skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Mechanism of inhibition of cholinesterases by Huperzine A. (Reannouncement with new availability information)

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:177463

Huperzine A, an alkaloid isolated from Huperzia serrata was found to reversibly inhibit acetylcholinesterases (EC 3.1.7) and (EC 3.1.1.8) with i 3.1 on- and off-rates that depend on both the type and the source of enzyme. Long incubation of high concentrations of purified (1-8 PM) with huperzine-A did not show any chemical modification of huperzine-A. A low dissociation constant K sub 1 was obtained for mammalian acetylcholinesterase-huperzine (20-40 nM) compared to mammalian butyrylcholinesterase-huperzine (20-40 microns.) This indicates that the thermodynamic stability of huperzine-cholinesterase complex may depend on the number and type of aromatic amino acid residues in the catalytic pocket region of the cholinesterase molecule.

Research Organization:
Walter Reed Army Inst. of Research, Washington, DC (United States)
OSTI ID:
177463
Report Number(s):
AD-A-254440/1/XAB; TRN: 60110427
Resource Relation:
Other Information: PBD: 30 Apr 1992
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English