Acetylcholinesterase enzyme inhibition

In the following section an example of the use of disposable graphite sensor based for food analysis will be described. In particular, the use of these sensors to develop enzymatic biosensors for pesticide detection based on AChE (acetylcholinesterase) enzyme inhibition will be described. 

FIGURE 5.46 Interaction of the serine hydroxyl residue in the catalytically active site of acetylcholinesterase enzyme with esters of organophosphates or carbamates. The interaction leads to binding of the chemical with the enzyme, inhibition of the enzyme, inhibition of acetylcholine hydrolysis, and thus accumulation of acetylcholine in the synapses. 

A recent method, still in development, for determining total 4-nitrophenol in the urine of persons exposed to methyl parathion is based on solid phase microextraction (SPME) and GC/MS previously, the method has been used in the analysis of food and environmental samples (Guidotti et al. 1999). The method uses a solid phase microextraction fiber, is inserted into the urine sample that has been hydrolyzed with HCl at 50° C prior to mixing with distilled water and NaCl and then stirred (1,000 rpm). The fiber is left in the liquid for 30 minutes until a partitioning equilibrium is achieved, and then placed into the GC injector port to desorb. The method shows promise for use in determining exposures at low doses, as it is very sensitive. There is a need for additional development of this method, as the measurement of acetylcholinesterase, the enzyme inhibited by exposure to organophosphates such as methyl parathion, is not an effective indicator of low-dose exposures. 

Biosensors may provide the basis for in-field analyses and real-time process analysis. However, biosensors are generally limited to the determination of a limited range of analytes in defined matrices. Enzyme-based biosensors, principally acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibition, have been successfully used in environmental analysis for residues of dichlorvos and paraoxon, " carbaryl " and carbofuran. " Immunochemically based biosensors may be the basis for the determination of pesticide residues in liquid samples, principally water and environmental samples, but also fruit juices. The sensors can be linked to transducers, for example based on a piezo-... 

Enzymes can be used not only for the determination of substrates but also for the analysis of enzyme inhibitors. In this type of sensors the response of the detectable species will decrease in the presence of the analyte. The inhibitor may affect the vmax or KM values. Competitive inhibitors, which bind to the same active site than the substrate, will increase the KM value, reflected by a change on the slope of the Lineweaver-Burke plot but will not change vmax. Non-competitive inhibitors, i.e. those that bind to another site of the protein, do not affect KM but produce a decrease in vmax. For instance, the acetylcholinesterase enzyme is inhibited by carbamate and organophosphate pesticides and has been widely used for the development of optical fiber sensors for these compounds based on different chemical transduction schemes (hydrolysis of a colored substrate, pH changes). 

Field First Aid Nerve agents are the most toxic of the known chemical warfare agents. Chemically similar to organophosphate pesticides, their method of acting is to inhibit acetylcholinesterase enzymes. Individuals whose skin or clothing is contaminated with... 

Microbial natural product chemistiy has generated a number of bioactive natural products. For instance cyclosporine A FK506 and rapamycin are used as immunosuppressants [16]. Other examples of microbial metabolites, having potential biomedical application include antihyperlipidemics, lovastatin and guggulsterone [17, 18]. The crude extracts of Mucor plumbeus exhibited acetylcholinesterase (AChE) enzyme inhibition activity. Our detailed chromatographic work on this crude extract resulted in the isolation of mucoralactone A (11), a novel steroid containing a lactone moeity incorporated in its structure. 

Compounds 13-18 were tested for acetylcholinesterase inhibition activity and it was found that compounds 13 and 14 exhibited acetylchohnesterase inhibition activity with IC values (inhibition of enzyme activity by 50%) of 17 and 13 pM, respectively. Compounds 15-18 showed moderate enzyme inhibition activity with ICj, values of 35, 80, 76, and 100 pM, respectively. This bioactivity data suggested that the higher enzyme inhibition potency of compounds 13 and 14 may hypothesized due to the presence of a tetrahydrofuran ring incorporated in their stractures. Fnrthermore, compounds 1 and 2 exhibited nearly the same bioactivity and this indicated that C-7 hydroxyl group does not play any role in enzyme inhibition activity. 

Perhaps the most prominent and well-studied class of synthetic poisons are so-called cholinesterase inhibitors. Cholinesterases are important enzymes that act on compounds involved in nerve impulse transmission - the neurotransmitters (see the later section on neurotoxicity for more details). A compound called acetylcholine is one such neurotransmitter, and its concentration at certain junctions in the nervous system, and between the nervous system and the muscles, is controlled by the enzyme acetylcholinesterase the enzyme causes its conversion, by hydrolysis, to inactive products. Any chemical that can interact with acetylcholinesterase and inhibit its enzymatic activity can cause the level of acetylcholine at these critical junctions to increase, and lead to excessive neurological stimulation at these cholinergic junctions. Typical early symptoms of cholinergic poisoning are bradycardia (slowing of heart rate), diarrhea, excessive urination, lacrimation, and salivation (all symptoms of an effect on the parasympathetic nervous system). When overstimulation occurs at the so-called neuromuscular junctions the results are tremors and, at sufficiently high doses, paralysis and death. 

As a result, the penicillin occupies the active site of the enzyme, and becomes bound via the active-site serine residue. This binding causes irreversible enzyme inhibition, and stops cell-wall biosynthesis. Growing cells are killed due to rupture of the cell membrane and loss of cellular contents. The binding reaction between penicillinbinding proteins and penicillins is chemically analogous to the action of P-lactamases (see Boxes 7.20 and 13.5) however, in the latter case, penicilloic acid is subsequently released from the P-lactamase, and the enzyme can continue to function. Inhibitors of acetylcholinesterase (see Box 7.26) also bind irreversibly to the enzyme through a serine hydroxyl. 

Enzymes inhibited Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) AChE, butyryl-cholinesterase (BuChE) AChE... 

PAM is given to regenerate inhibited cholinesterase (acetylcholinesterase) enzyme at all affected sites (Schenker et al. 1992 Shankar 1967, 1978). The available information sufficiently satisfies the need for methods of reducing toxic effects. Therefore, further studies in this regard are not required. 

It is also important to mention the use of the reactivation of the acetylcholinesterase by pyridine-2-aldoxime methochloride to discriminate between the toxin and potential insecticides [96]. Once phos-phorylated, the active site serine of the enzyme can be reactivated by powerful nucleophilic agents such as oximes. However, this reactivation is not possible if attempted too late due to the stable adduct formed by the dealkylation (aging) of the inhibitor s remaining group. When acetylcholinesterase is inhibited by anatoxin-a(s), it shows immediately the characteristics of an aged enzyme and cannot be reactivated. In this way, it is possible to distinguish between the inhibition caused by anatoxin-a(s) and the one provoked by other insecticides. 

On the one hand, protein phosphatase and acetylcholinesterase inhibition assays for microcystin and anatoxin-a(s) detection, respectively, are excellent methods for toxin analysis because of the low limits of detection that can be achieved. On the other hand, electrochemical techniques are characterised by the inherent high sensitivities. Moreover, the cost effectiveness and portability of the electrochemical devices make attractive their use in in situ analysis. The combination of enzyme inhibition and electrochemistry results in amperometric biosensors, promising as biotools for routine analysis. 

Indirect-acting stimulants increase activity at cholinergic synapses by inhibiting the acetylcholinesterase enzyme.21 This enzyme is normally responsible for destroying acetylcholine after this neurotransmitter... 

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