<i>In vitro </i>Formation of Piperidine, Cadaverine and Pipecolic Acid in Chick and Mouse Brain during Development

Abstract

We have demonstrated for the first time in vitro formation of cadaverine and pipecolid acid from L-lysine in (a) chick embryos and chick embryo heads at 3–7 days of incubation (d.i.) and 5–7 d.i., respectively; (b) brain of chick embryos from 11 d.i. to 30 days after hatching (d.a.h.) for cadaverine and from 20 d.i. to 30 d.a.h. for pipecolic acid; (c) mouse brain from 2 days after birth up to 3 months after birth; and (d) mouse embryos at days 17–20 of gestation for cadaverine and at days 13 and 17 of gestation for pipecolic acid. No in vitro formation of piperidine from L-lysine could be found in either chick or mouse embryos. Only the large intestine of the chick with its contents was able to form piperidine from L-lysine at 30 d.a.h. Neither chick nor mouse embryos were able to form piperidine from cadaverine at any stage of development investigated. Piperidine was formed in very small amounts from D,L-pipecolic acid only in the brain of chick at 16 d.a.h. and in the large intestine with its contents at 30 d.a.h. The first demonstration of cadaverine and pipecolic acid biosynthesis in the avian and mammalian brain adds further support to a possible neural role of these two substances.