| Description | N1-Acetylspermidine is a polyamine. In many organisms, polyamines originate from L-ornithine and methionine. Ornithine decarboxylase (EC 4.1.1.17), a key enzyme in polyamine metabolism, decarboxylates L-ornithine to yield putrescine which is then converted to higher polyamines spermidine and spermine by successive addition of aminopropyl groups derived from decarboxylated S-adenosylmethionine. Aliphatic polyamines occur ubiquitously in organisms and have important functions in the stabilization of cell membranes, biosynthesis of informing molecules, cell growth and differentiation, as well as adaptation to osmotic, ionic, pH and thermal stress. These cationic substances are implicated in multiple functions, therefore it is not surprising that intracellular levels of polyamines are regulated by different mechanisms. The inhibition of polyamine metabolism has important pharmacological and therapeutic implications for the control of physiological processes, reproduction, cancer and parasitic diseases. Recent reports have suggested the idea that parasites with an high turnover of Ornithine Decarboxilase (ODC) are resistant to Difluoromethyl ornithine (DFMO, the irreversible inhibitor of ornithine decarboxylase) because they always contain a fraction of newly synthesized and active enzyme, therefore not DFMO inhibited, sufficient to produce small amounts of putrescine rapidly converted into spermidine, which can support protozoan proliferation. DFMO has proved to be curative in trypanosomiasis, coccidiosis, and certain other protozoan infections. (PMID: 15490259 ). |
|---|
