The specificities of the soluble and membrane aspartate-binding activities were compared with each other and with the specificity of aspartate chemotaxis and were found to be distinct. The soluble aspartate-binding protein was purified to homogeneity and had a molecular weight of 30,000. The dissociation constant was 10(-6) M for aspartate, and the protein bound glutamate, cysteic acid, and 2-a...

The D-isomer of aspartate is efficiently transported by high-affinity Na(+)/K(+)-dependent glutamate transporters and is an effective ligand of N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors. To facilitate analysis of the regulation of these proteins in their native membranes, we synthesized a photolabile analogue of D-aspartate, 4-methoxy-7-nitroindolinyl-D-aspartate (MNI-D-aspartate). This compound wa...

We have combined immunocytochemical localization of L-aspartate aminotransferase (L-aspartate:2-oxoglutarate aminotransferase, EC 2.6.1.1; glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase) with autoradiographic localization of high-affinity uptake sites for L-glutamate or L-aspartate to identify the neurotransmitters of mammalian photoreceptors. In both human and rat retinas, high aspartate aminotransferase i...

Free D-aspartate and D-serine occur at substantial levels in the mammalian brain. D-Serine is a physiological endogenous co-agonist for synaptic N-Methyl D-Aspartate (NMDA) receptors (NMDARs), and is involved in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Much less is known about the biological meaning of D-aspartate. D-Aspartate is present at high levels in the embryo brain and strongly decreases at...

mals, and they have various physiological roles. D-Aspartate is present in the central nervous system and various neuroendocrine cells, which include a subset of satellite and basket cells in the cerebellum, adrenal chromaffin cells, pituitary gland cells, Leydig cells and pinealocytes. D-Aspartate is believed to modulate neuroendocrine functions in either an intercellular or intracellular mann...

There are only a few protein repair enzymes known. One of them, Protein Iso-Aspartate Methyltransferases (PIMT), also known as Carboxyl (PCMT), is responsible for converting (abnormal amino acid residues) to Aspartate (normal residues). PCMT an enzyme found in wide range living organisms. In the present study, sequence PIMT Shigella flexneri was retrieved and 3D structure predicted. Further, it...

Total mitochondrial aspartate aminotransferase (EC 2.6.1.1), the sum of apo- and holo-mitochondrial aspartate aminotransferase activity in human serum, was measured by using a proteolytic method: inactivation of cytosolic aspartate aminotransferase with cytosolic aspartate aminotransferase-inactivating protease 401 from Streptomyces violaceochromogenes. Cytosolic aspartate aminotransferase is c...

In biotin deficiency, aspartic acid becomes a limiting factor in the growth of Streptococcus faecalis ATCC 9190. Suboptimal concentrations of L-aspartate in biotin-deficient medium produce partial growth followed by lysis, which is typical of cell wall lysis due to depletion of an amino acid essential for cell wall biosynthesis. D-Aspartate, which is utilized by the cells with considerable less...