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Article
Decarboxylation of L-Dopa and 5-Hydroxytryptophan in Dispersed Rat Pancreas Acinar Cells
Pharmacology
  • E. W.-T. Yu, McGill University
  • L. Stern, McGill University
  • A. Tenenhouse, McGill University
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-1984
Abstract

Amino acid decarboxylation activity in dispersed rat pancreas acinar cells and fractions derived by differential centrifugation of homogenate of these cells was studied. The rate of decarboxylation was measured by determining the rate of production of the [3H]-amine from [3H]-amino acid or the rate of production of 14CO2 from the [14C]-carboxy-labelled amino acid. Only the hydroxylated amino acids L-dopa and 5-hydroxytryptophan are decarboxylated by intact dispersed pancreas acinar cells or cell homogenates at all pH values and amino acid concentrations tested. The decarboxylase activity is located exclusively in the cell cytosol. Each substrate competitively inhibits the decarboxylation of the other and the decarboxylation of each is inhibited by NSD-1055. The estimated Km and Vmax are, for L-dopa, 4.8 X 10(-5) M and 2.5 nmol/mg protein/min and for 5-hydroxytryptophan, 2.9 X 10(-5) M and 0.3 nmol/mg protein/min. The pH optimum for 5-hydroxytryptophan decarboxylation is from 7.0-8.5 while that for L-dopa is 7.0. It is concluded that pancreas acinar cells possess a single aromatic amino acid decarboxylase specific for the hydroxylated amino acids L-dopa and 5-hydroxytryptophan, and which is similar in all properties studied to the aromatic amino acid decarboxylase found in several other mammalian tissues.

Notes
Published in: Pharmacology, 1984, 29:185-192. DOI: 10.1159/000138011
Dr. Edward Yu is currently a faculty member at The University of Western Ontario.
Citation Information
E. W.-T. Yu, L. Stern and A. Tenenhouse. "Decarboxylation of L-Dopa and 5-Hydroxytryptophan in Dispersed Rat Pancreas Acinar Cells" Pharmacology Vol. 29 Iss. 4 (1984) p. 185 - 192
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/edwardyu/5/