Abstract
Many roles have been suggested for N-acetyl-aspartate in brain function because of it being located almost exclusively in that organ. However, its true role remains to be demonstrated. We show here that N-acetyl-aspartate: 1) binds to a hydrophobic protein fraction from the cerebral cortex of the rat, which specifically bindsl-aspartate,l-glutamate, and γ-amino-butyric acid; and 2) has a marked inhibitory effect on the aspartate binding sites of this proteolipid fraction. Structural analogs of N-acetyl-asparate, i.e. N-carbamyl-aspartate and N-methyl-aspartate also inhibit thel-aspartate binding by the brain protein fraction used.
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Burgal, M., Lizondo, J., Jordá, A. et al. Inhibition by N-acetyl-aspartate of aspartate binding to a proteolipid fraction from rat cerebral cortex. Neurochem Res 9, 219–224 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00964169
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00964169