Handler, Bernheim, and Klein (1) have shown that the oxidation of the N-methyl derivatives of nL-methionine, m-leucine, nL-alanine, and DLhistidine by rat liver and kidney preparations is due to the presence of n-amino acid oxidase, and that the N-methyl derivatives of nr,-phenylalanine, nL-tryptophan, and m,-valine are not oxidized by these preparations. Blanchard, Green, Nocito, and Ratner (2...

Glycine betaine is a potent osmotic and thermal stress protectant of many microorganisms. Its synthesis from glycine results in the formation of the intermediates monomethylglycine (sarcosine) and dimethylglycine (DMG), and these compounds are also produced when it is catabolized. Bacillus subtilis does not produce sarcosine or DMG, and it cannot metabolize these compounds. Here we have studied...

Venkatesu P, Lee MJ, Lin HM. J Phys Chem B. 2009 Apr 16;113(15):5327-38 Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, 43 Keelung Road, Section 4, Taipei 106-07, Taiwan. The stability of proteins is reduced by urea, which is methylamine and nonprotecting osmolyte; eventually urea destabilizes the activity and function and alters the structure of protei...

Prostate cancer (CaP) is the most common type of tumour disease in men. Early diagnosis of cancer of the prostate is very important, because the sooner the cancer is detected, the better it is treated. According to that fact, there is great interest in the finding of new markers including amino acids, proteins or nucleic acids. Prostate specific antigen (PSA) is commonly used and is the most im...

Glycine betaine is accumulated in cells living in high salt concentrations to balance the osmotic pressure. Glycine sarcosine N-methyltransferase (GSMT) and sarcosine dimethylglycine N-methyltransferase (SDMT) of Ectothiorhodospira halochloris catalyze the threefold methylation of glycine to betaine, with S-adenosylmethionine acting as the methyl group donor. These methyltransferases were expre...

The development of multicomponent reactions (MCRs) designed to produce elaborate biologically active compounds has become an important area of research in organic, combinatorial, and medicinal chemistry. A comparative study of the synthesis of new bis-spiro-oxindolo(pyrrolizidines/pyrrolidines) ring systems by the cycloaddition of azomethine ylides generated by a decarboxylative route from sarc...

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most frequently diagnosed cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death among men in Western countries. Current screening techniques are based on the measurement of serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels and digital rectal examination. A decisive diagnosis of PCa is based on prostate biopsies; however, this approach can lead to false-positive and false-n...