PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - ERIC JÉQUIER
AU  - WALTER LOVENBERG
AU  - ALBERT SJOERDSMA
TI  - Tryptophan Hydroxylase Inhibition: the Mechanism by Which <em>p</em>-Chlorophenylalanine Depletes Rat Brain Serotonin
DP  - 1967 May 01
TA  - Molecular Pharmacology
PG  - 274--278
VI  - 3
IP  - 3
4099  - http://molpharm.aspetjournals.org/content/3/3/274.short
4100  - http://molpharm.aspetjournals.org/content/3/3/274.full
SO  - Mol Pharmacol1967 May 01; 3
AB  - Administration of the specific serotonin depletor p-chlorophenylalanine to rats results in marked inhibition of tryptophan hydroxylase of the brain. The enzyme inhibition can be correlated with and is assumed to be responsible for brain serotonin depletion. Although p-chlorophenylalanine is a competitive inhibitor of tryptophan hydroxylase in vitro, it causes an irreversible inactivation of the enzyme in vivo. The findings also support the conclusion that tryptophan hydroxylation is the rate-limiting enzymic step in serotonin biosynthesis. ACKNOWLEDGMENT The authors would like to thank Dr. Sidney Udenfriend for helpful discussions during the course of this work.