Biosyntheses and molecular functions of novel biofactors, D-amino acids : from microorganisms to mammals

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In this study, we found a novel D-serine dehydratase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and studied its properties. With this enzyme exhibiting high substrate specificity for D-serine, we constructed a novel D-serine assay system. We examined the relationship between the concentration of D-amino acids in the various organs of a scrapy-infected hamster and the progress in the disease. We also studied the D-serine metabolism in a slime cellular mold, Dictyostellium discoidium, to understand the role of D-serine in development, and found that the cell contains serine racemase catalyzing D-serine synthesis, and D-serine dehydratase and D-amino acid oxidase catalyzing D-serine degradation. In this study, we also examine the function of E.coli YggS, a homolog of the unknown mammalian protein, PROSC, which exhibits the similarity in the primary structure with the bacterial alanine racemase.