title: A physiological mechanism to regulate D-aspartic acid and NMDA levels in mammals revealed by D-aspartate oxidase deficient mice.
abstract: Free D-aspartic acid and NMDA are present in the mammalian central nervous system and endocrine glands at significant concentrations, but their physiological role is still matter of debate. The only enzyme known to metabolize in vitro selectively these D-amino acids is D-aspartate oxidase (DDO). To clarify the role in vivo of the enzyme, we generated mice with targeted deletion of Ddo gene by homologous recombination. Mutated animals showed increased amounts of both D-aspartic acid and NMDA in all tissues examined demonstrating a physiological role of DDO in the regulation of their endogenous levels.
authors.affiliation: Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Villa Comunale, 80121 Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Errico
authors.forename: Maria Teresa
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Pirro
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Affuso
authors.forename: Patrizia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Spinelli
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: De Felice
authors.forename: Antimo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: D'Aniello
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Di Lauro
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D050804:D-Aspartate Oxidase / Q000172:deficiency* / Q000235:genetics; D026603:D-Aspartic Acid / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000502:physiology*; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; D015723:Gene Library; D018390:Gene Targeting; D006720:Homozygote; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D016202:N-Methylaspartate / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000502:physiology*; D014018:Tissue Distribution
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D026603:D-Aspartic Acid; D016202:N-Methylaspartate; D050804:D-Aspartate Oxidase