IMR Press / FBL / Volume 18 / Issue 3 / DOI: 10.2741/4167

Frontiers in Bioscience-Landmark (FBL) is published by IMR Press from Volume 26 Issue 5 (2021). Previous articles were published by another publisher on a subscription basis, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with Frontiers in Bioscience.

Review

Serine racemase: a key player in neuron activity and in neuropathologies

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1 Department of Pharmacy, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
2 Department of Food Sciences, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
3 Department of Biosciences, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
4 National Institute of Biostructures and Biosystems, Rome, Italy
Front. Biosci. (Landmark Ed) 2013, 18(3), 1112–1128; https://doi.org/10.2741/4167
Published: 1 June 2013
Abstract

Serine racemase is the pyridoxal 5’-phosphatedependent enzyme that catalyzes L-serine racemisation to D-serine, and L- and D-serine beta-elimination in mammalian brain. D-serine is the essential co-agonist of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor, that mediates neurotransmission, synaptic plasticity, cell migration and long term potentiation. High and low D-serine levels have been associated with distinct neuropathologies, agingrelated deficits and psychiatric disorders due to either hyper- or hypo-activation of the receptor. Serine racemase dual activity is regulated by ATP, divalent cations, cysteine nitrosylation, post-translational modifications, and interactions with proteins that bind either at the N- or Cterminus. A detailed elucidation of the molecular basis of catalysis, regulation and conformational plasticity, as well as enzyme and D-serine localization and neurons and astrocytes cross-talk, opens the way to the development of enzyme inhibitors and effectors for tailored therapeutic treatments.

Keywords
D-serine
NMDA receptor
Amino Acid Racemization
Catalysis
Pyridoxal 5’-Phosphate
Review
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