Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P80404 (GABA transaminase)
 786 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Our efforts have been directed towards characterizing amino acid uptake, metabolism and release in bulk-isolated glia and neuronal perikarya studied in parallel with nerve-endings, especially as it concerns the transmitter amino acids and the participation of glia in the clearing of the synpatic space during impulse conduction. A possible neuromodulator role for the glia at the synapse is also suggested by K+-stimulated release. Our most definitive conclusions have been based so far on studies with GABA, although we are also beginning to accumulate data for glutamate related to glutamate-glutamine compartmentation. Glia preferentially accumulate potassium and amino acids compared to neuronal perikarya, have higher Na+/K+-ATPase activity, possess high-affinity, sodium-dependent uptake systems for GABA and glutamate similar to the ones in synaptosomes, and release amino acid in response to a potassium pulse by a calcium-independent process. Low neuronal uptake could be due to loss of dendrites. Unidirectional GABA-flux from the synaptosomal to glial compartment is supported by high GAD in nerve endings compared to high GABA-T in glia. Glutamine may be a transmitter glutamate-precursor in nerve-endings since glutaminase activity is high in nerve-endings, but low in glia where glutamine is presumably made. Glutamine uptake in both glia and synaptosomes obeys low-affinity kinetics in contrast to glutamate, consistent with the inability of glutamine to excite the neuronal membrane. The studies with GABA, which are considerably more extensive, are supported by related work using glia in tissue-culture and autoradiography. There appears to be a suggested difference in the behavior of amines which were poorly taken up by the glial system. Glia, synaptosomes and neuronal perikarya, in general behaved similarly with respect to requirements for uptake and release, except in the case of Ca++, which exerted opposite effects on glial and synaptosomal uptake of GABA. We believe that work along these lines tends to firmly establish a direct role for glial cells as modulators of neuronal excitability and represents a convergence between transmitter amino acid neuropharmacology and cellular biochemistry. This not only deepens and enlarges the vocabulary of synaptic biochemistry but also undoubtedly will have major clinical applications in the fields of epilepsy and behavior.
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PMID:Amino acid transport in isolated neurons and glia. 0 26

A synaptic vesicle fraction was prepared from calf brain cortex, containing 10 identified amino acids and two unidentified ninhydrin-positive compounds, one of which is apparently a peptide. The most plentiful amino acids were taurine (1.8 nmol/g original tissue), glutamic acid (1.8), serine (0.9), aspartic acid (0.8) and GABA (0.8); the others identified were cysteic acid (or cysteinesulphinic acid), glutamine, alanine, glycine and lysine. The unknown peptide occurred in a high concentration (about 16 alanine equivalents/g), and contained mainly aspartic acid and serine. Cysteic acid (or cysteinesulphinic acid) also occurred in relatively high amounts, but its peak contained acid-labile impurities. The influx of [14C]glutamate into the vesicles took place by means of non-saturable migration, while two saturable systems having very similar properties were dominant only at low glutamate concentrations. Influx constants for these quantitatively low uptake systems were Km, 34 and 92 micrometer, and Vmax, 33 and 49 nmol/min/g obtained by v versus v/S plot. Almost the same values were also obtained by a 1/v versus 1/S plot. GAD and GABA-T activities in the vesicles were only 1/200th of those in the synaptosomes.
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PMID:Amino acids in the synaptic vesicle fraction from calf brain: content, uptake and metabolism. 58 77

The rate of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) synthesis in rat-brain slices was determined by inhibiting GABA transaminase with 20-microM gabaculine and measuring the increase of GABA. Added 500-microM glutamine increased the rate of GABA synthesis by 50%, indicating that glutamate decarboxylase is not saturated in brain slices. The stimulation of GABA synthesis with added glutamine in brain slices was much less than that reported for synaptosomes. The lower stimulation in slices was attributable to astrocytic glutamine production, as the rate of GABA synthesis decreased by 44% when glutamine production was inhibited with methionine sulfoximine. Added glutamine restored the rate to the maximal value observed in brain slices. The rate of GABA synthesis was decreased by 65% in slices pretreated with an inhibitor of glutaminase, and added glutamine did not reverse this effect. These results suggest that glutamine produced by astrocytes is a quantitatively important precursor of GABA synthesis in cortical slices.
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PMID:GABA synthesis in brain slices is dependent on glutamine produced in astrocytes. 188 16

The ventral hippocampi of male, Fischer-344 rats were implanted with microdialysis probes and the effects of systemically administered kainic acid (KA) (8 mg/kg, s.c.) on the in vivo release of amino acids were measured for four hours after administration. In order to measure GABA release in vivo, gamma-vinyl-GABA (GVG), an irreversible inhibitor of GABA transaminase, was injected intrahippocampally prior to perfusion. GVG pretreatment resulted in measurable levels of GABA in the perfusate without significant effects on the release of aspartate, glutamate, glutamine, glycine or taurine. Following GVG pretreatment systemic administration of KA produced a time-dependent increase in GABA, as well as all other amino acids except glutamine, which was initially decreased. These results show for the first time that systemically administered KA increases extracellular GABA levels, an effect previously reported only in vitro. These data suggest that prior to destruction of GABA-containing interneurons in the hippocampus, there is an increased activity of those GABA interneurons reflected as an increase in extracellular GABA levels.
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PMID:Systemic administration of kainic acid increases GABA levels in perfusate from the hippocampus of rats in vivo. 208 85

The effect of acute and chronic ethanol administration on the level of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), glutamate, aspartate, and glutamine was investigated. The level of GABA rose both after acute and chronic ethanol administration. In chronic experiments also the level of glutamate, aspartate and glutamine were increased. In acute experiments the incorporation from glucose into the studied amino acids (neuronal compartment) increased, while in chronic experiments a decreasing trend was observed. In the glial compartment the incorporation increased only into glutamate and glutamine in acute experiments, while in chronic experiments a decreased incorporation into glutamine was recorded. The activities of three enzymes were studied in seven parts of the brain after acute ethanol administration. The activity of glutamic acid decarboxylase increased in the hypothalamus and brain cortex and decreased in the medulla oblongata. The activity of GABA transaminase did not change and the activity of glutamine synthetase decreased only in the hippocampus. In accordance with several other studies, the presented results show that ethanol interferes with the GABA system in the brain. It is suggested that the primary effect of ethanol is exerted on the cell membranes with preference for the regions connected with the GABA system.
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PMID:[The effect of ethanol on gamma-aminobutyric acid in the brain]. 257 92

The role of GABAergic neurons in the differential sensitivity to ethanol between the AT (Alcohol Tolerant) and ANT (Alcohol Nontolerant) rat lines developed for low and high degree of motor impairment from ethanol, was studied by comparing the effect of ethanol (2 or 4 g/kg, IP) on GABA turnover in different regions of the brain in these rat lines. GABA turnover was estimated from the accumulation of GABA after inhibition of GABA aminotransferase with aminooxyacetic acid (AOAA, 50 mg/kg, IP) given 10 min after administration of ethanol. The rats were killed two hours after the AOAA treatment with focused microwaves. The concentrations of GABA, aspartate, glutamate, glutamine and taurine were analyzed with HPLC. The saline-treated ANT rats were found to have a higher concentration of GABA in the striatum and a higher rate of GABA accumulation in the cerebellum than the AT rats. Ethanol suppressed the accumulation of GABA in both lines, but the suppression was significantly greater in the AT rats than in the ANT rats. In specific regions, this line difference was significant in the cerebral cortex and cerebellum with the higher ethanol dose. No line differences were found in the brain or tail blood ethanol concentration. AOAA increased the concentration of glutamine, decreased that of aspartate and glutamate, and did not modify that of taurine. The AOAA-induced changes in the concentrations of these amino acids were, however, minor relative to those found in the concentrations of GABA. The results that GABAergic mechanisms are involved in the differential sensitivity to the motor-impairing effects of ethanol between the AT and ANT rats.
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PMID:GABA turnover in the brain of rat lines developed for differential ethanol-induced motor impairment. 262 44

Vigabatrin (gamma-vinyl GABA) is a new anticonvulsive drug that irreversibly inhibits the activity of GABA transaminase. The effect of vigabatrin on neurotransmission-related amino acids in CSF of 28 epileptic patients was studied and the relationship between the amino acid pattern and clinical response during 7 months of administration of vigabatrin. Of this study population, 46% had more than 50% decrease in seizure frequency (responders). In 54% the seizures decreased less than 50% (nonresponders). In the whole study group, the levels of total GABA during vigabatrin treatment were 283%, free GABA 197%, homocarnosine 310% and glycine 128% that of the levels at baseline in the same patients. Glutamate, glutamine, aspartate, asparagine, and taurine concentrations did not change. The amino acid pattern in CSF during administration of vigabatrin did not differ significantly in responders and nonresponders. The study suggests that both GABAergic and glycinergic neurotransmission are affected by vigabatrin. The changes in CSF levels of neurotransmitter amino acids are, however, not necessarily related to the clinical response.
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PMID:Effect of vigabatrin (gamma-vinyl GABA) on amino acid levels in CSF of epileptic patients. 285 6

The effect of different treatments on amino acid levels in neostriatum was studied to throw some light on the synthesis and metabolism of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). Irreversible inhibition of GABA transaminase by microinjection of gamma-vinyl GABA (GVG) led to a decrease in aspartate, glutamate, and glutamine levels and an increase in the GABA level, such that the nitrogen pool remained constant. The results indicate that a large part of brain glutamine is derived from GABA. Hypoglycemia led to an increase in the aspartate level and a decrease in glutamate, glutamine, and GABA levels. The total amino acid pool was decreased compared with amino acid levels in normoglycemic rats. GVG treatment of hypoglycemic rats led to a decrease in the aspartate level and a further reduction in glutamate and glutamine levels. In this case, GABA accumulation continued, although the glutamine pool was almost depleted. The GABA level increased postmortem, but there were no detectable changes in levels of the other amino acids. Pretreatment of the rats with hypoglycemia reduced both glutamate and glutamine levels with a subsequent decreased postmortem GABA accumulation. The half-maximal GABA synthesis rate was obtained when the glutamate level was reduced by 50% and the glutamine level was reduced by 80%.
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PMID:Regulation of transmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) synthesis and metabolism illustrated by the effect of gamma-vinyl GABA and hypoglycemia. 289 10

Biochemical and pharmacological effects of gamma-vinyl GABA (Vigabatrin, GVG), and irreversible enzyme-activated inhibitor of 4-aminobutyrate: 2-oxoglutarate aminotransferase (EC 2.6.1.19; GABA-T), were measured in mice. This anticonvulsant produced a time- and dose-dependent elevation of the GABA, phenylalanine and lysine contents of cortical tissue and simultaneously decreased glutamate, aspartate and alanine levels. In addition, GVG caused a biphasic change in glutamine concentrations (a decline 1-4 hours after administration, followed 20 hours later by an increase). Moreover, we found a new, as yet unidentified amino acid in the brain eluting with the same retention time as alpha-aminoadipic acid from an HPLC cation-exchange column. The level of this novel chemical entity was greatly increased by GVG 20 hours after injection of the drug. At all tested intervals between 1 and 60 hours after injection, GVG was ineffective against maximal electroshock. The GABA-T inhibitor dose-dependently protected mice against isoniazid-induced seizures, simultaneously causing an increase in brain GABA concentrations. However, this apparent correlation applied only until 4 hours after treatment. To better define the anticonvulsant profile of GVG, groups of mice were treated, 1, 2, 4, and 24 hours prior to challenge with convulsant doses of strychnine, pentetrazole (PTZ), and picrotoxin, and brain amino acid levels, including brain concentrations of GVG, were measured. In all instances, the time dependency of the anticonvulsant effects of GVG and of increases in brain GABA levels differed. Amino acid concentrations in animals treated only with GVG were similar to those in animals given GVG and a chemical convulsant. GVG showed no selectivity for seizures produced by impairment of GABA-ergic neurotransmission. Although GVG is an effective GABA-T inhibitor, it apparently affects several other pyridoxal-phosphate-dependent cerebral enzymes and/or interacts with other neurotransmitter systems as well.
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PMID:Gamma-vinyl GABA: comparison of neurochemical and anticonvulsant effects in mice. 341 34

The concentrations of GABA, glutamate, serine, glutamine, threonine, glycine and taurine in the substantia nigra and in the corpus striatum of the rat were determined electrochemically following condensation with o-phthalaldehyde-beta-mercaptoethanol and reverse-phase, high performance liquid chromatography. After a frontal hemisection at the level of the caudal hypothalamus, the GABA concentration in the substantia nigra on the operated side decreased to about 20 per cent of the normal value in 4 days, in all probability caused by degeneration of the nerve terminals of the striato-nigral GABA neurons. The concentrations of taurine in the substantia nigra and of GABA in the corpus striatum were initially lowered and later elevated following this lesion. The concentration of glutamate in the substantia nigra was lower on the sectioned side and higher on the intact side at 14 days as compared to 4 hours after a hemisection. Following an acute hemisection, the GABA transaminase inhibitor gamma-acetylenic GABA increased the concentration of GABA by 36% and 79% in the substantia nigra on the sectioned and intact side, respectively. The glutamate decarboxylase inhibitors 4-deoxypyridoxine and isoniazid lowered the concentration of GABA in the substantia nigra by about 50% on both the sectioned and intact side. The results indicate that the synthesis, but not the utilization of GABA in the substantia nigra is dependent on the normal nerve impulse flow. The concentration of glutamine was changed in directions contrary to that of GABA following a chronic hemisection or treatment with gamma-acetylenic GABA, in agreement with the suggestion that glutamine is a precursor of the GABA transmitter pool.
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PMID:Effect of the normal nerve impulse flow on the synthesis and utilization of GABA in the rat substantia nigra. 398 Nov 61


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