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Unnatural Amino Acids pp 367–379Cite as

Assay of Amino Acid Racemases

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Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 794))

Abstract

d-Amino acids play important physiological roles in the mammalian body. Recent investigations revealed that, in mammals, d-amino acids are synthesized from their corresponding l-enantiomers via amino acid racemase. This article describes a method used to measure amino acid racemase activity by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The assay involves fluorogenic chiral derivatization of amino acids with a newly developed reagent, and enantioseparation of d- and l-amino acid derivatives by HPLC. The method is accurate and reliable, and can be automated using a programmable autosampling injector.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmaceutical Life Sciences, Kitasato University, Minatoku, Tokyo, Japan

    Masumi Katane, Masae Sekine & Hiroshi Homma

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  1. Masumi Katane
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  2. Masae Sekine
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  3. Hiroshi Homma
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Correspondence to Hiroshi Homma .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dipto. Biotecnologie e di Scienze Mol, Molecolari (DBSM), Università degli Studi dell'Insubria, Via J.H. Dunant 3, Varese, 21100, Italy

    Loredano Pollegioni

  2. Dipto. Chimica, Politecnico di Milano, Via Mancinelli 7, Milano, 20131, Italy

    Stefano Servi

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Katane, M., Sekine, M., Homma, H. (2012). Assay of Amino Acid Racemases. In: Pollegioni, L., Servi, S. (eds) Unnatural Amino Acids. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 794. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-331-8_25

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-331-8_25

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-61779-330-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-61779-331-8

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