Abstract
Quinolinic acid (2, 3-pyridinedicarboxylic acid), an endogenous, tryptophan metabolite, is neurotoxic when injected into rat striatum (1). To begin to investigate the molecular interactions of quinolinic acid with membranes, electron spin resonance studies of the effects of this neurotoxin on the physical state of lipids, proteins, and cell-surface sialic acid in human erythrocyte ghosts have been performed. Quinolinic acid induced a highly significant alteration in the physical state of membrane proteins (P<0.01) while that of sialic acid and membrane lipids was unaffected. These results are similar to those induced by ibotenic acid, an exogenous neurotoxin, and are discussed with reference to possible molecular characteristics of the interaction of these neurotoxins with membrane proteins.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 501-509 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Life Sciences |
| Volume | 35 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jul 30 1984 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This work was supported in part by grants from the National Institutes of Health (NS-13791; AG-O0084; AG-02759).
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (all)
- Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics (all)