were identified with GABA-IR. The presence of GABA-IR ganglion cells was indicated by GABA-IR fibers in the optic fiber layer and optic nerve as well as by a GABA-IR cell in the GCL that included a labeled axon. The percentage of labeled somas in the inner nuclear layer (INL) compared to all cells in each layer was similar for the two methods: 30% in INL 1 (outer layer of somas), 15% in INL 2 (middle layer), 43-52% in INL 3 (inner layer), and about 21-26% in the GCL. Labeled processes were found in three bands in the inner plexiform layer, with the densest band located in the most proximal part. Postembedding labeling of 1-micron Durcupan resin sections for GABA-IR showed the same general pattern as obtained with 10-microns cryostat sections, with additional staining, however, of type II (inner) bipolar cell Landolt's clubs. Extensive colocalization of labeling was indicated, and we conclude that GABA-IR can serve as a valid and reliable marker for GABA-containing neurons in this retina and suggest that GABA serves as a transmitter for horizontal cells, several types of amacrine cell, a type of interplexiform cell, and perhaps a small percentage of type I and type II bipolar cells and ganglion cells.
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PMID:Localization of putative GABAergic neurons in the larval tiger salamander retina by immunocytochemical and autoradiographic methods. 319 98

The time and pattern of appearance of glutamic acid decarboxylase (glutamate decarboxylase; EC 4.1.1.15) (GAD) mRNA during the development of the rat brain were analyzed. RNA transfer blot analysis of poly(A)+ RNA from whole brain shows that a 3.7-kilobase transcript is the most abundant form of the message from embryonic day 15 (E15) through adulthood. By E15 this form is present at about 50% of its adult abundance relative to other poly(A)+ mRNA species. At birth the abundance is approximately the same as in the adult. In contrast, the enzyme activity level is only 8% of the adult level at birth and takes 3 weeks to reach adult levels. There are qualitative changes in GAD mRNA during development. Several large (7-9 kilobases) transcripts with strong homology to GAD are enriched in early developmental stages but are barely detectable in the adult. A nuclease protection assay shows a developmentally regulated heterogeneity in a coding portion of the mRNA.
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PMID:Pattern of expression of glutamic acid decarboxylase mRNA in the developing rat brain. 336 72

Glutamate decarboxylase (GAD; E.C. 4.1.1.15) converts glutamate to gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the vertebrate central nervous system. This report describes the isolation of a GAD complementary DNA clone by immunological screening of a lambda gt-11 brain complementary DNA expression library. The fusion protein produced by this clone catalyzes the conversion of glutamate to GABA and carbon dioxide, confirming its identity as GAD. Antibodies to beta-galactosidase remove GAD enzymatic activity from solution, showing that this activity is associated with the fusion protein. In immunoblotting experiments all three available antisera to GAD reacted with the fusion polypeptide and with two major polypeptides (molecular size, 60,000 and 66,000 daltons) in brain extracts.
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PMID:Brain glutamate decarboxylase cloned in lambda gt-11: fusion protein produces gamma-aminobutyric acid. 351 61

The immunofluorescence localization of glutamate decarboxylase (GAD, EC 4.1.1.15) has been determined in the superior cervical ganglion of the rat. Immunoreactivity was confined to clusters of small cells whose size is similar to that of the dopaminergic small intensely fluorescent (SIF) cells. In serial sections tested for GAD immunofluorescence and catecholamine histofluorescence there was no evidence of co-localization. These results suggest that a separate population of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) synthesizing cells is present in the rat superior cervical ganglion.
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PMID:The immunofluorescence localization of glutamate decarboxylase in the rat superior cervical ganglion. 354 78

Within the vertebrate retina, two types of photoreceptor cells--the rods and cones--transduce visual signals and convey this information through synapses with bipolar and horizontal cells. Although the neurotransmitter at these first-order synapses has not been identified, electrophysiological studies suggest that it might be excitatory. In the present study, however, we have found photoreceptor terminals in the rhesus monkey retina which are immunoreactive with antibodies to either gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) or L-glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD, an enzyme involved in the synthesis of GABA). In the perifoveal region of the retina, approximately 25% of presynaptic profiles having ultrastructural characteristics of either rod or cone terminals are immunoreactive with one or the other antibody. This evidence for a putatively inhibitory neurotransmitter in photoreceptor terminals challenges present understanding of retinal synaptic function.
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PMID:GABA and GAD immunoreactivity of photoreceptor terminals in primate retina. 370 2


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