Tryptophan limits

Table III Stable Zinc and Copper Absorption by Men Consuming a Tryptophan- Limited Diet With and Without Picolinic Acid Supplementation...

TrpR, which is a DNA binding repressor protein, regulates transcription initiation of the E. coli trpEDCBA operon. Under tryptophan limiting conditions, TrpR represses transcription initiation, whereas repression is relieved in the presence of excess tryptophan. Once transcription initiates the elongating transcription complex is subject to control by transcription attenuation (reviewed in References 5 and 6). The leader transcript can form three RNA secondary structures that are referred to as the pause hairpin, the antiterminator structure, and an intrinsic terminator hairpin. Because the antiterminator shares nucleotides in common with the terminator, their formation is mutually exclusive. The pause hairpin has two additional roles in this transcription attenuation mechanism it serves as an anti-antiterminator stmc-ture that prevents antiterminator formation, and it codes for a leader peptide. A model of the E. coli trp operon transcription attenuation mechanism is presented in Fig. 2a. 

Shibata K, Motooka K, Murata K, et al. 1982. Increase in growth rate and activity of the trytophan-NAD pathway caused by di- -butyl phthalate in rats fed on a tryptophan-limited diet. J Nutr Sci Vitaminol 28 173-177. 

K Shibata, H Matsuo, K Iwai. Non-uniform decrease of nicotinamide in various tissues of rats fed on a niacin-free and tryptophan-limited diet Agric Biol Chem... 

All of these alterations, which may be induced when a protein molecule interacts with a membrane surface either during convective (filtration) processes or under diffusive conditions, can be reported by intrinsic fluorescence probes such as tryptophan residues and detected by using appropriate fluorescence techniques. In fact, the use of these techniques and the correct interpretation of their response is only possible when the number of tryptophan residues present in the protein is relatively low (one or two) because, otherwise, it becomes extremely difficult to assign a given fluorescence response to the corresponding tryptophan, limiting the interpretation effort. 

Sensitivity levels more typical of kinetic studies are of the order of lO molecules cm . A schematic diagram of an apparatus for kinetic LIF measurements is shown in figure C3.I.8. A limitation of this approach is that only relative concentrations are easily measured, in contrast to absorjDtion measurements, which yield absolute concentrations. Another important limitation is that not all molecules have measurable fluorescence, as radiationless transitions can be the dominant decay route for electronic excitation in polyatomic molecules. However, the latter situation can also be an advantage in complex molecules, such as proteins, where a lack of background fluorescence allow s the selective introduction of fluorescent chromophores as probes for kinetic studies. (Tryptophan is the only strongly fluorescent amino acid naturally present in proteins, for instance.)... 

Pea.nuts, The proteins of peanuts are low in lysine, threonine, cystine plus methionine, and tryptophan when compared to the amino acid requirements for children but meet the requirements for adults (see Table 3). Peanut flour can be used to increase the nutritive value of cereals such as cornmeal but further improvement is noted by the addition of lysine (71). The trypsin inhibitor content of raw peanuts is about one-fifth that of raw soybeans, but this concentration is sufficient to cause hypertrophy (enlargement) of the pancreas in rats. The inhibitors of peanuts are largely inactivated by moist heat treatment (48). As for cottonseed, peanuts are prone to contamination by aflatoxin. FDA regulations limit aflatoxin levels of peanuts and meals to 100 ppb for breeding beef catde, breeding swine, or poultry 200 ppb for finishing swine 300 ppb for finishing beef catde 20 ppb for immature animals and dairy animals and 20 ppb for humans. 

Figure 9.4 The synthesis and metabolism of 5-HT. The primary substrate for the pathway is the essential amino acid, tryptophan and its hydroxylation to 5-hydrox5dryptophan is the rate-limiting step in the synthesis of 5-HT. The cytoplasmic enzyme, monoamine oxidase (MAOa), is ultimately responsible for the catabolism of 5-HT to 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid...

This similarity between MDMA and PCA is also observed in vivo in that PCA produces both an acute and long-term depletion of 5-HT (Fuller et al. 1975 Steranka et al. 1977). Like PCA, the acute decrease in 5-HT concentrations produced by MDMA is associated with a decrease in the activity of the rate-limiting enzyme for 5-HT synthesis, tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH). The timecourse of this change in cortical enzyme activity is also shown in figure 1. More detailed analysis of this acute effect of MDMA and kinetic analysis of TPH activity reveals that the decrease in enzyme activity actually precedes the decline in transmitter levels and is due to a reduction in the activity of the enzyme (Schmidt and Taylor 1987 Schmidt and Taylor 1988). As shown for the cortex in figure 3, the decrease in 5-HT... 

Typically, neurotoxic effects of drugs on monoamine neurons have been assessed from reductions in brain levels of monoamines and their metabolites, decreases in the maximal activity of synthetic enzymes activity, and decreases in the active uptake carrier. In the present study, the traditional markers described above have been used, including the measurement of the content of monoamines and their metabolites in brain at several different timepoints following drug administration. Since reports in the literature have documented that MDMA and MDA can inhibit the activity of tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH), the rate-limiting enzyme in serotonin synthesis (Stone et al. 1986 Stone et al. 1987). it is unclear whether MDMA-induced reductions in the content of serotonin and its metabolite 5-hydroxyin-doleacetic acid (5-HlAA) may be due to suppressed neurotransmission in otherwise structurally intact serotonin neurons or may represent the eonsequenee of the destruction of serotonin neurons and terminals. 

Ru(dppz)(x) (y)3+/ Me, tryptophan AG -0.6 V detect G(-H), M, and tryptophan radical s by transient absorption, EPR Gs in intervening sequence k 107 s 1 up to 50 A CT not rate limiting up to 50 A GGox varies with sequence, base-stack pertubrations and extent of intercalation... 

Gotti et al. [42] reported an analytical study of penicillamine in pharmaceuticals by capillary zone electrophoresis. Dispersions of the drug (0.4 mg/mL for the determination of (/q-penicillaminc in water containing 0.03% of the internal standard, S -met hy I - r-cystei ne, were injected at 5 kPa for 10 seconds into the capillary (48.5 cm x 50 pm i.d., 40 cm to detector). Electrophoresis was carried out at 15 °C and 30 kV, with a pH 2.5 buffer of 50 mM potassium phosphate and detection at 200 rnn. Calibration graphs were linear for 0.2-0.6 pg/mL (detection limit = 90 pM). For a more sensitive determination of penicillamine, or for the separation of its enantiomers, a derivative was prepared. Solutions (0.5 mL, final concentration 20 pg/mL) in 10 mM phosphate buffer (pH 8) were mixed with 1 mL of methanolic 0.015% 1,1 -[ethylidenebis-(sulfonyl)]bis-benzene and, after 2 min, with 0.5 mL of pH 2.5 phosphate buffer. An internal standard (0.03% tryptophan, 0.15 mL) was added and aliquots were injected. With the same pH 2.5 buffer and detection at 220 nm, calibration graphs were linear for 9.3-37.2 pg/mL, with a detection limit of 2.5 pM. For the determination of small amounts of (L)-penicillamine impurity, the final analyte concentration was 75 pg/mL, the pH 2.5 buffer contained 5 mM beta-cyclodextrin and 30 mM (+)-camphor-10-sulfonic acid, with a voltage of 20 kV, and detection at 220 nm. Calibration graphs were linear for 0.5-2% of the toxic (L)-enantiomer, with a detection limit of 0.3%. 

Sodium periodate also may affect tryptophan residues in some proteins. The oxidation of tryptophan can result in activity losses if the amino acid is an essential component of the active site. For instance, avidin and streptavidin may be severely inactivated by treatment with periodate, since tryptophan is important in forming the biotin-binding pocket. In addition, many other amino acid residues are susceptible to oxidation by periodate (Chapter 1, Section 1.1). Limiting the time of oxidation is important to restricting oxidation to diol groups while not affecting other protein structures. 

Since the order of increasing CL intensity for alkyl amines reacted with Ru(bpy)32+ is tertiary amines > secondary amines > primary amines, pharmaceutical compounds bearing a tertiary amine function (e.g., antihistamine drugs [99], anticholinergic drugs [100], erythromycin [101], and its derivatives [102]) have been sensitively determined after HPLC separation (Table 3). The method was applied to the detection of d- and L-tryptophan (Trp) after separation by a ligand-exchange HPLC [103], The detection limits for d- and L-Trp were both 0.2 pmol per injection. Oxalate in urine and blood plasma samples has also been determined by a reversed-phase ion-pair HPLC (Fig. 18) [104], Direct addition of... 

The initial hydroxylation of tryptophan, rather than the decarboxylation of 5-HTP, appears to be the rate-limiting step in serotonin synthesis. Therefore, the inhibition of this reaction results in a marked depletion of the content of 5-HT in brain. The enzyme inhibitor most widely used in experiments is parachlorophenylalanine (PCPA). In vivo, PCPA irreversibly inhibits tryptophan hydroxylase, presumably by incorporating itself into the enzyme to produce an inactive protein. This results in a long-lasting reduction of 5-HT levels. Recovery of enzyme activity, and 5-HT biosynthesis, requires the synthesis of new enzyme. Marked increases in mRNA for tryptophan hydroxylase are found in the raphe nuclei 1-3 days after administration of PCPA [6]. 

A plot of kohs against DNA concentration for reaction of tetraphenyl-porphyrin-l-tryptophan-cobalt(II) with calf thymus DNA is linear k 2 x 104 M 1 s 1 at room temperature. The suggested mechanism is of rapid reversible addition of water to 5 -coordinate [Co(trp)(tpp)] followed by rate-limiting reaction of [Co(trp)(tpp)(H20)] with the DNA (285). 

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