Glutamate decarboxylation

Glutamate decarboxylation gives rise to y-amino-butyrate (GABA), an inhibitory neurotransmitter. Its underproduction is associated with epileptic seizures. 

In addition, GABA synthesis is associated with ATP production by coupling electrogenic antiport with glutamate decarboxylation (De Biase and Pennacchietti 2012). 

Hydroxylated amino acids (eg, 4-hydroxyproline, 5-hydroxylysine) and A/-methylated amino acids (eg, /V-methylhistidine) are obtained by the acid hydrolysis of proteins. y-Carboxyglutamic acid occurs as a component of some sections of protein molecules it decarboxylates spontaneously to L-glutamate at low pH. These examples are formed upon the nontranslational modification of protein and are often called secondary protein amino acids... 

Certain amino acids and their derivatives, although not found in proteins, nonetheless are biochemically important. A few of the more notable examples are shown in Figure 4.5. y-Aminobutyric acid, or GABA, is produced by the decarboxylation of glutamic acid and is a potent neurotransmitter. Histamine, which is synthesized by decarboxylation of histidine, and serotonin, which is derived from tryptophan, similarly function as neurotransmitters and regulators. /3-Alanine is found in nature in the peptides carnosine and anserine and is a component of pantothenic acid (a vitamin), which is a part of coenzyme A. Epinephrine (also known as adrenaline), derived from tyrosine, is an important hormone. Penicillamine is a constituent of the penicillin antibiotics. Ornithine, betaine, homocysteine, and homoserine are important metabolic intermediates. Citrulline is the immediate precursor of arginine. 

Figure 11.3 Regulation of GAD during the synthesis of GABA. Active GAD (GAD-PLP) combines with glutamate (1) to form a complex (GAD-PLP-GLU). After decarboxylation (2) this yields GABA and GAD-PLP (3). The intermediate product (GAD-INT) can undergo an alternative reaction (4) to produce succinic semialdehyde (SSA) and pyridoxamine-5 -phosphate (PMP). PMP dissociates from GAD (5) leaving inactive enz5mie, which requires additional PLP to be reactivated (6), a process that is affected by ATP and inorganic phosphate...

The tertiary structure of glutamate racemase has already been resolved and it has also been shown that a substrate analog glutamine binds between two cysteine residues. These data enabled us to predict that the new proton-donating amino acid residue should be introduced at position 74 instead of Gly for the inversion of enantioselectivity of the decarboxylation reaction. 

Vitamin Ba (pyridoxine, pyridoxal, pyridoxamine) like nicotinic acid is a pyridine derivative. Its phosphorylated form is the coenzyme in enzymes that decarboxylate amino acids, e.g., tyrosine, arginine, glycine, glutamic acid, and dihydroxyphenylalanine. Vitamin B participates as coenzyme in various transaminations. It also functions in the conversion of tryptophan to nicotinic acid and amide. It is generally concerned with protein metabolism, e.g., the vitamin B8 requirement is increased in rats during increased protein intake. Vitamin B6 is also involved in the formation of unsaturated fatty acids. 

However, the major reaction following radiolysis of poly glutamic acid is decarboxylation (Hill, D.J.T. Ho, S.Y. O Donnell, J.H. Pomery, P.J. Radiat. Phvs. Chem.. submitted for publication). 

In contrast to glutamate, y-aminobutyric acid (y-aminobutyrate, GABA) is an inhibitory compound. Metabolically derived from glutamate, GABA production illustrates a reaction, decarboxylation, common to the production of serotonin and the catecholamines (Figure 4.9). 

Biogenic amines arise from amino acids by decarboxylation (see p. 62). This group includes 4-aminobutyrate (y-aminobutyric acid, GABA), which is formed from glutamate and is the most important inhibitory transmitter in the CNS. The catecholamines norepinephrine and epinephrine (see B), serotonin, which is derived from tryptophan, and histamine also belong to the biogenic amine group. All of them additionally act as hormones or mediators (see p. 380). 

GABA is formed by the decarboxylation of glutamate, and is the major inhibitory neurotransmitter, hi recent years the GABAa receptor has been identified as the mediator of the anxiolytic and sedative effects of drugs such as alcohol and the benzodiazepines. Abnormahties of this receptor have been identified in humans with anxiety disorders (Nutt and Mahzia 2001). 

GABA synthesis inhibitors act on the enzymes involved in the decarboxylation and transamination of GABA. Glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD), the first enzyme in GABA biosynthesis, is inhibited easily by carbonyl reagents such as hydrazines [e.g., hydrazinopropionic acid (4.164) or isonicotinic acid hydrazide (4.165)], which trap pyridoxal, the essential cofactor of the enzyme. A more specific inhibitor is allylglycine (4.166). All of these compounds cause seizures and convulsions because they decrease the concentration of GABA. 

Pyridoxal phosphate is the coenzyme for the enzymic processes of transamination, racemization and decarboxylation of amino-acids, and for several other processes, such as the dehydration of serine and the synthesis of tryptophan that involve amino-acids (Braunstein, 1960). Pyridoxal itself is one of the three active forms of vitamin B6 (Rosenberg, 1945), and its biochemistry was established by 1939, in considerable part by the work of A. E. Braunstein and coworkers in Moscow (Braunstein and Kritzmann, 1947a,b,c Konikova et al 1947). Further, the requirement for the coenzyme by many of the enzymes of amino-acid metabolism had been confirmed by 1945. In addition, at that time, E. E. Snell demonstrated a model reaction (1) for transamination between pyridoxal [1] and glutamic acid, work which certainly carried with it the implication of mechanism (Snell, 1945). 

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