Unnatural amino acid mutagenesis has been used to selectively substitute tyrosine 66 of green fluorescent protein (GFP) with five novel amino acids: p-amino-L-phenylalanine, p-methoxy-L-phenylalanine, p-iodo-L-phenylalanine, p-bromo-L-phenylalanine, and L-3-(2-naphthyl)alanine. The absorbance and emission maxima of the resulting mutant GFPs span the range from 375 to 435 nm and 428 to 498 nm, r...

The adrenergic amines noradrenaline and adrenaline increased flux through phenylalanine hydroxylase by approx. 50%. This effect, which appears to be mediated by an alpha-adrenergic mechanism, was accompanied by a rapid increase in the phosphorylation of phenylalanine hydroxylase. Although ionophore A23187 mimicked the effects of the adrenergic amines, vasopressin was completely without effect o...

BACKGROUND Hyperphenylalaninemia is a common inherited metabolic disease that is due to phenylalanine hydroxylase deficiency, and at least half the affected patients have mild clinical phenotypes. Treatment with a low-phenylalanine diet represents a substantial psychosocial burden, but alternative treatments have not been effective. METHODS To explore the therapeutic efficacy of tetrahydrobio...

l-Tyrosine and l-phenylalanine enter cells of Bacillus subtilis via a system of active transport that exhibits complex kinetic behavior. The specificity of the transport system was characterized both at low concentrations of transport substrate (where affinity for l-tyrosine or l-phenylalanine is high but capacity is low) and at high concentrations (where affinity is low but capacity is high). ...

Biosynthesis of ochratoxin A by Aspergillus ochraceus Wilh. was investigated by radiolabeling experiments in which phenylalanine-1-(14)C and sodium acetate-2-(14)C were supplied to the fungus in sucrose-yeast extract medium. Results showed that phenylalanine was incorporated unaltered into the phenylalanine moiety of ochratoxin A, whereas the isocoumarin moiety of ochratoxin A was mostly derive...

Cyclo(phenylalanine-proline) is produced by various organisms such as animals, plants, bacteria and fungi. It has diverse biological functions including anti-fungal activity, anti-bacterial activity and molecular signalling. However, a few studies have demonstrated the effect of cyclo(phenylalanine-proline) on the mammalian cellular processes, such as cell growth and apoptosis. In this study, w...

A sensitive method was developed for determining the phenylalanine hydroxylase activity of crude tissue preparations in the presence of optimum concentrations of the 6,7-dimethyl-5,6,7,8-tetrahydropterin cofactor (with ascorbate or dithiothreitol to maintain its reduced state) and substrate. Tissue distribution studies showed that, in addition to the liver, the kidney also contains significant ...