Amino Acid Dynamics

Recently, Lane et al. (1982) have evaluated the role of ammo acid neurotransmitters m an animal model of anxiety and have been able to demonstrate very few changes m the content of ammo acids in twenty rat brain areas. Such results suggest several options (1) ammo acids may be unimportant in animal models of anxiety, (2) behavioral manipulations may affect small physiologically functional pools of ammo acid neurotransmitters whose fluctuations are not readily detectable by gross measurement of ammo acid pools or (3) physiologically relevant modifications in behavior may not be expected to modify steady-state kinetics, but may affect the rate of utilization of the amino acids. In further evaluations of amino acid dynamics. Lane et al. (1982) have been able to demonstrate numerous changes m the utilization of various amino acid neurotransmitters, emphasizing the utility of dynamic measurements over tissue content alone. 

---

Felten, A.E., Zhu, G., and Aron, Z.D. (2010) Simplifying pyridoxal practical methods for amino acid dynamic kinetic resolution. Org. Lett., 12 (9), 1916-1919. 

Example Molecular dynamics simulations of selected portions of proteins can demonstrate the motion of an amino acid sequence while fixing the terminal residues. These simulations can probe the motion of an alpha helix, keeping the ends restrained, as occurs n atiirally m transmembrane proteins. You can also investigate the conformations of loops with fixed endpoints. 

Biosynthesis of Protein. The dynamic equilibrium of body protein was confirmed by animal experiments using A/-labeled amino acids in 1939 (104). The human body is maintained by a continuous equilibrium between the biosynthesis of proteins and their degradative metabolism where the nitrogen lost as urea (about 85% of total excreted nitrogen) and other nitrogen compounds is about 12 g/d under ordinary conditions. The details of protein biosynthesis in living cells have been described (2,6) (see also Proteins). 

Spectrometric Analysis. Remarkable developments ia mass spectrometry (ms) and nuclear magnetic resonance methods (nmr), eg, secondary ion mass spectrometry (sims), plasma desorption (pd), thermospray (tsp), two or three dimensional nmr, high resolution nmr of soHds, give useful stmcture analysis information (131). Because nmr analysis of or N-labeled amino acids enables determiaation of amino acids without isolation from organic samples, and without destroyiag the sample, amino acid metaboHsm can be dynamically analy2ed (132). Proteia metaboHsm and biosynthesis of many important metaboUtes have been studied by this method. Preparative methods for labeled compounds have been reviewed (133). 

The secondary and tertiary structures of myoglobin and ribonuclease A illustrate the importance of packing in tertiary structures. Secondary structures pack closely to one another and also intercalate with (insert between) extended polypeptide chains. If the sum of the van der Waals volumes of a protein s constituent amino acids is divided by the volume occupied by the protein, packing densities of 0.72 to 0.77 are typically obtained. This means that, even with close packing, approximately 25% of the total volume of a protein is not occupied by protein atoms. Nearly all of this space is in the form of very small cavities. Cavities the size of water molecules or larger do occasionally occur, but they make up only a small fraction of the total protein volume. It is likely that such cavities provide flexibility for proteins and facilitate conformation changes and a wide range of protein dynamics (discussed later). 

Since these investigations could be carried out only in the crystalline state, the question of the dynamics of the triple-helix formation and of the correlation of its stability with the amino acid sequence could be answered only with the help of other methods working in solution. 

Hydantoinases belong to the E.C.3.5.2 group of cyclic amidases, which catalyze the hydrolysis of hydantoins [4,54]. As synthetic hydantoins are readily accessible by a variety of chemical syntheses, including Strecker reactions, enantioselective hydantoinase-catalyzed hydrolysis offers an attractive and general route to chiral amino acid derivatives. Moreover, hydantoins are easily racemized chemically or enzymatically by appropriate racemases, so that dynamic kinetic resolution with potential 100% conversion and complete enantioselectivity is theoretically possible. Indeed, a number of such cases using WT hydantoinases have been reported [54]. However, if asymmetric induction is poor or ifinversion ofenantioselectivity is desired, directed evolution can come to the rescue. Such a case has been reported, specifically in the production of i-methionine in a whole-cell system ( . coli) (Figure 2.13) [55]. 

Figure 6.38 Dynamic kinetic resolution of amino acid amides.

Moreover, it is possible to open racemic azlactones by acyl bond cleavage to form protected amino acids in a dynamic kinetic resolution process. As azlactones suffer a fast racemization under the reaction conditions, eventually all starting material is converted [115]. 

Liang J, Ruble JC, Fu GC (1998) Dynamic kinetic resolutions catalyzed by a planar-chiral derivative of DMAP enantioselective synthesis of protected a-amino acids from racemic azlactones. J Org Chem 63 3154—3155... 

Mixing the additive in the eluent used as a mobile phase can also modify the chromatographic system (dynamic modification), but the use of modified adsorbents has led to an improvement of resolution. Example works include that by Armstrong and Zhou [11], who used a macrocyclic antibiotic as the chiral selector for enantiomeric separations of acids, racemic drugs, and dansyl amino acid on biphenyl-bonded silica. 

---