Skip to main content

Kynurenate Forming Enzymes in Liver, Kidney and Brain

  • Chapter
Kynurenine and Serotonin Pathways

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 294))

Abstract

Kynurenate was discovered by Liebig in 1853. The name he chose for this compound is still appropriate, since it occurs in higher concentration in the urine of dogs and closely related species than in the urine of other animals (Gordon et al... 1936; Jackson, 1939; Brown and Price, 1956). The discovery of tryptophan by Hopkins and Cole (1901) was followed shortly by the observation (Ellinger, 1904) that kynurenate was a metabolite of this amino acid. By the time the conversion of tryptophan-14C to kynurenate-14C was demonstrated (Heidelberger et al., 1949), it came as no surprise. On the other hand, the Kotake school found that kynurenine was an intermediary metabolite of tryptophan (Kotake and Iwao, 1931) and a metabolic precursor of kynurenate (Kotake, 1931).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Brown, R.R., and Price, J.M., 1956, Quantitative studies on metabolites of tryptophan in the urine of the dog, cat, and man, J. Biol. Chem., 219: 985–997.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ellinger, A., 1904, Die Entstehung der Kynurensäure, Z. Physiol. Chem., 43: 325–337.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foster, A.C., Vezzani, A., French, E.D., and Schwarcz, R., 1984, Kynurenic acid blocks neurotoxicity and seizures induced in rats by the related brain metabolite quinolinic acid, Neurosci. Lett., 48: 273–278.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ganong, A.H., Lanthorn, T.H., and Cotman, C.W., 1983, Kynurenic acid inhibits synaptic and amino acid-induced reponses in the rat hippocampus and spinal cord, Brain Res., 27: 170–174.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gordon, W.G., Kaufman, R.E., and Jackson, R.W., 1936, The excretion of kynurenic acid by the mammalian organism. A method for the identification of small amounts of kynurenic acid, J. Biol. Chem., 113: 125–134.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Harada, I., Noguchi, T., and Kido, R., 1978, Purification and characterization of aromatic-amino-acid-glyoxylate aminotransferase from monkey and rat liver, Hoppe-Seyler’s Z. Physiol. Chem., 359: 481–488.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Heidelberger, C., Gullberg, M.E., Morgan, A.F., and Lepkovsky, S., 1949, Tryptophan metabolism. I. The mechanism of the mammalian conversion of tryptophan into kynurenine, kynurenic acid, and nicotinic acid, J. Biol. Chem., 179: 143–150.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Herrling, P.L. 1985, Pharmacology of the corticocaudate excitatory postsynaptic potential in the cat: evidence for its mediation by quisqualate or kainate receptors, Neuroscience, 14: 417–426.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins, F.G., and Cole, S.W., 1901, On the proteid reaction of Adamkiewiez, with contributions to the chemistry of glyoxylic acid, Proc. Roy. Soc. London, 68: 21–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, R.W., 1939, The excretion of kynurenic acid by members of various families of the order Carnivora, J. Biol. Chem., 131: 469–478.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kotake, Y., 1931, The mechanism of kynurenic acid formation in the organism, Z. Physiol. Chem., 195: 158–166.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kotake, Y., and Iwao, J., 1931, Studies on the intermediatary metabolism of tryptophan. I. Kynurenine, an intermediary metabolic product of tryptophan, Z. Physiol. Chem., 195: 139–147.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Liebig, J., 1853, Ãœber Kynurensäure, Justus Liebig’s Ann. Chem., 86: 125–126.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, J.E., and Litwack, G., 1971, Purification, properties, and identity of liver mitochondrial tyrosine aminotransferase, J. Biol. Chem., 246: 3234–3240.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Minatogawa, Y., Noguchi, T., and Kido, R., 1974, Kynurenine pyruvate transaminase in rat brain, J. Neurochem., 23: 271–272.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nakatani, M., Morimoto, M., Noguchi, T., and Kido, R., 1974, Subcellular distribution and properties of kynurenine transaminase in rat liver, Biochem. J., 143: 303–310.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Noguchi, T., and Kido, R., 1976, Identity of kynurenine:pyruvate aminotransferase with histidine:pyruvate aminotransferase, Hoppe-Seyler’s Z. Physiol. Chem., 357: 649–656.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Noguchi, T., Minatogawa, Y., Okuno, E., and Kido, R., 1976a, Organ distribution of rat histidine-pyruvate aminotransferase isoenzymes, Biochem. J., 157: 635–641.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Noguchi, T., Minatogawa, Y., Okuno, E., Nakatani, M., Morimoto, M., and Kido, R., 1975a, Purification and characterization of kynurenine-2-oxoglutarate aminotransferase from the liver, brain and small intestine in rats, Biochem. J., 151: 399–406.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Noguchi, T., Nakamura, J., and Kido, R., 1973, Kynurenine pyruvate transaminase and its inhibitor in rat intestine, Life Sci., 13: 1001–1010.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Noguchi, T., Nakatani, M., Minatogawa, Y., and Kido, R., 1975b, Cerebral aromatic aminotransferase, J. Neurochem., 25: 579–582.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Noguchi, T., Nakatani, M., Minatogawa, Y., Morimoto, M., and Kido, R., 1975c, Subcellular distribution and properties of kynurenine pyruvate transaminase in rat kidney, Hoppe-Seyler’s Z. Physiol. Chem., 356: 1245–1250.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Noguchi, T., Okuno, E., and Kido, R., 1976b, Identity of isoenzyme 1 of histidine-pyruvate aminotransferase with serine-pyruvate aminotransferase, Biochem. J., 159: 607–613.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Noguchi, T., Okuno, E., and Kido, R., 1977, Identity of rat kidney histidinepyruvate aminotransferase with glutamine-oxo-acid aminotransferase, Biochem. J., 161: 177–179.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Noguchi, T., Okuno, E., Takada, Y., Minatogawa, Y., Okai, K., and Kido, R., 1978, Characteristics of hepatic alanine-glyoxylate aminotransferase in different mammalian species, Biochem. J., 169: 113–122.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Okuno, E., Minatogawa, Y., Nakamura, M., Kamoda, N., Nakanishi, J., Makino, M., and Kido, R., 1980, Crystallization and characterization of human liver kynurenine-glyoxylate aminotransferase: Identity with alanineglyoxylate aminotransferase and serine-pyruvate aminotransferase, Biochem. J., 189: 581–590.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Simon, R.P., Young, R.S.K., Stout, S., and Chen, J., 1986, Inhibition of excitatory neurotransmission with kynurenate reduces brain edema in neonatal anoxia, Neurosci. Lett., 71: 361–364.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tobes, M.C., and Mason, M., 1975, L-Kynurenine aminotransferase and L-a-aminoadipate aminotransferase. I. Evidence for identity, Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm., 62: 390–397.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tobes, M.C., and Mason, M., 1977, α-Aminoadipate aminotransferase: purification, characterization, and further evidence for identity, J. Biol. Chem., 252: 4591–4599.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Turski, L., Schwarz, M., Turski, W.A., Klockgether, T., Sontag, K.-H., and Collins, J.F., 1985, Muscle relaxant action of excitatory amino acid antagonists, Neurosci. Lett., 53: 321–326.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1991 Plenum Press, New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Kido, R. (1991). Kynurenate Forming Enzymes in Liver, Kidney and Brain. In: Schwarcz, R., Young, S.N., Brown, R.R. (eds) Kynurenine and Serotonin Pathways. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 294. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-5952-4_18

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-5952-4_18

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-5954-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-5952-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics