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Published November 1959 | Published
Journal Article Open

Studies on the Role of N-Acetylaspartic Acid in Mammalian Brain

Abstract

N-Acetylaspartic acid (NAA) occurs at relatively high concentrations exclusively in the mammalian and avian brain and undergoes rapid rise in level soon after birth (Tallan, 1957). The amount of NAA in brains of mentally abnormal human beings and of young human beings was measured. The route by which NAA is synthesized was shown to involve a direct acetylation of aspartic acid. The degradative activity of the brain toward NAA is slight. Some experiments indicate that NAA in the brain is a physiologically and metabolically active compound.

Additional Information

© 1959 by The Rockefeller University Press Received for publication, April 24, 1959. I am grateful to Dr. W. A. Schroeder for his attention to this manuscript and for his advice in various phases of the investigation. Dr. Charles Boone of Harbor General Hospital, and Dr. Stanley Wright of University of California Los Angeles Medical School and Pacific State Hospital were very helpful in providing the human autopsy material. The brain extracts of the insulin-treated rats were generously provided by Dr. Claude Baxter, City of Hope Medical Center. The author extends his appreciation to Dr. Linus Pauling for his encouragement in this research. From the Gates and Crellin Laboratories of Chemistry, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena. Contribution No. 2456 from the Gates and Crellin Laboratories of Chemistry, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California. This work was supported in part by a grant to the California Institute of Technology from the Ford Foundation and portions of it have been previously reported in abstract form (Jacobson (1958)). Dr. Jacobson is a Postdoctoral Fellow of the American Cancer Society.

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August 21, 2023
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