Demonstration and Distribution of Phenylethanolamine in Brain And
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Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA Vol. 70, No. 3, pp. 769-772, March 1973 Demonstration and Distribution of Phenylethanolamine in Brain and Other Tissues (enzyme assay/intraneural synthesis and storage/phenylethylamine/phenylalanine/rat) JUAN M. SAAVEDRA AND JULIUS AXELROD Laboratory of Clinical Science, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20014 Contributed by Julius Axelrod, December 26, 1972 ABSTRACT A specific and sensitive assay for phenyl- of a mixture containing 10 ul of partially purified phenyl- ethanolamine in tissues is described. By this assay, phenyl- ethanolamine was detected in many peripheral tissues and ethanolamine N-methyltransferase, 5 Ml (0.54 nmol) of brains of rats. It is unequally distributed in rat brain, with [3H]methyl-S-adenosyl-l-methionine (specific activity, 4.54 the highest concentration present in hypothalamus and Ci/mmol) and 35 ul of 20 mM Tris * HCl buffer (pH 8.6). 1 ng midbrain. Concentrations of brain phenylethanolamine of phenylethanolamine was added to another aliquot as an were elevated after administration of phenylethylamine, internal standard. The incubation was stopped by addition of phenylalanine, p-chlorophenylalanine, and monoamine oxidase inhibitors and decreased after administration of 0.5 ml of 0.5 M borate buffer (pH 10) and the radioactive dopamine-fl-hydroxylase inhibitors. Denervation of sym- product was extracted with 6 ml of a mixture containing 95% pathetic nerves caused a moderate fall in phenylethanol- heptane and 5% isoamyl alcohol (v/v), by shaking for 15 sec. amine concentrations. These results indicate that phenyl- After the phases were separated by centrifugation, a 5-ml ethanolamine is synthesized intraneuronally from phenyl- alanine and phenylethylamine, but that only part of the aliquot of the organic phase was transferred to counting vials phenylethanolamine is stored in sympathetic nerves. and evaporated to dryness under reduced pressure at 40°. 1 ml of ethanol and 10 ml of phosphor containing 40 ml of Several biogenic amines occur in mammalian brain and Liquifluor (New England Nuclear Corp., Boston, Mass.) per nerves. These include catecholamines: noradrenaline and liter of toluene were added to the residue, and radioactivity adrenaline (1, 2), dopamine (3); phenylethylamines: nor- was measured. metanephrine (4), octopamine (5), tyramine and phenyl- ethylamine (6, 7); indoleamines: serotonin (8, 9) and trypt- Recoveries. There is proportionality between the amount amine (10); and imidazoles: histamine (11). Many of these of phenylethanolamine added to the reaction mixture and amines, particularly the catecholamines and indoleamines, the amount of N- [3HImethylated phenylethanolamine formed. have been shown to have important roles in brain function. This proportionality was demonstrable when the reaction We describe the occurrence and distribution of another was performed from an aqueous medium containing different biogenicamine phenylethanolamine in brain and other tissues amounts of phenylethanolamine, and also when different and a sensitive and specific assay for its measurement in bio- amounts of phenylethanolamine were added as internal logical material. standards to all the tissues examined (Fig. 2). The recoveries of phenylethanolamine added to tissues ranged from 50-90% MATERIALS AND METHODS when compared to phenylethanolamine added to aqueous Enzymatic Assay for Phenylethanolamine. The assay depends medium and carried through the whole procedure. Addition of on the transfer of the [3H]methyl group of [3Hjmethyl-S- adenosylmethionine by phenylethanolamine N-methyl-trans- ferase (EC 2.1.1.X) to the amino group of phenylethanolamine. 10 The enzymatically formed [3H]methyl-phenylethanolamine is extracted into heptane containing 5% isoamyl alcohol at 8 pH 10, and the radioactivity is determined. This assay can w6 measure as little as 100 pg of phenylethanolamine in tissues 01 in 0.05 0.2 0. 2 4 / ~~~~ngPHENYLETHArNOL AMINE (Fig. 1). 0 Procedure. Male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 150-200 g 2 were killed by decapitation. Their organs were rapidly re- moved, frozen on dry ice, weighed, and homogenized in /.. __I _I 0 4 8 12 16 20 5-10 volumes of ice-cold 20 mM Tris HCl buffer (pH 8.6) ng PHENYLETHANOLAMINE containing the monoamine oxidase inhibitor, iproniazid The homogenates were heated at 900 for 3 FIG. 1. Sensitivity of the phenylethanolamine assay. Au- (50,ug/ml). min, thentic phenylethanolamine was incubated in 20 mM Tris-HCl and the proteins were removed by centrifugation at 12,000 buffer (pH 8.6), together with [3H]methyl-S-adenosylmethionine rpm in a Sorvall refrigerated centrifuge. A 200-,Al aliquot of and phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase as described in the supernatant fluid was transferred to a 15-ml glass- text. Results are expressed in cpm after the blank is subtracted stoppered tube and incubated for 20 min at 370 after addition (110 cpm). 769 Downloaded by guest on October 2, 2021 770 Biochemistry: Saavedra and Axelrod Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA 70 (1973) tryamine), present at 100-times the concentration of phenyl- ethanolamine, gave negligible interference (less than 3%). Thin-Layer Chromatography. Identification of N- [3H ]- methylated phenylethanolamine in tissues was made by means of thin-layer chromatography on precoated Eastman chromagram sheets. [3H]Methyl-phenylethanolamine was prepared from endogenous phenylethanolamine in tissues as described above. After extraction, the organic solvent was dried under reduced pressure, the contents were re- dissolved with 50 ul of ethanol, containing authentic N- 4/ methyl-phenylethanolamine (2 Mg) as a carrier, and applied to chromatography sheets. Radioactive standards were pre- 3 To/-I pared with 10 ng of authentic phenylethanolamine with phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase. The solvents 2/ used were (a) acetone-ammonium hydroxide (99:1); (b) n- I butanol-acetic acid-water (12:3:5); (c) tertiary amyl alcohol-methylamine-water (80:10:10); (d) isopropanol- 0 10% ammonium hydroxide-water (200:10:20); (e) n-butanol 0 0.5 2 3 5 saturated with 1 N HCl; and (f) toluene-acetic acid-ethyl ng PHENYLETHANOLAMINE acetate-water (80:40:20:5). After developing, the sheets FIG. 2. Recoveries of phenylethanolamine added to rat tis- were cut into 1-cm sections and transferred to vials con- sues. Phenylethanolamine was added to rat tissue supernatant taining 1 ml of ethanol. 10 ml of toluene phosphor were added fractions and carried through the entire procedure as described to each vial, and radioactivity was counted. Fig. 3 shows a in text. 0, Buffer; O, vas deferens; A, heart; 0, brain; *, salivary typical chromatography of N-[3H]methyl phenylethanol- glands. amine isolated from various tissues. an internal standard of phenylethanolamine served to correct Purification of Phenylethanolamine N-Methyltransferase. for the differences in recoveries amongst various tissues. Phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase was purified as described (12), including the ammonium sulfate and acid Specificity. Normally occurring f3-hydroxylated compounds precipitation, and dialysis. The enzyme preparation had a such as metanephrine, octopamine, catecholamines, and protein concentration of 10-20 mg/ml and about 500-600 other phenylethylamines (dopamine, phenylethylamine, and units/ml with phenylethanolamine as a substrate. One unit of enzymatic activity is defined as the amount of enzyme that 5 4 32 forms 1 nmol of product per mg of protein per hr. Drugs. [3H ]Methyl-S-adenosylmethionine (4.54 Ci/mmol) 3- Standard was purchased from New England Nuclear Corp. Other 2 chemicals were obtained from commercial sources. RESULTS Distribution of phenylethanolamine in tissues 3 Brain Phenylethanolamine was present in brain and other tissues of 2 rats. The highest concentration was found in the pineal N I0 gland, and the lowest in the brain (Table 1). The distribution 0- TABLE 1. Endogenous phenylethanolamine concentration in 3 Heart rat tissues 2 Phenylethanolamine __n. concentration Tissue (ng/g) 3 Salivary Gland Brain 7 ± 1 2 Vas deferens 51 A 8 Spleen 49 4 5 -IT Heart 45 4 2 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 DISTANCE (cm) t Submaxillary gland 47 i 10 Origin Front Lung 87 ± 7 FIG. 3. Specificity of the phenylethanolamine assay. Rat Pineal gland 480 4 217 tissues were assayed for phenylethanolamine as described in Methods. The solvent system used was n-butanol saturated with Groups of 10 adult Sprague-Dawley rats were used. Each 1 N HCl. The RFS of N-methylphenylethanolamine (1), syne- determination was made in duplicate samples from individual phrine (2), metanephrine (3), N-methylsynephrine (4), and N- tissues. Tissues were assayed as described in Methods. Results niethylmetanephrine (5) are also shown. are presented as means ±SEM. Downloaded by guest on October 2, 2021 Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA 70 (197,3) Phenylethanolamine in Brain and Other Tissues 771 of phenylethanolamine was also examined in several regions of rat brain. Highest concentrations of the amine were present in the hypothalamus and midbrain, and lowest in cerebellum and cerebral cortex (Table 2). c Effect of precursors and drugs on phenylethanolamine z concentrations in brain z 0 Administration of a monoamine oxidase inhibitor resulted in an eightfold rise in phenylethanolamine concentrations in z brain (Fig. 4). These results indicate that monoamine oxidase -J 0 is a major enzyme in the metabolism of this amine. Phenyl- z ethylamine also increases brain phenylethanolamine (Fig. 4). I 'LI In a previous study, formation of phenylethanolamine was LJ also