The K variant of human butyrylcholinesterase is caused by a G/A transition in the butyrylcholinesterase gene, which neither creates nor destroys any restriction site. In an attempt to detect the K variant both simply and rapidly, we developed a two step method of "PCR primer introduced restriction analysis" (PCR-PIRA). The first step was used to introduce a new Fun4HI site into the normal allel...

Phosphylated butyrylcholinesterase is one of the most important biomarkers to verify an exposure to nerve agents, and it can be analyzed with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) by detection of a phosphylated nonapeptide that results after digestion of butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) with pepsin. For a sensitive analysis (low degree of BuChE inhibition), the identity of the ...

Butyrylcholinesterase (E.C. 3.1.1.8) is present in all vertebrates (1, 2). We present here the sequence of rabbit BCHE gene deduced from three genomic clones described elsewhere (3). Each clone contained one exon and together covered the entire coding sequence. The structure of the rabbit BCHE gene is identical to the human gene (4) and to Torpedo ACHE gene (5). Positions of splicing sites with...

The cholinergic system plays important roles in neurotransmission in both the peripheral and central nervous systems. The cholinergic neurotransmitter acetylcholine is synthesized by choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) and its action terminated by acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE). The predominance of AChE has focused much attention on understanding the relationship of ...