Open AccessThe occurrence of free d ‐alanine and an alanine racemase activity in Leishmania amazonensis
Author(s) -
Panizzutti Rogério,
Souza Leite Milane,
Pinheiro Carla M.,
MeyerFernandes José Roberto
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6968.2006.00064.x
Subject(s) - alanine , biochemistry , biology , amino acid
Free d ‐amino acids are implicated in several biological functions. This study examined the presence of d ‐alanine in Leishmania amazonensis . Measuring chiral amino acid content by high‐performance liquid chromatography we detected a significant amount of free d ‐alanine in promastigotes of these parasites. d ‐Alanine accounts for 8.9% of total free alanine and is found primarily in the soluble fraction. Specific racemization of l ‐alanine to d ‐alanine was detected in cell lysates and this enzyme activity was inhibited by d ‐cycloserine, an alanine racemase inhibitor. Furthermore, we were able to decrease this pool of d ‐amino acid by treating our cultures with d ‐cycloserine. We demonstrate for the first time the existence of a significant amount of free d ‐alanine in L. amazonensis and an alanine racemase activity present in cell lysates. The restriction of d ‐alanine to bacteria, some fungi and now in L. amazonensis opens a new perspective on treatment of diseases caused by these microorganisms.