Leucine, isoleucine, and valine are used by cells for protein synthesis or are catabolized into sources for glucose and lipid production. These branched-chain amino acids influence proteolysis, hormone release, and cell cycle progression along with their other metabolic roles. The branched-chain amino acids play a central role in regulating cellular protein turnover by reducing autophagy. These...

We present three novel mutations in the G6PD gene and discuss the changes they cause in the 3-dimensional structure of the enzyme: 573C-->G substitution that predicts Phe to Leu at position 191 in the C-terminus of helix alphae, 851T-->C mutation which results in the substitution 284Val--> -->Ala in the beta+alpha domain close to the C-terminal part of helix alphaj, and 1175T-->C substitution t...

Lipoic acid-dependent pathways of -keto acid oxidation by mitochondria were investigated in pea (Pisum sativum), rice (Oryza sativa), and Arabidopsis. Proteins containing covalently bound lipoic acid were identified on isoelectric focusing/ sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis separations of mitochondrial proteins by the use of antibodies raised to this cofactor. All these ...

A 15-kb region of Pseudomonas putida chromosomal DNA containing the mde operon and an upstream regulatory gene (mdeR) has been cloned and sequenced. The mde operon contains two structural genes involved in L-methionine degradative metabolism: the already-identified mdeA, which encodes L-methionine gamma-lyase (H. Inoue, K. Inagaki, M. Sugimoto, N. Esaki, K. Soda, and H. Tanaka. J. Biochem. (Tok...

Leucine was oxidized by rat adipose tissue at a rate which was not limited by the activity of branched chain amino acid transaminase since high concentrations (10 mM) of [1-14C]leucine and its transamination product, alpha-keto[1-14C]isocaproate, were oxidized at similar rates. Despite the apparent abundance of transaminase activity, however, [1-14C]valine was oxidized at only 10 to 25% of the ...

Lipoic acid-dependent pathways of alpha-keto acid oxidation by mitochondria were investigated in pea (Pisum sativum), rice (Oryza sativa), and Arabidopsis. Proteins containing covalently bound lipoic acid were identified on isoelectric focusing/sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis separations of mitochondrial proteins by the use of antibodies raised to this cofactor. All th...

In order to grow in a simple salts medium in which ammonia provides the sole source of nitrogen, micro-organisms must possess some mechanism for the synthesis of amino acids from ammonia and intermediary metabolites. In many bacteria this requirement is fulfilled by the enzyme glutamate dehydrogenase (EC 1.4.1.4), which reductively aminates 2-oxoglutarate to glutamate. In other bacteria (partic...

State-of-the-art precision values are presented for the following serum constituents: aldolase (EC 4.1.2.13), alpha-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.30), cholinesterase (EC 3.1.1.8), cortisol, gamma glutamyl transferase (EC 2.3.2.2), haptoglobin, immunoglobulins, lactic acid, leucine aminopeptidase (EC 3.4.1.1), total lipids, osmolality, protein fractions, T3 uptake, thyroxine and vitami...

The LEU3 gene of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which is involved in the regulation of at least two LEU structural genes (LEU1 and LEU2), has been cloned by complementation of leu3 mutations and shown to reside within a 5.6-kb fragment. Transformation of leu3 mutants with LEU3-carrying multicopy plasmids restored normal, leucine-independent growth behavior in the recipients. It also restor...