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Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2020 05 5;117(20):10806-10817. Epub 2020 May 5.

Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, MA 02142;

Radiation of the plant pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP)-dependent aromatic l-amino acid decarboxylase (AAAD) family has yielded an array of paralogous enzymes exhibiting divergent substrate preferences and catalytic mechanisms. Plant AAADs catalyze either the decarboxylation or decarboxylation-dependent oxidative deamination of aromatic l-amino acids to produce aromatic monoamines or aromatic acetaldehydes, respectively. These compounds serve as key precursors for the biosynthesis of several important classes of plant natural products, including indole alkaloids, benzylisoquinoline alkaloids, hydroxycinnamic acid amides, phenylacetaldehyde-derived floral volatiles, and tyrosol derivatives. Read More

J Card Surg 2020 Jul 27;35(7):1425-1430. Epub 2020 Apr 27.

Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, University Hospital Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.

Background And Aim: Acute type A aortic dissection (AAAD) is a life-threatening condition. The emergency operation usually results in 20% perioperative mortality. If preoperative cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is necessary, there is an increase in the rate of mortality. Read More

ACS Chem Biol 2018 12 10;13(12):3343-3353. Epub 2018 Dec 10.

Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research , 455 Main Street , Cambridge , Massachusetts 02142 , United States.

Aromatic l-amino acid decarboxylases (AAADs) are a phylogenetically diverse group of enzymes responsible for the decarboxylation of aromatic amino acid substrates into their corresponding aromatic arylalkylamines. AAADs have been extensively studied in mammals and plants as they catalyze the first step in the production of neurotransmitters and bioactive phytochemicals, respectively. Unlike mammals and plants, the hallucinogenic psilocybin mushroom Psilocybe cubensis reportedly employs an unrelated phosphatidylserine-decarboxylase-like enzyme to catalyze l-tryptophan decarboxylation, the first step in psilocybin biosynthesis. Read More

Gen Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2019 Feb 22;67(2):208-213. Epub 2018 Aug 22.

Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Kawasaki Medical School, 577 Matsushima, Kurashiki, Okayama, 701-0192, Japan.

Background: We retrospectively assessed the initial clinical role of preoperative frailty in surgical patients with Stanford type A acute aortic dissection (AAAD).

Methods: One hundred and fourteen consecutive patients who underwent emergent or urgent surgical interventions for AAAD in our institute between April 2000 and March 2016 participated in this retrospective study. Patients with more than three of the following six modalities were defined as being frail: age older than 75 years, preoperative requirement of assistance in daily living, body mass index less than 18. Read More

Insect Biochem Mol Biol 2017 12 14;91:34-43. Epub 2017 Oct 14.

Department of Biochemistry, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA24060, United States. Electronic address:

In available insect genomes, there are several L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-dopa) decarboxylase (DDC)-like or aromatic amino acid decarboxylase (AAAD) sequences. This contrasts to those of mammals whose genomes contain only one DDC. Our previous experiments established that two DDC-like proteins from Drosophila actually mediate a complicated decarboxylation-oxidative deamination process of dopa in the presence of oxygen, leading to the formation of 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetaldehyde (DHPA), CO, NH and HO. Read More