scholarly journals Antisera to gamma-aminobutyric acid. I. Production and characterization using a new model system.

1985 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 229-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
A J Hodgson ◽  
B Penke ◽  
A Erdei ◽  
I W Chubb ◽  
P Somogyi
Keyword(s):  
Detection System ◽  
High Specificity ◽  
Aminobutyric Acid ◽  
Gamma Aminobutyric Acid ◽  
Fixed Tissue ◽  
Beta Alanine ◽  
Tissue Sections ◽  
Beta Hydroxybutyrate ◽  
Unlabeled Antibody ◽  
Related Compounds

Antisera to the amino acid gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) have been developed with the aim of immunohistochemical visualization of neurons that use it as a neurotransmitter. GABA bound to bovine serum albumin was the immunogen. The reactivities of the sera to GABA and a variety of structurally related compounds were tested by coupling these compounds to nitrocellulose paper activated with polylysine and glutaraldehyde and incubating the paper with the unlabeled antibody enzyme method, thus simulating immunohistochemistry of tissue sections. The antisera did not react with L-glutamate, L-aspartate, D-aspartate, glycine, taurine, L-glutamine, L-lysine, L-threonine, L-alanine, alpha-aminobutyrate, beta-aminobutyrate, putrescine, or delta-aminolevulinate. There was cross-reaction with gamma-amino-beta-hydroxybutyrate, 1-10%, and the homologues of GABA: beta-alanine, 1-10%, delta-aminovalerate, approximately 10%, and epsilon-amino-caproate, approximately 10%. The antisera reacted slightly with the dipeptide gamma-aminobutyrylleucine, but not carnosine or homocarnosine. Immunostaining of GABA was completely abolished by adsorption of the sera to GABA coupled to polyacrylamide beads by glutaraldehyde. The immunohistochemical model is simple, amino acids and peptides are bound in the same way as in aldehyde-fixed tissue and, in contrast to radioimmunoassay, it uses an immunohistochemical detection system. This method has enabled us to define the high specificity of anti-GABA sera and to use them in some novel ways. The model should prove useful in assessing the specificity of other antisera.

Purification of Antihemophilic Factor (Factor VIII) by Amino Acid Precipitation*

1964 ◽  
Vol 11 (01) ◽  
pp. 064-074 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert H Wagner ◽  
William D McLester ◽  
Marion Smith ◽  
K. M Brinkhous
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Amino Acid ◽  
Factor Viii ◽  
Plasma Protein ◽  
Acid Precipitation ◽  
Aminobutyric Acid ◽  
Gamma Aminobutyric Acid ◽  
Specific Procedure ◽  
Beta Alanine ◽  
Antihemophilic Factor

Summary1. The use of several amino acids, glycine, alpha-aminobutyric acid, alanine, beta-alanine, and gamma-aminobutyric acid, as plasma protein precipitants is described.2. A specific procedure is detailed for the preparation of canine antihemophilic factor (AHF, Factor VIII) in which glycine, beta-alanine, and gammaaminobutyric acid serve as the protein precipitants.3. Preliminary results are reported for the precipitation of bovine and human AHF with amino acids.

scholarly journals Antisera to gamma-aminobutyric acid. II. Immunocytochemical application to the central nervous system.

1985 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 240-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
P Somogyi ◽  
A J Hodgson ◽  
I W Chubb ◽  
B Penke ◽  
A Erdei
Keyword(s):  
Central Nervous System ◽  
Nervous System ◽  
Solid Phase ◽  
Colchicine Treatment ◽  
Aminobutyric Acid ◽  
Gamma Aminobutyric Acid ◽  
Beta Alanine ◽  
The Central Nervous System ◽  
Solid Phase Adsorption ◽  
Gaba Immunostaining

An antiserum to gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) was tested for the localization of GABAergic neurons in the central nervous system using the unlabeled antibody enzyme method under pre- and postembedding conditions. GABA immunostaining was compared with glutamate decarboxylase (GAD) immunoreactivity in the cerebellar cortex and in normal and colchicine-injected neocortex and hippocampus of cat. The types, distribution, and proportion of neurons and nerve terminals stained with either sera showed good agreement in all areas. Colchicine treatment had little effect on the density of GABA-immunoreactive cells but increased the number of GAD-positive cells to the level of GABA-positive neurons in normal tissue. GABA immunoreactivity was abolished by solid phase adsorption to GABA and it was attenuated by adsorption to beta-alanine or gamma-amino-beta-hydroxybutyric acid, but without selective loss of immunostaining. Reactivity was not affected by adsorption to glutamate, aspartate, taurine, glycine, cholecystokinin, or bovine serum albumin. The concentration (0.05-2.5%) of glutaraldehyde in the fixative was not critical. The antiserum allows the demonstration of immunoreactive GABA in neurons containing other neuroactive substances; cholecystokinin and GABA immunoreactivities have been shown in the same neurons of the hippocampus. In conclusion, antisera to GABA are good markers for the localization of GABAergic neuronal circuits.

scholarly journals Antisera to gamma-aminobutyric acid. III. Demonstration of GABA in Golgi-impregnated neurons and in conventional electron microscopic sections of cat striate cortex.

1985 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 249-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
P Somogyi ◽  
A J Hodgson
Keyword(s):  
Striate Cortex ◽  
Protein A ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Aminobutyric Acid ◽  
Gamma Aminobutyric Acid ◽  
Electron Microscopic ◽  
Golgi Impregnation ◽  
Second Procedure ◽  
Unlabeled Antibody ◽  
Layer Vi

Two methods are described for the immunocytochemical demonstration of immunoreactive gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the visual cortex of the cat, an area that contains several types of GABAergic neurons and requires combined methods for their characterization. The first method is illustrated by a representative example of a Golgi-impregnated and gold-toned interneuron of the "bitufted" type situated in layer VI and having an ascending axon. After recording the three-dimensional features of the cell, semithin (0.5 micron) sections of the perikaryon were cut and GABA was demonstrated in the cell body by the unlabeled antibody enzyme method. While immunocytochemistry was used to determine the probable transmitter of the neuron, Golgi-impregnation of the same cell was used to identify its neuronal type. Since aldehyde-osmium fixation was used, further electron microscopic (EM) analysis of the neuron's synaptic connections was possible. The second procedure demonstrated GABA in EM sections of aldehyde-osmium-fixed cortex using protein A-gold as an immunocytochemical marker. Immunoreactivity was found in certain neurons, dendrites, axons, and boutons forming type II synaptic contacts that from previous studies have been thought to be GABAergic. Thus ultrastructural analysis using optimal conditions can now be supplemented with the identification of the transmitter in the same section.

Uptake and release of gamma-aminobutyric acid in guinea pig gallbladder

1985 ◽  
Vol 249 (2) ◽  
pp. G192-G196 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Saito ◽  
K. Taniyama ◽  
C. Tanaka
Keyword(s):  
Guinea Pig ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Regional Distribution ◽  
Gaba Release ◽  
Aminobutyric Acid ◽  
Transport Systems ◽  
Gamma Aminobutyric Acid ◽  
Beta Alanine ◽  
High Affinity ◽  
Uptake And Release

The presence of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-ergic neuron in guinea pig gallbladder was investigated by measuring GABA contents and glutamate decarboxylase (GAD) activity and by demonstrating the uptake and release of [3H]GABA. GABA and GAD are both present in the gallbladder, and a positive correlation in regional distribution was observed among GABA, GAD, and the number of ganglion cells. The uptake of [3H]GABA by the gallbladder showed two saturable components; a high-affinity component (Km = 23.3 microM, Vmax = 7.63 nmol X g-1 X 10 min-1) and a low-affinity component (Km = 515 microM, Vmax = 57.1 nmol X g-1 X 10 min-1). These high-affinity and low-affinity transport systems corresponded to those obtained in the presence of beta-alanine and L-2,4-diaminobutyric acid, respectively, thereby suggesting the presence of neuronal and nonneuronal GABA transport systems in this tissue. Electrical transmural stimulation produced an increase in [3H]-GABA release from the isolated gallbladder preloaded with [3H]GABA, in the presence of beta-alanine. The stimulation-evoked release of [3H]GABA was prevented by calcium-free medium containing 1 mM EGTA and tetrodotoxin, thereby indicating that the released GABA originates from the nerve terminals. These results provide evidence for the presence of GABA-ergic neurons in the guinea pig gallbladder.

gamma-Aminobutyric acid is a neuromodulator in sinus node of guinea pig heart

1991 ◽  
Vol 261 (5) ◽  
pp. H1437-H1442
Author(s):  
S. Matsuyama ◽  
N. Saito ◽  
K. Taniyama ◽  
C. Tanaka
Keyword(s):  
Guinea Pig ◽  
Sinus Node ◽  
Nerve Fibers ◽  
Aminobutyric Acid ◽  
Neuronal Uptake ◽  
Gaba Uptake ◽  
Uptake System ◽  
Gamma Aminobutyric Acid ◽  
Guinea Pig Heart ◽  
Beta Alanine

A possible neurotransmitter role for gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the sinus node of guinea pig heart was examined. Among right atrium, left atrium, right ventricle, left ventricle, and sinus node, the highest amount of the endogenous GABA was found in the sinus node (1,240.6 +/- 120.8 nmol/g protein). The neuronal uptake of [3H]GABA was also the highest in the sinus node and kinetic analysis of the [3H]GABA uptake system in the sinus node showed one saturable component (Km = 17.3 microM, Vmax = 2.18 nmol.g protein-1.10 min-1). Autoradiography of [3H]GABA demonstrated heavy labeling of [3H]GABA in the nonmyelinated nerve fibers within the sinus node compared with findings in the atrial muscle. Electrical transmural stimulation evoked a Ca(2+)-dependent tetrodotoxin-sensitive release of [3H]GABA from the isolated sinus node preloaded with [3H]GABA in the presence of beta-alanine, thereby indicating that the [3H]GABA in the nerve is released from nerve terminals following electrical stimulation. These results provide evidence for the neuromodulator role of GABA in the sinus node of the guinea pig.

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