Subcutaneous administration of aspartic acid results in a long-lasting but reversible depression of ventilation in male but not in female rats. Aspartic acid acts on N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors. The present study tested the hypothesis that a noncompetitive N-methyl-D-aspartate-receptor antagonist, dextromethorphan (Dex), would depress ventilation in female rats and stimulate it in male rats....

A Caenorhabditis elegans gene (asp-1) and cDNA that encode a homologue of cathepsin D aspartic protease were cloned and characterized. The asp-1 mRNA is transcribed from a single exon, and it begins with the SL1 trans-splice leader sequence. The protein (ASP-1) is expressed as a 396-amino acid, 42.7-kDa pre-pro-peptide that is post-translationally processed into a approximately 40-kDa lysosomal...

The incorporation of isotopic nitrogen from N15-aspartic acid, N15-glutamic acid, or N15(amide nitrogen)-glutamine into the nitrogens of the pyrimidine ring of hypoxanthine synthesized from glycine-l-Cl4 in pigeon liver extracts has been reported to be approximately equivalent to the incorporation of Cl4 from labeled glycine (1). It was proposed that biological similarity of the transaminating ...

A catalytic asymmetric procedure for the preparation of beta-amino acids (specifically beta-substituted aspartic acid derivatives) is reported. The cinchona alkaloid catalyst benzoylquinine (BQ) mediates up to five distinct steps of a reaction pathway, all in one reaction vessel. The products of this reaction, highly optically enriched beta-substituted aspartic acid derivatives, were prepared f...

The dipeptide and tripeptide analogues salicyl-L-aspartic acid (Sal-L-Asp) and salicylglycyl-L-aspartic acid (SalGly-L-Asp) were synthesized and their protonation and complex formation with V(IV)O2+ were studied in aqueous solution through the use of pH-potentiometry and spectroscopic (UV-Vis, CD and EPR) techniques. The phenolate terminus proved to be a good anchoring site to promote (i) the m...

The metabolic pathway for the synthesis of guanidinosuccinic acid was studied in the rat. Labeled guanidinosuccinic acid was isolated from the urine of animals given L-[guanidino-14C]arginine intraperitoneally but did not appear in the urine after administration of D,L-[guanidino-14C]canavanine. Radioactive arginine and nonradioactive aspartic acid and arginine were infused in the isolated, per...