Glutamic acid decarboxylation

Gene expression for glutamic acid decarboxyl is reduced without loss of neurons in prefrontal cortex of schizophrenics. Arch Gen Psych 52 258-266. 

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. 

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). 

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). 

These also presumably lead to a transient quinonoid-carbanionic intermediate. Addition of a proton at the original site of decarboxylation followed by breakup of the Schiff base completes the sequence. Decarboxylation of amino acids is nearly irreversible and frequently appears as a final step in synthesis of amino compounds. For example, in the brain glutamic acid is decarboxy-lated to y-aminobutyric acid (Gaba),193 196b while 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (dopa) and 5-hydroxy-... 

Deamination 17 Examples of deamination and decarboxylation include conversion of amino acids to fusel oil (leucine to isoamyl alcohol, isoleucine to amyl alcohol, and phenylalanine to phenyl ethanol). Fusel oil formation is a normal function of all yeast fermentations (in alcoholic beverages, levels range from trace to 2200 parts per million). Deamination Glutamic acid to gamma-OH-butyric acid (S. cerevisiae). 

Free amino acids are further catabolized into several volatile flavor compounds. However, the pathways involved are not fully known. A detailed summary of the various studies on the role of the catabolism of amino acids in cheese flavor development was published by Curtin and McSweeney (2004). Two major pathways have been suggested (1) aminotransferase or lyase activity and (2) deamination or decarboxylation. Aminotransferase activity results in the formation of a-ketoacids and glutamic acid. The a-ketoacids are further degraded to flavor compounds such as hydroxy acids, aldehydes, and carboxylic acids. a-Ketoacids from methionine, branched-chain amino acids (leucine, isoleucine, and valine), or aromatic amino acids (phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan) serve as the precursors to volatile flavor compounds (Yvon and Rijnen, 2001). Volatile sulfur compounds are primarily formed from methionine. Methanethiol, which at low concentrations, contributes to the characteristic flavor of Cheddar cheese, is formed from the catabolism of methionine (Curtin and McSweeney, 2004 Weimer et al., 1999). Furthermore, bacterial lyases also metabolize methionine to a-ketobutyrate, methanethiol, and ammonia (Tanaka et al., 1985). On catabolism by aminotransferase, aromatic amino acids yield volatile flavor compounds such as benzalde-hyde, phenylacetate, phenylethanol, phenyllactate, etc. Deamination reactions also result in a-ketoacids and ammonia, which add to the flavor of... 

In general, acidic proteinoids are more active than lysine-rich proteinoids for this reaction. Thermal poly(glutamic acid, threonine) and thermal Poly(glutamic acid, leucine) are the most active of these tested 20>. The activity is gradually decreased by progressive acid hydrolysis20. Compared with natural enzymes, the activity of proteinoid is weak. However the decarboxylation of pyruvic acid by proteinoid obeys Michaelis-Menten kinetics as expressed by the Lineweaver-Burk plot201. In this reaction a small amount of acetaldehyde and acetoin are formed in addition to acetic acid and C02 201. 

Included in Scheme 2.32 are a series of bis(amino acids) prepared by Spantulescu et al. [63] by the decarboxylation of diacyl peroxides derived from combinations of protected aspartic and glutamic acids. In all cases, the reactions gave yields ranging from 52% to 66%. To prevent the formation of side products, the irradiation was performed on neat samples at low temperatures (—78 °C or — 96 °C). 

Amino acid decarboxylations are involved in the synthesis of several metabolically important amines, e.g., 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin) from tryptophan, histamine from histidine, and y-aminohutyric acid (GABA) from glutamate. 

Glutamic acid decarboxylase catalyzes the decarboxylation of L-glutamic acid to form the neurotransmitter y-aminobutyric acid. 

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