Akifumi Togari

Simple purification of aromatic l-amino acid decarboxylase from human pheochromocytoma using high-performance liquid chromatography☆

We purified aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase (AADC) homogeneously and rapidly from human pheochromocytoma using high-performance liquid chromatography. HPLC with gel permeation and hydrophobic columns was highly effective, and the entire purification could be finished within 3 days. Purified AADC showed a single band with an Mr of 50,000 on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and decarboxylated L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine, L-5-hydroxytryptophan, and L-threo-3,4-dihydroxyphenylserine (a synthetic precursor of natural norepinephrine). Amino acid analysis of purified AADC was performed.

Studies on tyrosine hydroxylase system in rat brain slices using high-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection.

A new method for the measurement of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH; EC 1.14.16.2) activity in brain slices was developed by using high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with electrochemical detection (ED). To estimate TH activity in brain slices containing all of the components of the enzyme system, tetrahydrobiopterin, dihydropteridine reductase, and TH itself, slices were incubated with NSD‐1055, an inhibitor of aromatic l‐amino acid decarboxylase, and 3,4‐dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA) formed from endogenous tyrosine was measured using HPLC‐ED. Hydroxylation of endogenous tyrosine to DOPA in striatal slices was linear up to 90 min at 37°C, and increased by incubation with 20 mM K+ to depolarize the nerve cells. Furthermore, the formation of DOPA could be detected in all parts of brain regions examined, and the activity in this slice system was nearly parallel to the maximal velocity of the homogenate from the slices as enzyme in the presence of saturating concentrations of tyrosine and 6‐methyltetrahydropterin as cofactor. This assay system should be useful to study the regulatory mechanisms of TH in relatively intact tissue preparations.

An integrated scheme for the simultaneous determination of biogenic amines, precursor amino acids, and related metabolites by liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection.

A new method using high-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection (HPLC-ED) for the simultaneous determination of monoamines, their precursor amino acids, and related major metabolites in small samples of brain tissue weighing from 0.5 to 50 mg is described. The method is based on the preliminary isolation of monoamines (dopamine, norepinephrine, epinephrine, and serotonin), their precursor amino acids (tyrosine, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine, tryptophan and 5-hydroxytryptophan), and their major metabolites (3-methoxytyramine, normetanephrine, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid, homovanillic acid, vanillylmandelic acid, 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylethyleneglycol, and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid) by chromatography on small columns of Amberlite CG-50 and Dowex 50W, and by ethyl acetate extraction. All the compounds in the four isolated fractions were measured by HPLC-ED on a reversed-phase column under four different conditions. The sensitivity was from 0.1 to 40 pmol, depending on the substances analysed. This newly established method was applied to the study of the effects of an aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase inhibitor (NSD-1015) and a monoamine oxidase inhibitor (pargyline) on the levels of monoamines, their precursor amino acids and their major metabolites in brain regions of mice.

Simultaneous simple purification of tyrosine hydroxylase and dihydropteridine reductase

A rapid and simple simultaneous micropurification procedure of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and dihydropteridine reductase (DPR) was developed from soluble supernatants of 1 to 2 g of rat adrenal gland or caudate nucleus. All purification procedures for the two enzymes were complete within 3 days. The recovery of TH and DPR was reproducible and approximately 20 and 40%, respectively. Purification procedure for TH involved chromatographies with DEAE-Sephacel, Bio-Gel A-1.5 m, and heparin-Sepharose. As judged by gel filtration and sodium dodecyl sulfate-gel electrophoresis, the enzyme purified from each tissue appeared to be homogeneous and was composed of an identical subunit, each possessing a Mr of 60,000. With DEAE-Sephacel column chromatography, TH was separated completely from DPR. DPR was purified by subsequent chromatographies with Sephadex G-50 and blue Sepharose to a purity of 50%. DPR in adrenals and brain was found to be a NADH-dependent type. This micropurification procedure is applicable to assessing the molecular properties of TH modified physiologically or pharmacologically in vivo, and to getting a small amount of the pure enzyme as antigen for producing its antibody.

A sensitive and inexpensive high-performance liquid chromatographic assay for tyrosine hydroxylase.

We describe a highly sensitive assay method for tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) using high-performance liquid chromatography with amperometric determination. This assay method could be applicable to any tissues with low enzyme activity, such as rat cerebellum. We also describe the kinetic properties of TH in rat cerebral cortex.

Highly sensitive assay for γ-glutamyltranspeptidase activity by high-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection

A highly sensitive assay for gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase activity involving high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with electrochemical detection was devised. gamma-Glutamyl-DOPA, a new synthetic dipeptide, which consists of naturally occurring amino acids, was found to be a good substrate for gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase purified from Proteus mirabilis. Enzymatically formed DOPA was adsorbed on an aluminium oxide column, eluted with 0.5 M hydrochloric acid and determined by HPLC with electrochemical detection. The sensitivity limit of this method was 0.5 pmol of DOPA formed. Some properties of gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase purified from P. mirabilis were investigated using gamma-glutamyl-DOPA as a substrate. In the presence of 0.15 M glycylglycine, the KM value of the enzyme for gamma-glutamyl-DOPA was 0.013 mM, and the maximum velocity was 247 nmol/min per mg protein. This method was applied to the assay of the enzymatic activity in human serum.

Dipeptidyl-aminopeptidase II in human cerebrospinal fluid: changes in patients with Parkinson's disease

By using a sensitive and specific method, DAP II activity was found in CSF. DAP II activity in CSF of control patients without neurological diseases was 0.416 +/- 0.141 (mean +/- SD) nmole/min/ml and was higher than DAP IV activity in CSF, 0.221 +/- 0.062 (mean +/- SD) nmole/min/ml. In contrast, DAP II activity in serum was 1.16 +/- 0.16 (mean +/- SD) nmole/min/ml and was lower than serum DAP IV activity [41.85 +/- 3.36 (mean +/- SD) nmole/min/ml]. This relatively high activity of DAP II in CSF compared with the activity of DAP IV in CSF together with recent histochemical evidence on the localization of DAP II in some neurons (7) suggests that CSF DAP II may be derived from the brain and may be a marker of some peptidergic neurons. DAP II activity in CSF of patients with Parkinsons disease was significantly increased, whereas DAP IV activity in CSF did not change significantly.

Ontogenesis of Monoamine‐Synthesizing Enzyme Activities and Biopterin Levels in Rat Brain or Salivary Glands, and the Effect of Thyroxine Administration

Abstract: Neonatal changes in the activities of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and tryptophan hydroxylase (TrpH) and in the content of the co‐factor, biopterin, were studied in rat midbrain for the first 20 days after birth. Changes in TH activity in the parotid and submandibular glands were also examined. Changes in TH activity per unit weight in the developing rat brain were briefly similar to those in the salivary glands: the activity increased from day 2 or 4 to day 9 after birth, and remained constant or slightly decreased at day 12, then rapidly increased on day 16. TrpH activity in the midbrain increased about twofold up to day 16. The biopterin concentration in the brain increased, reached a maximum level on day 12 after birth, and thereafter decreased. The effect of hyperthyroidism in rats given 0.2 mg/kg i.p. of thyroxine every 2 days postnatally was studied on the activity of TH in rat salivary glands at 12‐day‐old rats. In parotid or submandibular gland of hyperthyroid rats, TH activity increased at day 12 postnatally. In comparison with the effect on TH activity in the salivary glands, TH activity in the midbrain on day 20 postnatally was not induced by hyperthyroidism. Furthermore, increase of the TrpH activity and biopterin and catecholamine levels in the midbrain of hyperthyroid rats was not found on day 20 after birth in comparison with the corresponding controls. From these data, we suppose that postnatal hyperthyroidism may cause precocious induction of TH in rat salivary gland, but may not increase the activity of TH or TrpH, and the level of their co‐factor, biopterin, in rat midbrain.

Molecular and physiological properties of tyrosine hydroxylase induced by reserpine in rat adrenal gland

Newly synthesized tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) induced by reserpine was compared with the enzyme in control rats in terms of the molecular and physiological properties. When repeated doses of reserpine were given at daily intervals for three days, the enzyme activity measured in homogenates of the adrenal glands was increased 3-fold. Furthermore, when TH in the adrenal glands from both control and reserpine-treated rats was purified, both total activity of the enzyme and the enzyme protein content purified from reserpine-treated rats were also about 3-fold higher than those of the control rats. The two purified enzymes revealed similar properties; a single subunit with a Mr of 60,000 was observed by SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and the Km value for a pterin cofactor, 6-methyl-tetrahydropterin was about 300 microM. In contrast, in situ TH activity measured under physiological conditions at pH 7.2 in adrenal tissue slices was elevated 6-fold by reserpine pretreatment for 3 days, and was stimulated by carbachol (0.1 mM) and elevated K+ (52 mM) in a roughly proportional rather than additive way relative to slices from untreated rats. These results indicate that newly synthesized TH induced by reserpine in rat adrenal gland had similar properties as the enzyme in control rats and that reserpine increased not only the amount of TH molecules but also the in situ activity of TH. Since reserpine also increases the biosynthesis of tetrahydrobiopterin as demonstrated by Viveros and co-workers, this 6-fold increase in in situ TH activity may depend both upon the 3-fold increase in the amount of enzyme molecules and upon the increase of the physiologically available tetrahydrobiopterin in the adrenal gland.

Presence of endogenous inhibitor of aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase in monkey serum.

SummaryIn the course of our studies on the developmental changes of aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase (AADC) in the serum of Japanese monkeys (Macaca fuscata fuscata), we found the presence of an endogenous inhibitor of AADC in all stages of monkey life. This inhibitor inhibited the serum enzyme activity completely with L-5-hydroxytryptophan (L-5-HTP) as substrate, while the activity was partially inhibited with L-DOPA as substrate. The inhibitor was non-dialyzable, but it could be removed from the monkey serum by DEAE-Sephacel chromatography. After this treatment AADC activities could be detected in the monkey serum by using both L-DOPA and L-5-HTP as substrates. Moreover, the total activity for L-DOPA was augmented by 3-fold in the serum after the removal of the inhibitor. Serum AADC was partially purified from monkey and compared with that of rat using both L-DOPA and L-5-HTP as substrates, but the ratio of the activities for the two substrates did not change significantly in each fraction during purification from either monkey or rat serum.