CAMP production methods

Researchers at the MoneU Center (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) are using a variety of electrophysical and biochemical techniques to characterize the ionic currents produced in taste and olfactory receptor cells by chemical stimuli. These studies are concerned with the identification and pharmacology of the active ion channels and mode of production. One of the techniques employed by the MoneU researchers is that of "patch clamp." This method aUows for the study of the electrical properties of smaU patches of the ceU membrane. The program at MoneU has determined that odors stimulate intraceUular enzymes to produce cycUc adenosine 3, 5 -monophosphate (cAMP). This production of cAMP promotes opening of the ion channel, aUowing cations to enter and excite the ceU. MoneU s future studies wiU focus on the connection of cAMP, and the production of the electrical response to the brain. The patch clamp technique also may be a method to study the specificity of receptor ceUs to different odors, as weU as the adaptation to prolonged stimulation (3). 

There are currentiy no commercial producers of C-19 dicarboxyhc acids. During the 1970s BASF and Union Camp Corporation offered developmental products, but they were never commercialized (78). The Northern Regional Research Laboratory (NRRL) carried out extensive studies on preparing C-19 dicarboxyhc acids via hydroformylation using both cobalt catalyst and rhodium complexes as catalysts (78). In addition, the NRRL developed a simplified method to prepare 9-(10)-carboxystearic acid in high yields using a palladium catalyst (79). 

The G. interact with specific receptors in the theca and foUicle cells of the ovary and corpus luteum and with the interstitial cells of Leydig in the testes. cAMP is released as a second messenger to stimulate the production of steroid sex hormones. G. can be determined by radioimmunoassay, the radioligand-hormone receptor method, or by biological assays (see Hormones). 

---