The stability of a number of enzymes which have a very short half-life as assessed by measurements in vivo, namely ornithine decarboxylase, serine dehydratase, tyrosine aminotransferase and 5-aminolevulinate synthase, and the stability of enzymes with a moderate half-life i.e. glutamate dehydrogenase, alanine aminotransferase and lactate dehydrogenase, were studied in whole liver and in tissue fractions thereof. While in general the measurements in vitro are in agreement with the data obtained in vivo, indicating the power of the simple technique herein described, there was enough variation in stability to indicate that in addition to their intrinsic basic stability due to the particular genetically determined structure of the protein, environmental factors must play an important role in the half-life of these enzymes. For example, tyrosine aminotransferase and particularly serine dehydratase are less stable in the tissue than in the homogenate and supernatant fractions and consequently are less stable in vitro than in vivo. Lactate dehydrogenase and alanine amino-transferase are stable for as long as 18 h in the homogenate and supernatant; however alanine aminotransferase activity in tissues decreases after 6 h incubation. The half-life of inactivation in the homogenate for glutamate dehydrogenase is 3–4 h. Interestingly, the activity in the tissue increases up to 6 h, while with longer periods of incubation the bulk of the enzyme leaked out into the medium and remained constant for 24 h. Experiments with “washed-residue” fractions show that the enzyme is inactivated by cytosol components. No clear difference between inactivation in vitro before and after starvation, following a high-protein diet or after injection of inhibitors was found for any of the enzymes studied.
The aim of this work was to assess whether perinatal hyperammonemia impairs the function of NMDA receptors and whether this impairment affords protection against acute ammonia toxicity and glutamate and NMDA neurotoxicity. Rats were exposed to ammonia during the prenatal and lactation periods by feeding the female rats an ammonium-containing diet since day 1 of pregnancy. After weaning (at postnatal day 21), the pups were fed a normal diet with no ammonia added. This treatment resulted in a marked decrease of the growth rate of the animals, which was maintained even 1 month after normalization of ammonia levels. Rats exposed to ammonia were more resistant than controls to acute ammonia toxicity 13 days after feeding a normal diet but not at 3 months. Primary cultures of cerebellar neurons from hyperammonemic rats showed decreased binding of [3H]MK-801 and were remarkably more resistant than controls to glutamate and NMDA toxicities. Also, the increase in aspartate aminotransferase activity induced by low concentrations of NMDA was not produced in such cultures. These results indicate that exposure to ammonia during the prenatal and lactation periods results in long-lasting impairment of NMDA receptor function. This would be the reason for the delayed protection afforded by exposure to low ammonia levels against acute ammonia toxicity in animals and against glutamate and NMDA toxicity in neuronal cultures.
Animal and bacterial enzymes that utilize or synthesize carbamyl phosphate have activity with acetyl phosphate. Acyl phosphatase hydrolyzes both substrates, and maybe involved in the specific dynamic action of proteins. Ornithine and aspartic transcarbamylases also synthesize acetylornithine and acetyl aspartate. Finally, bacterial carbamate kinase and animal carbamyl phosphate synthetase utilize acetyl phosphate as well as carbamyl phosphate in the synthesis of adenosine triphosphate. The synthesis of acetyl phosphate and of formyl phosphate by carbamyl phosphate synthetases is described. The mechanism of carbon dioxide activation by animal carbamyl phosphate synthetase is reviewed on the basis of the findings concerning acetate and formate activation.