Acetyl-l-carnitine as a precursor of acetylcholine |
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Authors: | Helen L White Philip W Scates |
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Affiliation: | (1) Division of Pharmacology, The Wellcome Research Laboratories, 27709 Research Triangle Park, North Carolina |
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Abstract: | Synthesis of 3H]acetylcholine from 3H]acetyl-l-carnitine was demonstrated in vitro by coupling the enzyme systems choline acetyltransferase and carnitine acetyltransferase. Likewise, both 3H] and 14C] labeled acetylcholine were produced when 3H]acetyl-l-carnitine andd-U-14C] glucose were incubated with synaptosomal membrane preparations from rat brain. Transfer of the acetyl moiety from acetyl-l-carnitine to acetylcholine was dependent on concentration of acetyl-l-carnitine and required the presence of coenzyme A, which is normally produced as an inhibitory product of choline acetyltransferase. These results provide further evidence for a role of mitochondrial carnitine acetyltransferase in facilitating transfer of acetyl groups across mitochondrial membranes, thus regulating the availability in the cytoplasm of acetyl-CoA, a substrate of choline acetyltransferase. They are also consistent with a possible utility of acetyl-l-carnitine in the treatment of age-related cholinergic deficits. |
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Keywords: | Choline acetyltransferase carnitine acetyltransferase acetylcholine synthesis synaptosomes |
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