Ontogenetic development of a 5-methyltetrahydrofolate requiring enzyme in rats and mice.
Developmental characteristics of 5-methyltetrahydrofolate requiring N-methyltransferase (5 MT-NMT) have been studied in rats and mice and compared to the development pattern of marker enzymes. In rat and mouse brain, the 5 MT-NMT activity expressed in units per mg protein, was found to decrease rapidly during the first five days after birth and then more slowly, whereas two other enzymes, dopa-decarboxylase and histamine N-methyltransferase increased gradually during maturation. In kidney, the ontogenetic development of 5 MT-NMT was first characterized by an increasing activity from birth until a different age, depending on the species, and then followed by an abrupt decline. In contrast to this, histamine N-methyltransferase activity in mouse kidney was about 60 times higher at maturity than at birth. When the enzyme activities are expressed in units per g tissue, the changes in the course of the development of 5 MT-NMT were less apparent, but in any way differed markedly from those of dopa-decarboxylase and histamine N-methyltransferase. The results suggest that 5 MT-NMT does not behave as a synaptosomal or perhaps even as a neuronal enzyme. Although its physiological role remains to be elucidated, it must have a more general function in the cellular economy than merely N-methylating biogenic amines.
D000135:Acid Phosphatase / Q000378:metabolism; D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001921:Brain / Q000201:enzymology / Q000254:growth & development; D001923:Brain Chemistry; D004296:Dopa Decarboxylase / Q000378:metabolism; D006632:Histamine; D007668:Kidney / Q000032:analysis / Q000201:enzymology / Q000254:growth & development; D008297:Male; D008780:Methyltransferases / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D011506:Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D051381:Rats; D013045:Species Specificity; D013763:Tetrahydrofolates / Q000502:physiology*
D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D011506:Proteins; D013763:Tetrahydrofolates; D006632:Histamine; D008780:Methyltransferases; D000135:Acid Phosphatase; D004296:Dopa Decarboxylase