| Autor: |
Panizzutti R; Departamento de Anatomia, ICB, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil., de Souza Leite M, Pinheiro CM, Meyer-Fernandes JR |
| Jazyk: |
angličtina |
| Zdroj: |
FEMS microbiology letters [FEMS Microbiol Lett] 2006 Mar; Vol. 256 (1), pp. 16-21. |
| DOI: |
10.1111/j.1574-6968.2006.00064.x |
| Abstrakt: |
Free D-amino acids are implicated in several biological functions. This study examined the presence of D-alanine in Leishmania amazonensis. Measuring chiral amino acid content by high-performance liquid chromatography we detected a significant amount of free D-alanine in promastigotes of these parasites. D-alanine accounts for 8.9% of total free alanine and is found primarily in the soluble fraction. Specific racemization of L-alanine to D-alanine was detected in cell lysates and this enzyme activity was inhibited by D-cycloserine, an alanine racemase inhibitor. Furthermore, we were able to decrease this pool of D-amino acid by treating our cultures with D-cycloserine. We demonstrate for the first time the existence of a significant amount of free D-alanine in L. amazonensis and an alanine racemase activity present in cell lysates. The restriction of D-alanine to bacteria, some fungi and now in L. amazonensis opens a new perspective on treatment of diseases caused by these microorganisms. |
| Databáze: |
MEDLINE |
| Externí odkaz: |
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