Amethopterin and related folic antagonists inhibit the reduction of folic acid to tetrahydro folic acid (2). The clinical effects of these drugs are thought to be related in turn to the role of tetrahydro folic acid in single-carbon transfer reactions during nucleic acid synthesis (3). Recently, pteridines such as folic acid have been implicated in another area of metabolism, the conversion of ...

Adult early treated hyperphenylalaninaemic patients can show specific deficits of prefrontal cortical functions. The development of additional therapeutic strategies for these patients requires the understanding of the mechanisms involved in phenylalanine-dependent impairment of fronto-cortical functions. We tested the hypothesis of phenylalanine interference with aminergic neurotransmission in...

Patients with phenylalanine hydroxylase deficiency show increased concentrations of biopterins and neopterins, and reduced concentrations of serotonin and catecholamines, when phenylalanine concentrations are raised. The pterin rise reflects increased synthesis of dihydroneopterin and tetrahydrobiopterin, and the amine fall a reduction in amine synthesis due to inhibition by phenylalanine of ty...

Several derivatives of phenylalanine and tyrosine were prepared and tested for inhibition of chorismate mutase-prephenate dehydrogenase (EC 1.3.1.12) from Escherichia coli K12 (strain JP 232). The best inhibitors were N-toluene-p-sulphonyl-L-phenylalanine, N-benzenesulphonyl-L-phenylalanine and N-benzloxycarbonyl-L-phenylalanine. Consequently two compounds, N-toluene-sulphonyl-L-p-aminophenylal...

The delivery of large neutral amino acids (LNAAs) to brain across the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is mediated by the L-type neutral amino acid transporter present in the membranes of the brain capillary endothelial cell. In experimental animals, the L-system transporter is saturated under normal conditions, and therefore an elevation in the plasma concentration of one LNAA will reduce brain uptak...

Examination of the effects of prumycin on sensitlve Botrytis cinerea and Sarcina lutea showed that inhibition of protein synthesis in both organisms and reduction in ribonucleic acid synthesis in Botrytis cinerea are among the mechanisms of action. The inhibition of RNA biosynthesis in Botrytis cinerea is probably a secondary effect resulting from the termination of protein synthesis rather tha...

The nonselective herbicide glyphosate (n-[phosphonomethyl]glycine) inhibited the light-induced accumulation of phenylpropanoid substances (chlorogenic acid, procyanidin, rutin, anthocyanin) in etiolated buckwheat hypocotyls 90% at 1 millimolar. Structurally related compounds, such as n,n-bis[phosphonomethyl]glycine, aminomethylphosphonate, methylglycine, and iminodiacetate, had little or no inh...

Two tobacco cell lines resistant to p-fluorophenylalanine (PFP) and one resistant to 5-methyltryptophan (5-MT) are compared with wild type cells in their ability to absorb amino acids from the medium. One p-fluorophenylalanine-resistant cell line shows greatly reduced uptake of all amino acids so is resistant to growth inhibition by other amino acid analogs. The impaired absorption is noted wit...

We studied the uptake of leucine, phenylalanine, and the amino acid analog, 2-aminonorborane-2-carboxylic acid, by rat hepatoma cells in tissue culture. The uptake of these amino acids was partially mediated by a plasma membrane transport system similar to the L agency described in other cell types in that it does not require extracellular sodium and is subject to trans-stimulation. Initial rat...