The interaction of a variety of pyridoxal analogues with glutamate decarboxylase and aspartate aminotransferase has been studied. Pyridoxal phosphate N-oxide, N-methylpyridoxal phosphate, 3-0-methylpyridoxal phosphate, 4-de(formyl)-4-vinyl pyridoxal phosphate, and pyridoxal analogues which contain modified substituents in position 5 (CH2CHrOPOsHL, CH(CHB)OPOIH2, CHVPOBHL, and CHICH,COOH) are bo...

Mutations in the CLN3 gene are responsible for the neurodegenerative disorder Batten disease; however, the molecular basis of this disease remains unknown. In studying a mouse model for Batten disease, we report the presence of an autoantibody to glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD65) in cln3-knockout mice serum that associates with brain tissue but is not present in sera or brain of normal mice. ...

The glutamate decarboxylase (GAD) system has been shown to be important for the survival of Listeria monocytogenes in low pH environments. The bacterium can use this faculty to maintain pH homeostasis under acidic conditions. The accepted model for the GAD system proposes that the antiport of glutamate into the bacterial cell in exchange for γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is coupled to an intracell...

Convulsions due to vitamin B-6 deficiency in humans can be controlled by the administration of pyridoxine, and the symptoms subside rapidly (Coursin, 1954). If derangement of y-aminobutyric acid metabolism were responsible for these convulsions, it would be expected that a return to normal y-aminobutyric acid metabolism occurs very rapidly after the pyridoxine administration. In vitamin B-&defi...

Objective(s): Development of the nervous system in human and most animals is continued after the birth. Critical role of this period in generation and specialization of the neuronal circuits is confirmed in numerous studies. Any pharmacological intervention in this period may result in structural, functional or behavioral abnormalities. In this study, sodium thiopental a GABA mimetic drug was a...

Neurons must maintain a supply of neurotransmitter in their presynaptic terminals to fill synaptic vesicles. GABA is taken up into inhibitory terminals by transporters or is synthesized from glutamate by glutamic acid decarboxylase. Here we report that glutamate transporters supply GABAergic terminals in the hippocampus with glutamate, which is then used to synthesize GABA for filling synaptic ...

L-Cysteinesulfinate, a quantitatively important catabolite of L-cysteine, is a substrate of both cysteinesulfinate decarboxylase and glutamate-oxaloacetate transaminase. The former enzyme initiates a pathway leading to taurine; the latter enzyme forms /3-sulfinylpyruvate, which spontaneously decomposes to pyruvate and SOZ. In the present studies, the in uiuo partitioning of cysteinesulfinate be...

Gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA) possesses several physiological functions such as neurotransmission, induction of hypotension, diuretic and tranquilizer effects. Production of GABA-enriched products by lactic acid bacteria has been a focus of different researches in recent years because of their safety and health-promoting specifities. In this study, glutamate decarboxylase (gad) gene of a loca...

Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is a widely conserved signaling molecule that in animals has been adapted as a neurotransmitter. GABA is synthesized from the amino acid glutamate by the action of glutamate decarboxylases (GADs). Two vertebrate genes, GAD1 and GAD2, encode distinct GAD proteins: GAD67 and GAD65, respectively. We have identified a third vertebrate GAD gene, GAD3. This gene is cons...