y-Aminobutyric acid is present in the free form in large amounts in brain (l-3), where it is formed from glutamic acid by a L-glutamic acid decarboxylase (2, 4, 5). The enzyme requires pyridoxal phosphate as coenzyme (5), which can be synthesized in brain from adenosinetriphosphate and pyridoxal (6). This decarboxylase has a high degree of substrate and coenzyme specificity (6). The concentrati...

Melnykowycz and Johansson (1955) have shown that chlortetracycline suppresses amino acid decarboxylation by intestinal microorganisms in the rat, formation of lysine decarboxylase in Escherichia coli, and decarboxylation of tyrosine in Streptococcus faecalis R. These workers postulate that antibiotics reduce enterotoxemia and improve growth by inhibiting amine formation in the intestine. Since ...

The effects of topically applied 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) on the level of ascorbic acid in the epidermis and the effects of topically applied ascorbic acid, ascorbyl palmitate (a synthetic lipophilic derivative of ascorbic acid), palmitic acid and sorbitan monopalmitate on TPA-induced epidermal ornithine decarboxylase activity, epidermal DNA synthesis, and the promotion of ski...

The Bacteroides fragilis capsular polysaccharide complex is the major virulence factor for abscess formation in human hosts. Polysaccharide B of this complex contains a 2-aminoethylphosphonate functional group. This functional group is synthesized in three steps, one of which is catalyzed by phosphonopyruvate decarboxylase. In this paper, we report the cloning and overexpression of the B. fragi...

Neurological disorders associated with glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) antibodies include stiff-person syndrome (SPS) and its variants — stiff trunk syndrome, stiff limbs syndrome, progressive encephalomyelitis with rigidity, SPS-plus and paraneoplastic SPS — as well as epilepsy and ataxia1-8. These syndromes are often found in association with other autoimmune disorders, such as diabetes mel...