Abstract
Intravenous injection of homologous antiserum to rat dopamine β-hydroxylase causes a rapid, dose-dependent reduction in the activity of the enzyme. The enzyme-neutralizing effect of the antiserum is 1000 times greater in vivo than in vitro. The injected antiserum does not affect dopamine β-hydroxylase activity in peripheral adrenergic tissues. The kinetics of the rate of reappearance of dopamine β-hydroxylase activity in serum after treatment with the antiserum have been calculated. The rate constant for the entrance of enzyme into the circulation is 2.8 units/ml/day, the first-order rate constant for the degradation of the serum enzyme is 0.166 day-1, and the half-life of serum dopamine β-hydroxylase in the rat is 4.2 days.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We thank Dr. Manfred M. Mayer for helpful discussions, and acknowledge the excellent technical assistance of Robert Zaczek and the secretarial skills of Carol Kenyon and Vickie Rhodes.
- Copyright © 1977 by Academic Press, Inc.
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