scholarly journals Decoding the Complex Crossroad of Tryptophan Metabolic Pathways

2022 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 787
Author(s):  
Giada Mondanelli ◽  
Claudia Volpi ◽  
Ciriana Orabona

Among the 20 amino acids needed for protein synthesis, Tryptophan (Trp) is an aromatic amino acid fundamental not only for the synthesis of the major components of living cells (namely, the proteins), but also for the maintenance of cellular homeostasis [...]

2020 ◽  
Vol 98 (Supplement_4) ◽  
pp. 118-119
Author(s):  
Teresa A Davis ◽  
Marko Rudar ◽  
Jane Naberhuis ◽  
Agus Suryawan ◽  
Marta Fiorotto

Abstract Livestock animals are important dual-purpose models that benefit both agricultural and biomedical research. The neonatal pig is an appropriate model for the human infant to assess long-term effects of early life nutrition on growth and metabolic outcomes. Previously we have demonstrated that prematurity blunts the feeding-induced stimulation of translation initiation and protein synthesis in skeletal muscle of neonatal pigs. The objective of this study was to determine whether reduced sensitivity to insulin and/or amino acids drives this blunted response. Pigs were delivered by caesarean section at preterm (PT, 103 d gestation) or at term (T, 112 d gestation) and fed parenterally for 4 d. On day 4, pigs were subject to euinsulinemic-euaminoacidemic-euglycemic (FAST), hyperinsulinemic-euaminoacidemic-euglycemic (INS), or euinsulinemic-hyperaminoacidemic-euglycemic (AA) clamps for 120 min, yielding six treatments: PT-FAST (n = 7), PT-INS (n = 9), PT-AA (n = 9), T-FAST (n = 8), T-INS (n = 9), and T-AA (n = 9). A flooding dose of L-[4-3H]Phe was injected into pigs 30 min before euthanasia. Birth weight and relative body weight gain were lower in PT than T pigs (P < 0.001). Plasma insulin concentration was increased from ~3 to ~100 µU/mL in INS compared to FAST and AA pigs (P < 0.001); plasma BCAA concentration was increased from ~250 to ~1,000 µmol/L in AA compared to FAST and INS pigs (P < 0.001). Despite achieving similar insulin and amino acid levels, longissimus dorsi AKT phosphorylation, mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR)·Rheb abundance, mTOR activation, and protein synthesis were lower in PT-INS than T-INS pigs (Table 1). Although amino-acid induced dissociation of Sestrin2 from GATOR2 was not affected by prematurity, mTOR·RagA abundance, mTOR·RagC abundance, mTOR activation, and protein synthesis were lower in PT-AA than T-AA pigs. The impaired capacity of premature skeletal muscle to respond to insulin or amino acids and promote protein synthesis likely contributes to reduced lean mass accretion. Research was supported by NIH and USDA.


1972 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 279-294 ◽  
Author(s):  
David C. Shephard ◽  
Wendy B. Levin

The ability of chloroplasts isolated from Acetabulana mediterranea to synthesize the protein amino acids has been investigated. When this chloroplast isolate was presented with 14CO2 for periods of 6–8 hr, tracer was found in essentially all amino acid species of their hydrolyzed protein Phenylalanine labeling was not detected, probably due to technical problems, and hydroxyproline labeling was not tested for The incorporation of 14CO2 into the amino acids is driven by light and, as indicated by the amount of radioactivity lost during ninhydrin decarboxylation on the chromatograms, the amino acids appear to be uniformly labeled. The amino acid labeling pattern of the isolate is similar to that found in plastids labeled with 14CO2 in vivo. The chloroplast isolate did not utilize detectable amounts of externally supplied amino acids in light or, with added adenosine triphosphate (ATP), in darkness. It is concluded that these chloroplasts are a tight cytoplasmic compartment that is independent in supplying the amino acids used for its own protein synthesis. These results are discussed in terms of the role of contaminants in the observed synthesis, the "normalcy" of Acetabularia chloroplasts, the synthetic pathways for amino acids in plastids, and the implications of these observations for cell compartmentation and chloroplast autonomy.


1971 ◽  
Vol 121 (5) ◽  
pp. 817-827 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. C. Hider ◽  
E. B. Fern ◽  
D. R. London

1. The kinetics of radioactive labelling of extra- and intra-cellular amino acid pools and protein of the extensor digitorum longus muscle were studied after incubations with radioactive amino acids in vitro. 2. The results indicated that an extracellular pool could be defined, the contents of which were different from those of the incubation medium. 3. It was concluded that amino acids from the extracellular pool, as defined in this study, were incorporated directly into protein.


1973 ◽  
Vol 51 (12) ◽  
pp. 933-941 ◽  
Author(s):  
Njanoor Narayanan ◽  
Jacob Eapen

The effect of cycloheximide in vitro and in vivo on the incorporation of labelled amino acids into protein by muscles, liver, kidneys, and brain of rats and pigeons was studied. In vitro incorporation of amino acids into protein by muscle microsomes, myofibrils, and myofibrillar ribosomes was not affected by cycloheximide. In contrast, administration of the antibiotic into intact animals at a concentration of 1 mg/kg body weight resulted in considerable inhibition of amino acid incorporation into protein by muscles, liver, kidneys, and brain. This inhibition was observed in all the subcellular fractions of these tissues during a period of 10–40 min after the administration of the precursor. Tissue homogenates derived from in vivo cycloheximide-treated animals did not show significant alteration in in vitro amino acid incorporation with the exception of brain, which showed a small but significant enhancement.


1994 ◽  
Vol 267 (6) ◽  
pp. E877-E885 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Tauveron ◽  
D. Larbaud ◽  
C. Champredon ◽  
E. Debras ◽  
S. Tesseraud ◽  
...  

The experiment was carried out to clarify the roles of insulin and amino acids on protein synthesis in fed lactating goats (30 days postpartum). Protein synthesis in the liver and various skeletal muscles was assessed after an intravenous injection of a large dose of unlabeled valine containing a tracer dose of L-[2,3,4-3H]valine. The animals were divided into three groups. Group I was infused with insulin (1.7 mumol/min) for 2.5 h under glucose, potassium, and amino acid replacement. Group A was infused with an amino acid mixture to create stable hyperaminoacidemia for 2.5 h. Group C animals were controls. The fractional synthesis rates (FSR) were 31.5 +/- 2.2, 6.5 +/- 0.4, 4.3 +/- 0.8, 4.0 +/- 1.2, 3.9 +/- 1.2, and 3.6 +/- 0.4%/day (SD) in liver, masseter, diaphragm, anconeus, semitendinosus, and longissimus dorsi, respectively, for group C. Neither hyperinsulinemia in group I nor hyperaminoacidemia in group A had not affected by hyperinsulinemia but was stimulated by hyperaminoacidemia (+30%, P < 0.05). In contrast to previous experiments in which a labeled amino acid was constantly infused, this study revealed a stimulating effect of amino acids on protein synthesis in the liver but not in skeletal muscles. As previously observed in studies with the constant-infusion method, insulin had no effect on protein synthesis.


Cancers ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 675 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bo-Hyun Choi ◽  
Jonathan L. Coloff

Far beyond simply being 11 of the 20 amino acids needed for protein synthesis, non-essential amino acids play numerous important roles in tumor metabolism. These diverse functions include providing precursors for the biosynthesis of macromolecules, controlling redox status and antioxidant systems, and serving as substrates for post-translational and epigenetic modifications. This functional diversity has sparked great interest in targeting non-essential amino acid metabolism for cancer therapy and has motivated the development of several therapies that are either already used in the clinic or are currently in clinical trials. In this review, we will discuss the important roles that each of the 11 non-essential amino acids play in cancer, how their metabolic pathways are linked, and how researchers are working to overcome the unique challenges of targeting non-essential amino acid metabolism for cancer therapy.


1990 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 369-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
T E McGraw ◽  
F R Maxfield

The objective of this work is to identify the elements of the human transferrin receptor that are involved in receptor internalization, intracellular sorting, and recycling. We have found that an aromatic side chain at position 20 on the cytoplasmic portion of the human transferrin receptor is required for efficient internalization. The wild-type human transferrin receptor has a tyrosine at this position. Replacement of the Tyr-20 with an aromatic amino acid does not alter the rate constant of internalization, whereas substitution with the nonaromatic amino acids serine, leucine, or cysteine reduces the internalization rate constant approximately three-fold. These results are consistent with similar studies of other receptor systems that have also documented the requirement for a tyrosine in rapid internalization. The amino terminus of the transferrin receptor is cytoplasmic, with the tyrosine 41 amino acids from the membrane. These two features distinguish the transferrin receptor from the other membrane proteins for which the role of tyrosine in internalization has been examined, because these proteins have the opposite polarity with respect to the membrane and because the tyrosines are located closer to the membrane (within 25 amino acids). The externalization rate for the recycling of the transferrin receptor is not altered by any of these substitutions, demonstrating that the aromatic amino acid internalization signal is not required for the efficient exocytosis of internalized receptor.


1976 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. R. Turner ◽  
P. J. Reeds ◽  
K. A. Munday

1. Net amino acid uptake, and incorporation into protein have been measured in vitro in the presence and absence of porcine growth hormone (GH) in muscle from intact rabbits fed for 5 d on low-protein (LP), protein-free (PF) or control diets.2. In muscle from control and LP animals GH had no effect on the net amino acid uptake but stimulated amino acid incorporation into protein, although this response was less in LP animals than in control animals.3. In muscle from PF animals, GH stimulated both amino acid incorporation into protein and the net amino acid uptake, a type of response which also occurs in hypophysectomized animals. The magnitude of the effect of GH on the incorporation of amino acids into protein was reduced in muscle from PF animals.4. The effect of GH on the net amino acid uptake in PF animals was completely blocked by cycloheximide; the uptake effect of GH in these animals was dependent therefore on de novo protein synthesis.5. It is proposed that in the adult the role of growth hormone in protein metabolism is to sustain cellular protein synthesis when there is a decrease in the level of substrate amino acids, similar to that which occurs during a short-term fast or when the dietary protein intake is inadequate.


1997 ◽  
Vol 273 (1) ◽  
pp. E122-E129 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Biolo ◽  
K. D. Tipton ◽  
S. Klein ◽  
R. R. Wolfe

Six normal untrained men were studied during the intravenous infusion of a balanced amino acid mixture (approximately 0.15 g.kg-1.h-1 for 3 h) at rest and after a leg resistance exercise routine to test the influence of exercise on the regulation of muscle protein kinetics by hyperaminoacidemia. Leg muscle protein kinetics and transport of selected amino acids (alanine, phenylalanine, leucine, and lysine) were isotopically determined using a model based on arteriovenous blood samples and muscle biopsy. The intravenous amino acid infusion resulted in comparable increases in arterial amino acid concentrations at rest and after exercise, whereas leg blood flow was 64 +/- 5% greater after exercise than at rest. During hyperaminoacidemia, the increases in amino acid transport above basal were 30-100% greater after exercise than at rest. Increases in muscle protein synthesis were also greater after exercise than at rest (291 +/- 42% vs. 141 +/- 45%). Muscle protein breakdown was not significantly affected by hyperminoacidemia either at rest or after exercise. We conclude that the stimulatory effect of exogenous amino acids on muscle protein synthesis is enhanced by prior exercise, perhaps in part because of enhanced blood flow. Our results imply that protein intake immediately after exercise may be more anabolic than when ingested at some later time.


1989 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 826-828 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mitsuko MAEDA ◽  
Koichi KAWASAKI ◽  
Joe WATANABE ◽  
Hiroshi KANETO

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