Creatine, formation

Serum levels of this enzyme are elevated in diseases of skeletal muscle, cardiac muscle, and brain. It may be assayed by a u.v. meOiod uring ADP formation, pyruvate kinase in an auxiliary reaction and lactate dehydrogenase in an indicator reaction [336]. An alternate ultraviolet assay uses ATP formation, hexokinase in an auxiliary reaction, and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase in the indicator reaction [337]. A colorimetric assay utilises creatine formation, complexing with diacetyl and colour complex formation with a-naphthol [338—339]. 

Detoxifica.tlon. Detoxification systems in the human body often involve reactions that utilize sulfur-containing compounds. For example, reactions in which sulfate esters of potentially toxic compounds are formed, rendering these less toxic or nontoxic, are common as are acetylation reactions involving acetyl—SCoA (45). Another important compound is. Vadenosylmethionine [29908-03-0] (SAM), the active form of methionine. SAM acts as a methylating agent, eg, in detoxification reactions such as the methylation of pyridine derivatives, and in the formation of choline (qv), creatine [60-27-5] carnitine [461-06-3] and epinephrine [329-65-7] (50). 

A/-(2,3-Epoxypropyl)-A/-amidinoglycine [70363-44-9] (21) was shown to be an affinity label of creatine kinase. Its mechanism of covalent bond formation is outlined as follows ... 

The overall direction of the reaction will be determined by the relative concentrations of ATP, ADP, Cr, and CrP and the equilibrium constant for the reaction. The enzyme can be considered to have two sites for substrate (or product) binding an adenine nucleotide site, where ATP or ADP binds, and a creatine site, where Cr or CrP is bound. In such a mechanism, ATP and ADP compete for binding at their unique site, while Cr and CrP compete at the specific Cr-, CrP-binding site. Note that no modified enzyme form (E ), such as an E-PO4 intermediate, appears here. The reaction is characterized by rapid and reversible binary ES complex formation, followed by addition of the remaining substrate, and the rate-determining reaction taking place within the ternary complex. 

In resting muscle the high concentration of ADP does not decrease the proton gradient effectively and the high membrane potential slows electron transport. ADP, formed when ATP is hydrolyzed by myosin ATPase during contraction, may stimulate electron transport. However, the concentration of ATP (largely as its Mg salt) is buffered by its readily reversible formation from creatine phosphate catalyzed in the intermembrane space, and in other cell compartments, by the various isoenzymes of creatine kinase (reviewed by Walliman et al., 1992). 

The net result of ATP degradation and resynthesis will be the formation of creatine (Cr) and inorganic phosphate (Pj) and a decrease in phosphocreatine (PCr). 

The enzyme creatine kinase (CK) facilitates the transfer of phosphate and energy to a molecule of ADP to form ATP. Stores of creatine phosphate are sufficient to sustain approximately 15 more seconds of muscle contraction. Because this is a single-step process, it provides ATP very rapidly and is the first pathway for formation of ATP to be accessed. 

The second mode of toxicity is postulated to involve the direct interaction of the epidithiodiketopiperazine motif with target proteins, forming mixed disulfides with cysteine residues in various proteins. Gliotoxin, for example, has been demonstrated to form a 1 1 covalent complex with alcohol dehydrogenase [13b, 17]. Epidithiodi-ketopiperazines can also catalyze the formation of disulfide bonds between proxi-mally located cysteine residues in proteins such as in creatine kinase [18]. Recently, epidithiodiketopiperazines have also been implicated in a zinc ejection mechanism, whereby the epidisulfide can shuffle disulfide bonds in the CHI domain of proteins, coordinate to the zinc atoms that are essential to the tertiary structure of that domain, and remove the metal cation [12d, 19],... 

For luciferin, a firefly luciferase cosubstrate, another method of retention has been evaluated which consisted of incorporating the substrate in acrylic microspheres during their formation, these last being then confined in a polymeric matrix31. Using the suitable co-immobilized enzymes (adenylate kinase and creatine kinase), the three adenylic nucleotides (ATP, ADP and AMP) could be assayed continuously and reproducibly with a selfcontainment working time of 3 h. 

Under standard conditions, this reaction would be unfavourable but physiological conditions during recovery phase after exercise are such as to allow creatine phosphate formation to occur. 

Time-resolved approaches for multi-analyte immunoassays have been described recently. Simultaneous determination of LH, follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), hCG, and prolactin (PRL) in a multisite manual strip format has been reported. 88 Four microtiter wells are attached to a plastic strip, two-by-two and back-to-back, such that the wells can be read on a microtiter plate reader. In a quadruple-label format, the simultaneous quantitative determination of four analytes in dried blood spots can be done using europium, samarium, dysprosium, and terbium. 89 In this approach, thyroid-stimulating hormone, 17-a-hydroxyprogesterone, immunoreactive trypsin, and creatine kinase MM (CK-MM) isoenzyme are determined from dried blood samples spotted on filter paper in a microtiter well coated with a mixture of antibodies. Dissociative fluorescence enhancement of the four ions using cofluorescence-based enhancement solutions enables the time-resolved fluorescence of each ion to be measured through four narrow-band interference filters. 

The interaction (575) of O-methylisourea and N-methylglycine occurs normally at low temperatures to yield the expected creatine (XXXII) (21%). At 40—50° the production of 1-methyl-l-biguanide acetic acid (XXXIII) in low yield has been reported, but the mechanism of its formation ist not clear. 

The coenzyme tetrahydrofolate (THF) is the main agent by which Ci fragments are transferred in the metabolism. THF can bind this type of group in various oxidation states and pass it on (see p. 108). In addition, there is activated methyl, in the form of S-adenosyl methionine (SAM). SAM is involved in many methylation reactions—e. g., in creatine synthesis (see p. 336), the conversion of norepinephrine into epinephrine (see p. 352), the inactivation of norepinephrine by methylation of a phenolic OH group (see p. 316), and in the formation of the active form of the cytostatic drug 6-mercaptopurine (see p. 402). 

Muscle-specific auxiliary reactions for ATP synthesis exist in order to provide additional ATP in case of emergency. Creatine phosphate (see B) acts as a buffer for the ATP level. Another ATP-supplying reaction is catalyzed by adenylate kinase [1] (see also p.72). This disproportionates two molecules of ADP into ATP and AMP. The AMP is deaminated into IMP in a subsequent reaction [2] in order to shift the balance of the reversible reaction [1 ] in the direction of ATP formation. 

Creatine does not derive from the muscles themselves, but is synthesized in two steps in the kidneys and liver (left part of the illustration). Initially, the guanidino group of arginine is transferred to glycine in the kidneys, yielding guanidino acetate [3]. In the liver, N-methylation of guanidino acetate leads to the formation of creatine from this [4]. The coenzyme in this reaction is S-adenosyl methionine (SAM see p. 110). 

A compound that includes a carbonyl group on the imidazoline ring is described as sedative. Treatment of the guanidyl substituted amino acid creatine (87-1) with hydrochloric acid results in cyclization to the iminoimidazolinone creatinine (87-2). Condensation of that intermediate with meta-chlorophenylisocyanate (87-3) leads to the formation of a urea by condensation of the reactive function with the imidazole as its amino tautomer. There is thus obtained fenobam (87-4) [92]. 

RGURE 13-5 Hydrolysis of phosphocreatine. Breakage of the P—N bond in phosphocreatine produces creatine, which is stabilized by formation of a resonance hybrid. The other product, Pi, is also resonance stabilized. 

Creatinine has been prepared generally from urine1 or muscle,2 though its formation from creatine by the action of mineral acids has also been studied.3 The conversion of creatine into creatinine has also been effected by heating in an autoclave 4 and by treatment with zinc chloride.5 The above technique has been developed 6 since creatine has become available in relatively large quantities as a by-product.7... 

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