D-Ornithine aminomutase from Clostridium sticklandii catalyzes the reversible rearrangement of d-ornithine to (2R,4S)-2,4-diaminopentanoic acid. The two genes encoding d-ornithine aminomutase have been cloned, sequenced, and expressed in Escherichia coli. The oraS gene, which encodes a protein of 121 amino acid residues with M(r) 12,800, is situated upstream of the oraE gene, which encodes a pr...

The role of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) in polyamine metabolism has long been established, but the exact source of ornithine has always been unclear. The arginase enzymes are capable of producing ornithine for the production of polyamines and may hold important regulatory functions in the maintenance of this pathway. Utilizing our unique set of arginase single and double knockout mice, we ana...

1. Homogenates of liver or kidney from rat, mouse, dog and guinea pig formed ornithine from proline but not from glutamate. Rat kidney was most active in this reaction and was used for further studies. 2. The overall reaction was found to be catalysed by proline oxidase to yield glutamic gamma-semialdehyde, followed by transamination of this product with glutamate as catalysed by ornithine-keto...

The metabolism of 14C-labelled arginine and ornithine was studied in the isolated, nonrecirculating, perfused rat liver. The catabolism of these amino acids required ornithine aminotransferase since treatment of rats with gabaculine, an inhibitor of this enzyme, decreased substantially the production of 14CO2 from the 14C-labelled amino acids. In the liver, ornithine aminotransferase is restric...

BACKGROUND The soil bacterium Corynebacterium glutamicum, best known for its glutamate producing ability, is suitable as a producer of a variety of bioproducts. Glutamate is the precursor of the amino acid proline. Proline biosynthesis typically involves three enzymes and a spontaneous cyclisation reaction. Alternatively, proline can be synthesised from ornithine, an intermediate of arginine bi...

The effect of Phaseolus vulgaris isolectin E4 on polyamine concentrations and ornithine decarboxylase activity of proliferating and differentiating Caco-2 cells was investigated. Values of putrescine, spermidine, and spermine in control cells were highest during the early phase of proliferative cell growth and lowest in the stationary phase. Phytohaemagglutinin E4 significantly increased cellul...

Rats having a protein-free diet available ad libitum were fed a daily casein meal at the beginning of either the light- or the dark-phase of the day. A control group received a mixed-diet ad libitum. In all three groups, daily food ingestion was the same and casein corresponded to 12% of total intake. Liver activities of alanine, aspartate, ornithine and tyrosine aminotransferase, ornithine dec...

Induction of ornithine decarboxylase has been correlated with the onset of cellular proliferation and cAMP production. Whether the resulting increases in polyamine levels are essential mediators of growth and/or differentiation or are merely incidental remains controversial. We have used FRTL-5 thyroid cells in culture to study the effects of three growth factors on ornithine decarboxylase acti...