Agmatine, the decarboxylation product of arginine, was largely neglected as an important player in mammalian metabolism until the mid-1990s, when it was re-discovered as an endogenous ligand of imidazoline and α2-adrenergic receptors. Since then, a wide variety of agmatine-mediated effects have been observed, and consequently agmatine has moved from a wallflower existence into the limelight of clinical neuroscience research. Despite this quantum jump in scientific interest, the understanding of the anabolism and catabolism of this amine is still vague. The purification and biochemical characterization of natural mammalian arginine decarboxylase and agmatinase still are open issues. Nevertheless, the agmatinergic system is currently one of the most promising candidates in order to pharmacologically interfere with some major diseases of the central nervous system, which are summarized in the present review. Particularly with respect to major depression, agmatine, its derivatives, and metabolizing enzymes show great promise for the development of an improved treatment of this common disease.
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August 2017
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In this issue of the Biochemical Journal, Zhu et al. (pages 2585–2599) report on the redox regulation of an SNF1-related protein kinase from Brassica napus. Their data suggest that it has potential role in signal transduction in B. napus guard cells.
Review Article|
July 26 2017
Agmatine: multifunctional arginine metabolite and magic bullet in clinical neuroscience?
Gregor Laube;
1Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Institute of Integrative Neuroanatomy, Berlin, Germany
Correspondence: Gregor Laube ([email protected])
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Hans-Gert Bernstein
Hans-Gert Bernstein
2Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy Medical Faculty, University of Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
April 04 2017
Revision Received:
May 23 2017
Accepted:
May 25 2017
Online ISSN: 1470-8728
Print ISSN: 0264-6021
© 2017 The Author(s); published by Portland Press Limited on behalf of the Biochemical Society
2017
Biochem J (2017) 474 (15): 2619–2640.
Article history
Received:
April 04 2017
Revision Received:
May 23 2017
Accepted:
May 25 2017
Citation
Gregor Laube, Hans-Gert Bernstein; Agmatine: multifunctional arginine metabolite and magic bullet in clinical neuroscience?. Biochem J 1 August 2017; 474 (15): 2619–2640. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BCJ20170007
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