Acid-spermine

In addition to 4-hydroxydihydrocinnamic acid, spermine is formed in the acid-catalyzed hydrolysis of 173 (2 iV HC1,150°C, sealed tube). The expected 4-methoxycinnamic acid has not been found. If the phenolic hydroxyl group in 173 is ethylated and the product oxidized with KMn04, 4-meth-oxy- and 4-ethoxybenzoic acid are the products and they must have been formed from the differently substituted benzene rings in 173 (see Scheme 31). 

Figure 1 shows the dyes studied. All these dyes are readily available, except for the hisacridine deriviative (obtained from Or. D. P. Kelly, University of Melbourne) and the bis-(methidium)-spermine. Several of these have been used for the quantification of nucleic acids in solution (4-7). 

Mar f body secretions contain substances that exert abacteriddal action, for example the enzyme lysozyme which is found in tears, nasal secretions and saliva hydrochloric acid in the stomach which results in a low pH and basic polypeptides such as spermine which are found in semen. 

MacDonnell et al. (15) first suggested competitive displacement for the stimulation of PE activity. An increase in activity was ascribed to competitive displacement of PE from an inactive complex followed by a decline in activity at higher concentrations due to competition for carboxylic acid binding sites between PE and cations. Competitive displacement of PE from pectic acid by cations was conclusively shown with Lineweaver-Burke plots (7). The effect was moderated by pH (7, 15). We have shown that other polyamines, including putrescine, a diamine, and spermine, a tetramine, "activate PE activity similarly to inorganic cations (13). 

The polyamines putrescine, cadaverine, spermidine, and spermine, which are seen at elevated levels in some victims of cancer, were separated on a Technicon (The Technicon Company Chauncey, NY) TSM Amino Acid Analyzer packed with an 8% divinylbenzene-co-polystyrene sulfonated resin with post-column ninhydrin detection.111 Amines such as ethanolamine, noradrenaline, hexamethylene diamine, methoxytryptamine, spermine, and spermidine were separated from amino acids on a DC-4A cation exchange resin.112 A similar approach, using a Beckman Model 121M amino acid analyzer equipped with an AA-20 column, was also successful.113 A Polyamin-pak strong cation exchange column (JASCO) was eluted with a citrate buffer for the detection of putrescene, spermine, cadaverine, and 1,5-diaminohex-ane from rat thymus.114 A post-column o-phthaldehyde detection system was used. 

Kamei et al. [45] separated spermine, spermidine, putrescine, and cadav-erine in an ion-pair reversed-phase LC system and detected the hydrogen peroxide formed in the reaction catalyzed by the enzymes putrescine oxidase and polyamine oxidase with POCL. The same analytes were determined in a later study [46], together with the acetyl derivatives. The sensitive determination of uric acid, selectively converted to hydrogen peroxide by uricase, has been investigated by several authors [37, 47],... 

In addition to the glutamate and glycine sites on the NMDA receptor, there also exist polyamine sites which are activated by the naturally occurring polyamines spermine and spermidine. Specific divalent cation sites are also associated with the NMDA receptor, namely the voltage-dependent magnesium site and the inhibitory zinc site. In addition to the excitatory amino acids, the natural metabolite of brain tryptophan, quinolinic acid, can also act as an agonist of the NMDA receptor and may contribute to nerve cell death at high concentrations. 

A similar situation is found in the structure of putrescine diphosphate " (a model system for amine-nucleic acid interactions) which divides into layers of HjPOJ anions bridged by protonated putrescine (1,4-diamino-n-butane) cations. In a real biological system (yeast phenylalanine transfer RNA) phosphate residues are found to be enveloped by the polyamine spermine [NH2(CH2)jNH(CH2)4NH(CH2)jNH2] which again adopts a linear, nonchelating conformation. ... 

Feuerstein BG, Pattabiraman N, Marton LJ (1990) Molecular mechanics of the interactions of spermine with DNA DNA bending as a result of ligand binding. Nucleic Acids Res 18 1271-1282... 

Squalene, squalane Phosvitin Phytic acid Phospholipids Spermidine Hyaluronic acid Sphingomyelin Biopolymer Fibronectin Spermine-bile acids Deacylated saponin a-Hemolysin... 

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