ANDERSON, H. L., N. J. BENEVENGA, AND A. E. HARPER. Associations among food and protein intake, serine dehydratase, and plasma amino acids. Am. J. Physiol. 214(5): 1008-1013. 1968.Relationships among liver serine-threonine dehydratase activity, plasma amino acid concentrations, and food and protein intake were studied in growing rats undergoing adaptation to high-protein diets. Serine-threonine...

The porphyrin and phorbin biosynthetic activity of etiolated cucumber (Cucumis sativus, L.) cotyledons was compared to that of cotyledonary homogenates. Etiolated cotyledons incubated with delta-aminolevulinic acid accumulate protoporphyrin, coproporphyrin, small amounts of Mg protoporphyrin monoester, and trace amounts of uroporphyrin. They also incorporate 4-(14)C-delta-aminolevulinic acid in...

Application of levulinic acid (LA), a competitive inhibitor of delta-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) dehydratase, to greening plant tissues causes ALA to accumulate at the expense of chlorophyll. 4,6-Dioxoheptanoic acid (DA), which has been reported to be an effective inhibitor of this enzyme in animal systems, has a similar but more powerful effect on ALA and chlorophyll metabolism in greening leave...

Parameters indicative of absorption and biological effect in new lead exposure: a prospective study. Determinations have been made of the blood and urinary lead concentrations (Pb-B, Pb-U), haemoglobin concentrations (Hb), packed blood cell volumes (Hcr), urinary 8-aminolevulinic acid (ALA-U) and coproporphyrin concentrations (CP-U), as well as erythrocyte 8-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase acti...

Glutathione transferase zeta (GSTZ1-1) catalyzes the isomerization of maleylacetoacetate (MAA) to fumarylacetoacetate, the penultimate step in the tyrosine degradation pathway. GSTZ1-1 is inactivated by dichloroacetic acid (DCA), which is used for the clinical management of congenital lactic acidosis and is a drinking-water contaminant. Metabolic changes associated with chemically induced GSTZ1...

The ability of Porphyromonas gingivalis to biosynthesize tetrapyrroles de novo has been investigated. Extracts of the bacterium do not possess activity for 5- aminolevulinic-acid dehydratase or porphobilinogen deaminase, two key enzymes involved in the synthesis of uroporphyrinogen III. Similarly, it was not possible to detect any genetic evidence for these early enzymes with the use of degener...