In mammals, betaine of the mitochondrial matrix is used in the cytosol by betaine-homocysteine S-methyltransferase for methionine synthesis. The resulting dimethylglycine is shuttled back into the mitochondrial matrix for further degradation. Nanospray tandem mass spectrometry and N-terminal amino acid sequencing of microtubule-associated proteins from rat liver tubulin revealed that betaine-ho...

When extracts prepared from cultured human or rodent fibroblasts grown in medium containing [(57)Co]cobalamin were analyzed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, most of the intracellular radioactivity migrated with the activity of the cobalamin-dependent enzyme 5-methyltetrahydrofolate:L-homocysteine S-methyltransferase (EC 2.1.1.13). Because the rodent and human forms of this enzyme are elec...

DNA methyltransferase 1, 3a, and 3b affect DNA methylation, and it is thought that they play an important role in the malignant transformation of various cancers. The current study was designed to analyze DNA methyltransferase expression by immunohistochemistry in a series of 94 Tunisian sporadic breast carcinomas. Results were correlated to clinicopathologic parameters and promoter methylation...

The level of activity of avermectin B O-methyltransferase, the enzyme which catalyzes the conversion of avermectin B components to avermectin A components, was analyzed in a series of "Streptomyces avermitilis" mutants selected for increased production of the avermectins. In all of the mutants, increased avermectin production was accompanied by increased avermectin B O-methyltransferase activit...

In this thesis, quantum chemistry, in particular the B3LYP density functional method, is used to investigate a number of methyl transfer enzymes. Quantum chemical methodology is today a very important tool in the elucidation of properties and reaction mechanisms of enzyme active sites. The enzymes considered in this thesis are the S-adenosyl L-methionine-dependent enzymes glycine N-methyltransf...

Sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L., Lamiaceae) is a common herb, used for culinary and medicinal purposes. The essential oils of different sweet basil chemotypes contain various proportions of the allyl phenol derivatives estragole (methyl chavicol), eugenol, and methyl eugenol, as well as the monoterpene alcohol linalool. To monitor the developmental regulation of estragole biosynthesis in sweet...

The molecular basis of aberrant hypermethylation of CpG islands observed in a subset of human colorectal tumors is unknown. One potential mechanism is the up-regulation of DNA (cytosine-5)-methyltransferases. Recently, two new mammalian DNA methyltransferase genes have been identified, which are referred to as DNMT3A and DNMT3B. The encoded proteins differ from the predominant mammalian DNA met...

By use of restriction endonucleases, the DNA of the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6803 was analyzed for DNA-specific methylation. Three different recognition sites of methyltransferases, a dam-like site including N6-methyladenosine and two other sites with methylcytosine, were identified, whereas no activities of restriction endonucleases could be detected in this strain. slr0214,...

1. Erythrocyte catechol-O-methyltransferase was studied in a population sample of 147 subjects. 2. There was a wide interindividual variability of catechol-O-methyltransferase activity, which was not unimodally distributed. Catechol-O-methyltransferase activity was not influenced by blood pressure, age or sex, nor was it related to plasma noradrenaline or urinary catecholamines or metanephrines...