Jose M. Musacchio

Effects of disulfiram on tissue norepinephrine content and subcellular distribution of dopamine, tyramine and their β-hydroxylated metabolites

Abstract Disulfiram has been shown to markedly inhibit dopamine-β-hydroxylase in vivo and to result in a decrease in norepinephrine content of tissues, presumably by making β-hydroxylation rate limiting. Disulfiram also inhibits the β-hydroxylation of tyramine to octopamine. While β-hydroxylation of tyramine appears to be necessary for retention by sympathetic vesicles, dopamine can be retained by the vesicles when β-hydroxylation is inhibited.

Purification of norepinephrine storage granules from rat heart

Abstract Noripinephrine storage particles have been prepared from rat heart centrifugation in a continuous sucrose gradient prepared by diluting 0.73 M sucrose exponentially with 0.25 M sucrose. This preparation is enriched about 60 fold over the original homogenate with respect to protein and RNA and appears by electron microscopy to consist largerly of small vesicles 50 μm in diameter. This represents the most extensive purification of these granules reported to date.