de Freitas M S, de Mattos A G, Camargo M M, Wannmacher C M, Pessoa-Pureur R
Departamento de Bioquimica, Instituto de Biociencias, UFRGS, Porto Alegre, RS Brasil.
Neurochem Int. 1995 Apr;26(4):381-5. doi: 10.1016/0197-0186(94)00142-h.
We studied the effects of L-phenylalanine and alpha-methylphenylalanine on 32P in vitro incorporation into cytoskeletal proteins from cerebral cortex of 17-day-old rats. Slices of cerebral cortex were incubated in the absence or presence of increasing concentrations of L-phenylalanine, alpha-methylphenylalanine or L-phenylalanine plus alpha-methylphenylalanine for 1 h. The cytoskeletal fraction obtained from slices was incubated in the presence of the same drugs and the 32P in vitro incorporation into cytoskeletal proteins was measured. Addition of alpha-methylphenylalanine did not change 32P in vitro incorporation into the cytoskeletal proteins, but phenylalanine decreased the in vitro phosphorylation of beta tubulin. Furthermore, addition of L-phenylalanine plus alpha-methylphenylalanine decreased the in vitro phosphorylation of both 160 kDa neurofilaments and alpha-tubulin.
