Using an in vitro system which contained enzymes, substrates, and other reactants at concentrations which approximated the in vivo conditions in rat liver, we measured the simultaneous product formation by three enzymes which utilize homocysteine. In the control system, 5-methyltetrahydrofolate homocysteine methyltransferase, betaine homocysteine methyltransferase, and cystathionine beta-syntha...

Epidemiological studies have provided strong evidence that an elevated plasma homocysteine concentration is an important independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. We have shown, in the rat, that the kidney is a major site for the removal and subsequent metabolism of plasma homocysteine [Bostom, Brosnan, Hall, Nadeau and Selhub (1995) Atherosclerosis 116, 59-62]. To characterize the ro...

Hyperhomocysteinemia due to cystathionine beta synthase deficiency confers diverse clinical manifestations. It is characterized by elevated plasma homocysteine levels, a common amino acid metabolized by remethylation to methionine or transsulfuration to cysteine. We recently found a relationship between hepatic Dyrk1A protein expression, a serine/threonine kinase involved in signal transduction...