In this study, we examined the molecular and functional characterization of choline transporter in human brain microvascular endothelial cells (hBMECs). Choline uptake into hBMECs was a saturable process that was mediated by a Na(+)-independent, membrane potential and pH-dependent transport system. The cells have two different [(3)H]choline transport systems with Km values of 35.0 ± 4.9 μM and ...

The neonatal mammal requires especially large amounts of choline to sustain growth. Much of this choline is derived from the newborn's only source of food, milk. The concentration of choline in rat milk [182 +/- 24 microM (S.E.M.)] was much higher than that in maternal serum (11.6 +/- 0.9 microM), suggesting that a mechanism capable of concentrating choline into milk must exist. We characterize...

Choline is an essential nutrient for all living cells and is produced extracellularly by sequential degradation of phosphatidylcholine (PC). However, little is known about how choline is produced extracellularly. Here, we report that ENPP6, a choline-specific phosphodiesterase, hydrolyzes glycerophosphocholine (GPC), a degradation product of PC, as a physiological substrate and participates in ...

Benzoic acid has been reported to inhibit the oxidation of succinic acid by muscle (l), the oxidation of butyric acid and crotonic acid by liver slices (2), and the oxidation of acetoacetic acid by kidney slices (3). It has also been reported to inhibit the oxygen uptake of liver and kidney slices, diaphragm, minced liver, kidney, and brain (4). In the present work it was found that benzoic aci...

The objective of this study was to determine if biocytin would reliably label details of distant axons and dendrites when injected extracellularly in primates. Biocytin (2.5-5%) was injected iontophoretically or by pressure into several areas of the visual and somatosensory systems of macaque monkeys, squirrel monkeys, tree shrews and galagos. After survival times that ranged from 9 h to 2 week...

BACKGROUND Homozygosity for the variant 677T allele in the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene increases the requirement for folate and may alter the metabolic use of choline. The choline adequate intake is 550 mg/d for men, although the metabolic consequences of consuming extra choline are unclear. OBJECTIVE Deuterium-labeled choline (d9-choline) as tracer was used to determine ...

Actinomycin D prevents the full development in a 24-hour period of both wound respiration and cyanide resistance only when given in the first 10 to 12 hours following the cutting of potato tuber (Solanum tuberosum var. Russet) slices. The capacity for choline incorporation into phosphatidylcholine increases with slice aging and is inhibited by actinomycin D in the same time-restricted way. The ...

Recent evidence has renewed speculation as to a possible r81e of phospholipides in the oxidation of fatty acids. Artom (1) has proposed that a choline-containing compound, which is preformed in the tissues in viva, is necessary for the oxidation of fatty acids in isolated systems. Greenbaum and McClean (2) have noted a remarkable agreement between the fatty acid oxidase capacity and the changes...

A mutant library of Cordyceps militaris was constructed by improved Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation and screened for degradation features. Six mutants with altered characters in in vitro and in vivo fruiting body production, and cordycepin formation were found to contain a single copy T-DNA. T-DNA flanking sequences of these mutants were identified by thermal asymmetric interl...

Carbohydrate-metabolizing enzymes may have particularly interesting roles in the honey bee, Apis mellifera , because this social insect has an extremely carbohydrate-rich diet, and nutrition plays important roles in caste determination and socially mediated behavioural plasticity. We annotated a total of 174 genes encoding carbohydrate-metabolizing enzymes and 28 genes encoding lipid-metabolizi...