y-Cyano-cr-L-aminobutyric acid is identified for the first time as a biological substance. This amino acid nitrile accumulates when inorganic cyanide is administered to young cultures of Chromobacferium violaceum strain D 341. Cyanide supplies the cyano group, and aspartic acid supplies carbon atoms 1 to 4. Biosynthesis of P-cyanoalanine also takes place and appears to be controlled by aspartic...

The precedence effect is a prerequisite for faithful sound localization in a complex auditory environment, and is a physiological phenomenon in which the auditory system selectively suppresses the directional information from echoes. Here we investigated how neurons in the inferior colliculus respond to the paired sounds that produce precedence-effect illusions, and whether their firing behavio...

although several methods have been developed to make gamma-aminobutyric acid (gaba) accumulate in tea, the active ingredients and health benefits vary widely depending on the manufacturing process of tea products. in this study, the levels of bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity in tea leaves given the continuous anaerobic condition were investigated. gaba and other free amino acids suc...

Recent studies have suggested that the kisspeptin (KP) and kissorphin (KSO) peptides have neuroprotective actions against the Alzheimer's amyloid- β (A β ) peptide. Overexpression of the human KiSS-1 gene that codes for KP and KSO peptides in SH-SY5Y neurons has also been shown to inhibit A β neurotoxicity. The in vivo actions of KP include activation of neuroendocrine and neurotransmitter syst...

Excessive loss of functional pancreatic β-cell mass, mainly due to apoptosis, is a major factor in the development of hyperglycemia in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes (T1D and T2D). In T1D, β-cells are destroyed by immunological mechanisms. In T2D, while metabolic factors are known to contribute to β-cell failure and subsequent apoptosis, mounting evidence suggests that islet inflammation also ...