Previous reports are in conflict as to the number of transport systems for glycine betaine in Staphylococcus aureus. Cells grown in complex medium exhibited a single transport system of moderate affinity. Cells grown in defined medium in the absence of glycine betaine showed a high affinity and a low affinity transport system. Cells grown in the presence of glycine betaine in the presence of os...

Glycine and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) are localized and released by the same interneurons in the spinal cord. Although the effects of glycine and GABA on analgesia are well known, little is known about the effect of GABA in strychnine-induced hyperalgesia. To investigate the effect of GABA and the role of the glycine receptor in thermal hyperalgesia, we designed an experiment involving the inj...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Increased glycine concentration in the brain is associated with altered metabolism in cancer and can be detected by using in vivo MR spectroscopy. This has been proposed as a marker for grade IV gliomas; however, little is known about the potential significance and frequency of in vivo glycine observation. The purpose of this study was to examine the rate of occurrence an...

The mechanisms by which insulin modulates neuronal plasticity and pain processes remain poorly understood. Here we report that insulin rapidly increases the function of glycine receptors in murine spinal neurons and recombinant human glycine receptors expressed in human embryonic kidney cells. Whole-cell patch-clamp recordings showed that insulin reversibly enhanced current evoked by exogenous ...

The mechanisms that specify the vesicular phenotype of inhibitory interneurons in vertebrates are poorly understood because the two main inhibitory transmitters, glycine and GABA, share the same vesicular inhibitory amino acid transporter (VIAAT) and are both present in neurons during postnatal development. We have expressed VIAAT and the plasmalemmal transporters for glycine and GABA in a neur...

BACKGROUND Inhibition of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors by anesthetic gases and vapors may play an important role in anesthesia and neuroprotection. However, the site of action of these agents on the NMDA receptor is unknown. The authors show that xenon and isoflurane compete for the binding of the coagonist glycine on the NMDA receptor NR1 subunit. METHODS Using a novel application of...

Glycine, a photorespiratory intermediate, enhanced the in vivo reduction of nitrate in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) leaf slices, when included in the assay medium. Isonicotinyl hydrazide, an inhibitor of glycine oxidation, partially reduced NO(2) (-) production. The enhancement caused by glycine treatment was reversed by isonicotinyl hydrazide when both were present together in the medium. Simil...

The cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the postsynaptic aggregation of ionotropic receptors in the central nervous system are not understood. The glycine receptor (GlyR) and its cytoplasmic domain-associated protein, gephyrin, are clustered at the postsynaptic membrane and constitute a good model for addressing these questions. The glycine receptor is inhibited by strychnine. The effe...

1. The catabolism of glycine was studied in isolated rat liver mitochondria by measuring release of 14CO2 from [1-14C]-glycine. Incubation of mitochondria in a medium containing 0.5 microM free Ca2+ resulted in an 8-fold increase in the rate of degradation of glycine. Intraperitoneal injection of glucagon (33 or 100 micrograms/100 g body wt.) 25 min before killing of rats also resulted in a 3-f...