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Phenylalanine inhibition of the phosphorylation of cytoskeletal proteins from cerebral cortex of young rats is prevented by alanine
Author(s) -
Carreras,
De MattosDutra,
Meirelles,
Da Rocha,
Wannmacher,
PessoaPureur
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
european journal of clinical investigation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.164
H-Index - 107
eISSN - 1365-2362
pISSN - 0014-2972
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2362.2000.00669.x
Subject(s) - phenylalanine , alanine , phosphorylation , cytoskeleton , in vitro , chemistry , biochemistry , amino acid , cerebral cortex , medicine , endocrinology , biology , cell
Background Phenylalanine has been considered the main responsible agent for the brain damage that occurs in phenylketonuria. Methods and Results In this work we studied the effect of this amino acid on the in vitro phosphorylation of cytoskeletal proteins of the cerebral cortex of rats. We observed that 2 mM phenylalanine, a concentration usually found in the plasma of phenylketonuric patients, decreased the in vitro 32 P incorporation into these proteins. In addition, we investigated the effect of alanine on the inhibition of 32 P incorporation into cytoskeletal proteins caused by phenylalanine. We observed that 0.5 m m alanine did not alter 32 P incorporation but prevented the inhibition provoked by phenylalanine. Conclusion In case the inhibition of cytoskeletal protein phosphorylation by phenylalanine also occurs in human phenylketonuria, it is possible that alanine supplementation to the phenylalanine‐restricted diet may be beneficial to these patients.