Arginine formation

The ornithine cycle [Eq. (8)-(ll)] was proposed by Krebs and Henseleit (1932) to explain urea formation from ammonium derived from amino acid catabolism in the mammalian liver. Since the promulgation of the ornithine cycle was partly based on the natural occurrence of citrulline in juice of the watermelon Citrullus vulgaris) (Wada, 1930), it is not surprising that citrulline is an intermediate in arginine formation in higher plants. 

In higher plants, it is obvious that the conversion of ornithine to arginine is necessary for arginine formation. It is less obvious why higher plants form urea because they do not excrete urea. This question has been a subject of considerable investigation and discussion (Kasting and Delwiche, 1958 ... 

Ratner, S. (1947) The enzymatic mechanism of arginine formation from citrulline. J. Biol. Chem. 170,... 

L-NAME (N-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester), like L-NMMA, is a structural analogue of L-arginine and competes with L-arginine for NO-synthase, which uses L-arginine as a substrate for the formation of NO. L-NMMA and L-NAME are very effective NO-synthesis inhibitors, both in vitro and in vivo. 

NO synthases (NOS, L-arginine, NADPH oxygen oxi-doreductases, nitric oxide forming EC 1.14.13.39) represent a family of enzymes that catalyze the formation of nitric oxide (NO) from the amino acid L-arginine. In mammals, three isoforms of NOS have been identified. They are termed neuronal NOS (nNOS, NOS I, NOS1), inducible NOS (iNOS, NOS H, NOS2), and endothelial... 

There are numerous abnormalities of cysteine metabolism. Cystine, lysine, arginine, and ornithine are excreted in cystine-lysinuria (cystinuria), a defect in renal reabsorption. Apart from cystine calculi, cystinuria is benign. The mixed disulfide of L-cysteine and L-homocysteine (Figure 30-9) excreted by cystinuric patients is more soluble than cystine and reduces formation of cystine calculi. Several metabolic defects result in vitamin Bg-responsive or -unresponsive ho-mocystinurias. Defective carrier-mediated transport of cystine results in cystinosis (cystine storage disease) with deposition of cystine crystals in tissues and early mortality from acute renal failure. Despite... 

Nitric oxide is a regulator of vascular smooth muscle blockage of its formation from arginine causes an acute elevation of blood pressure, indicating that regulation of blood pressure is one of its many functions. 

Moser et al. (1968) (one of the co-authors was Clifford Matthews) reported a peptide synthesis using the HCN trimer aminomalonitrile, after pre-treatment in the form of a mild hydrolysis. IR spectra showed the typical nitrile bands (2,200 cm ) and imino-keto bands (1,650 cm ). Acid hydrolysis gave only glycine, while alkaline cleavage of the polymer afforded other amino acids, such as arginine, aspartic acid, threonine etc. The formation of the polymer could have occurred according to the scheme shown in Fig. 4.9. 

Figure 16.3 Conceptual illustration of two peptides before (left) and after (right) a chemical reaction with formaldehyde. The amino acids are represented as circles. In this particular peptide, a tyrosine (Y) is located within the epitope (shaded circles). An arginine (R) is located elsewhere in the peptide. Formaldehyde results in the formation of a covalent bond between the two residues, due to a Mannich condensation reaction, as shown on the right. The new configuration prevents antibodies from binding to the epitope on the left. 

---