Library

Notes: Abstract— A direct method for measuring the rate of dopamine (DA) synthesis and the DA metabolites by the brain of awake monkeys (Macaca arctoides) is described. The method utilizes a coupling of a measure of cerebral blood flow with the mass spectrometrically determined difference in the concentrations of the metabolite under study in plasma obtained from arterial and internal jugular bulb blood. For homovanillic acid (HVA) a consistent and highly significant veno-arterial (V-A) difference of 2.2 ± 0.4 ng/ml of plasma (P 〈 0.0005) was found. When this V-A difference was coupled with a measure of cerebral blood flow it was determined that, in the awake monkey, the average output of HVA by brain was 113.4 ± 19.1ng/100g brain min−1. There were large individual variations, however, between animals (range = 38-194 ng/100g brain min−1). In contrast to HVA, no consistent V-A difference for dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) was found; i.e. the concentrations of DOPAC in plasma obtained from arterial and internal jugular bulb venous blood were essentially identical. These data indicate that, in contrast to the rat, in this non-human primate HVA is the major metabolic product of brain DA. Since HVA is the major metabolite of DA, production of HVA under steady state conditions gives a measure of DA synthesis by whole brain; i.e. the rate of DA synthesis by whole brain in the awake monkey is 113.4 ± 19.1ng/100g brain min−1. It is suggested that this technique may be of value in both basic and applied types of studies.

Notes: The association between glutamate decarboxylase (GAD) and its cofactor, pyridoxal-5′-phos-phate (pyridoxal-P), was studied using 20,0000 supernatant of rat brain. In this preparation GAD required added pyridoxal-P to maintain a linear reaction rate beyond 5 min of incubation. Following exhaustive dialysis the enzyme was more than 83% saturated with cofactor indicating that the cofactor was tightly bound to the enzyme. When incubations were performed in the presence of glutamate and without added pyridoxal-P there was a progressive inactivation of the enzyme which was dependent on the glutamate concentration. This lost activity was almost completely recovered by addition of pyridoxal-P to the dialyzed glutamate-inactivated enzyme. The results suggest that glutamate inactivates GAD by promoting the dissociation of pyridoxal-P from the enzyme thereby producing inactive apoen-zyme which can be reactivated by combining with available pyridoxal-P. This interpretation is supported by the finding that progress curves for the reaction were accurately described over a 30 min incubation period and 10-fold glutamate concentration range by an integrated rate equation which takes the glutamate-promoted dissociation of cofactor into account. The progressive inactivation could not be attributed to denaturation of the enzyme, impurities in the substrate, effects of pH, depletion of substrate, protein concentration, sulfhydryl reagents or product inhibition. The results presented here also show that certain precautions must be adopted to accurately measure GAD activity in the absence of added pyridoxal-P as has been widely done in studies of drug action. Specifically, measurements must be made at short times of incubation and low concentrations of glutamate to minimize the glutamate-promoted inactivation of the enzyme.

Notes: The effects of adenine nucleotides and glutamate on glutamate decarboxylase were studied in a dialyzed, high-speed supernatant of rat brain. When incubated with 10 μm-pyridoxal-P the enzyme was strongly inhibited by ATP, ADP and their Mg2+ complexes at concentrations which were well below tissue levels. The enzyme was not significantly inhibited by 15 mm-AMP or by 100 μM-3′-5’cyclic AMP or 3′-5’cyclic GMP. Inhibition by the nucleotides cannot be described in conventional steady-state kinetic terms. Addition of ATP in the presence of pyridoxal-P resulted in a slow, progressive decrease in the reaction rate which was similar to the inactivation observed when the enzyme was incubated in the absence of pyridoxal-P. The progressive inactivation in the presence of ATP was minimal at concentrations of glutamate which were well below Km and became much more pronounced at higher glutamate concentrations. Addition of suprasaturating amounts of pyridoxal-P late in the incubation when the enzyme was almost completely inactivated resulted in an immediate and complete reactivation of the enzyme. Inhibition by ATP could be prevented by addition of saturating amounts of pyridoxal-P at the start of the reaction and was also relieved by addition of potassium phosphate buffer. The results suggest that inhibition by the nucleotides involves the prior formation of the inactive apoenzyme which results from the glutamate-promoted dissociation of pyridoxal-P. In the absence of the nucleotides, the enzyme is normally reactivated by the added pyridoxal-P. The nucleotides act to block this reassociation of pyridoxal-P with the apoenzyme thereby producing a progressive inactivation of the enzyme. The implications of these results for the regulation of GABA synthesis are discussed.

Notes: Abstract— The influx and efflux of [3H]GABA were investigated in synaptosomes. Two efflux components were detected. The first, termed spontaneous efflux, was not affected by the external sodium chloride concentration. The second, termed GABA-stimulated efflux, was observed when low levels of GABA were added to the incubation medium and was found to require external sodium chloride. The rate of spontaneous efflux at 0°C was about 37 per cent of the rate at 27°C but both GABA-stimulated efflux and GABA influx were completely inhibited at 0°C. The stimulation of efflux by external GABA followed simple Michaelis–Menten kinetics with respect to external GABA. The concentration of external GABA required for half-maximal stimulation was 4·9 ± 1·4 μm and the Vmax for efflux was 1·0 ± 0·6 nmol. min-1.mg-1 of protein. A similar stimulation of efflux was observed with GABA analogue l-2,4-diamino-butyric acid which is a competitive inhibitor of influx. The concentration of external l-2,4-diaminobutyric acid required for half-maximal stimulation of efflux was 51 ± 12 μm and the Vmax for efflux was 0·8 ± 0·5 nmol.min-1.mg-1 of protein. Since the sodium-dependency, temperature sensitivity, and kinetic properties of the GABA-stimulated efflux system were similar to the influx system, GABA-stimulated efflux was attributed to carrier-mediated exchange diffusion. Measurement of efflux and influx in the same preparation showed there was a net efflux when total fluxes were considered and that the exchange ratio (influx to GABA-stimulated efflux) was 0·9 when carrier-mediated fluxes were considered. The effect of the temperature of the fluid used to rinse synaptosomes collected on filters in influx experiments was investigated. There was no detectable difference in measured values of influx between samples rinsed with cold fluid (0°C) and warm fluid (27°C). The endogenous GABA content of synaptosomes was found to be 20·3 ± 2·5 nmol GABA per mg of protein. From this value, the cytoplasmic concentration of GABA in synaptosomes was estimated to be a maximum of 40 mm. About 5 per cent of total cerebral cortical GABA was found in the synaptosomal fraction.

Notes: The kinetics of transport of gamma-aminobutyric acid [2,3-3H] by synaptosomes from rat brain was studied by means of a rapid filtration technique. The rate of uptake was proportional to the protein concentration over the range 0.05—0.2 mg of synaptosomal protein per ml. Although apparent allosteric kinetics were observed with sodium, transport followed simple saturation kinetics with respect to GABA and no heterotropic, cooperative effects of GABA on sodium on kinetics were observed. A minimum of three interacting sodium sites is suggested the basis of Hill plots of the sodium data. Both the apparent Km and Vmax for GABA were functions of the sodium ion concentration but the effect of sodium was considerably greater on Vmax than on the apparent Km The Vmax for GABA was 1.1 ± 0.5 nmol.min−1 mg−1 of protein at 95 mm sodium and decreased to 12 per Cent of this value at 19 mm sodium. The apparent Km for GABA increased from 4.0 ± 1.0 μm at 95 mm sodium to 8.4 ± 2.0 μm at 19 mm sodium. Potassium was a noncompetitive inhibitor with respect to GABA and did not affect the apparent cooperativity observed with sodium. These findings are discussed in terms of models of GABA transport.

Notes: Abstract— The initial rate of uptake of [2,3-3H]gamma-aminobutyric acid by rat brain synaptosomes was studied under incubation conditions in which GABA metabolism was minimal. The presence of both sodium and potassium in the incubation medium was essential for sustained uptake. Uptake proceeded for a short period of time in the absence of potassium and then ceased. No uptake was observed when sodium chloride was completely replaced with sucrose or choline chloride. The sodium-dependence curve for GABA uptake was markedly sigmoid. The sigmoid character of the curve was not attributable to a lag phase in uptake at low sodium concentrations. Calcium strongly stimulated the initial rate of uptake at low sodium concentrations but had little effect at sodium concentrations above 100 mm and was not able to support uptake in the absence of sodium. The sigmoid character of thesodium-dependence curve was completely eliminated by 20 mm calcium ion. Magnesium and phosphate had little effect on the initial rate of GABA uptake.