Table of Contents

PART 1: TRANSPEPTIDATION AND ISOMERIZATION
The Role of Protein L-Isoaspartyl/D-Aspartyl O-Methyltransferase (PIMT) in Intracellular Signal Transduction (T. Furuchi, K. Sakurako, M. Katane, M. Sekine, H. Homma*)
Modeling the Enolization of Succinimide Derivatives, a Key Step of Racemization of Aspartic Acid Residues: Importance of a Two-Water Mechanism (O. Takahashi*, K. Kobayashi, A. Oda)
Molecular-Dynamics Simulations for Amyloid beta 1-42 Monomer with D-Aspartic Acid Residues Using Continuous Solvent (A. Oda*, K. Kobayashi, O. Takahashi)
Accumulation of D-beta-Aspartic Acid-Containing Proteins in Age-Related Ocular Diseases (Y. Kaji*, T. Oshika, Y. Takazawa, M. Fukayama, N. Fujii)
Quantification of Structural Alterations of L-Asp and L-Asn Residues in Peptides Related to Neuronal Diseases by Reversed-Phase High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (Y. Sadakane*, K. Konoha, M. Kawahara, K. Nakagomi)
SAXS and SANS Observations of Abnormal Aggregation of Human alpha-Crystallin (M. Sugiyama*, N. Fujii, Y. Morimoto, K. Itoh, K. Mori, T. Fukunaga, N. Fujii)
Collapse of Homochirality of Amino Acids in Proteins from Various Tissues during Aging (N. Fujii*, Y. Kaji, N. Fujii, T. Nakamura, R. Motoie, Y. Mori, T. Kinouchi)
Influence of Oxidative Stress on D-Aspartyl Endopeptidase Activity (T. Kinouchi*, A. Matsuda, S. Kawakami, T. Shimizu, T. Shirasawa, N. Fujii)
Structural Consideration of Mammalian D-Aspartyl Endopeptidase (T. Kinouchi*, N. Fujii)
Oxidative Stress Induces the Formation of D-Aspartyl Residues in the Elastin Mimic Peptides (K. Kuge, K. Kitamura, K. Nakaoji, K. Hamada, N. Fujii, T. Saito, N. Fujii*)
PART 2: D-AMINO ACID (D-ASPARTIC ACID) OXIDASE
Indispensable but Insufficient Role of Renal D-Amino Acid Oxidase in Chiral Inversion of NG-Nitro-D-arginine (Y.-F. Xin, X. Li, B. Hao, N. Gong, W.-Q. Sun, R. Konno, Y.-X. Wang*)
Comparative Characterization of Three D-Aspartate Oxidases and One D-Amino Acid Oxidase from Caenorhabditis elegans (M. Katane, Y. Saitoh, Y. Seida, M. Sekine, T. Furuchi, H. Homma*)
D-Aspartate Oxidase: The Sole Catabolic Enzyme Acting on Free D-Aspartate in Mammals (M. Katane, H. Homma*)
Mutant Mice and Rats Lacking D-Amino Acid Oxidase (R. Konno*, K. Hamase, R. Maruyama, K. Zaitsu)
Effects of D-Aspartate Treatment on D-Aspartate Oxidase, Superoxide Dismutase, and Caspase 3 Activities in Frog (Rana esculenta) Tissues (L. Burrone, M. Di Giovanni, M. M. Di Fiore, G. C. Baccari, A. Santillo*)
Thyroid Hormones and D-Aspartic Acid, D-Aspartate Oxidase, D-Aspartate Racemase, Hydrogen peroxide, and ROS in Rats and Mice (E. Topo, G. Fisher, A. Sorricelli, F. Errico, A. Usiello, A. D'Aniello*)
Aberrant Control of Motoneuronal Excitability in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: Excitatory Glutamate/D-Serine vs. Inhibitory Glycine/gamma-Aminobutanoic Acid (GABA) (J. Sasabe*, S. Aiso)
PART 3: D-AMINO ACIDS RELATED TO NUTRITION AND INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS
Origin, Microbiology, Nutrition, and Pharmacology of D-Amino Acids (M. Friedman)
Natural Occurrence and Industrial Applications of D-Amino Acids: An Overview (S. Martinez-Rodriguez*, A. I. Martinez-Gomez, F. Rodriguez-Vico, J. M. Clemente-Jimenez, F. J. Las Heras-Vazquez*)
Enzymes Responsible for the Conversion of Nalpha-[(Benzyloxy)carbonyl]-D-lysine to Nalpha-[(Benzyloxy)carbonyl]-D-aminoadipic Acid by Rhodococcus sp. AIU Z-35-1 (K. Isobe*, N. Fukuda, S. Nagasawa, K. Saitou)
New Biological Functions and Applications of High-Molecular-Mass Poly-¿-glutamic Acid (H. Poo, C. Park, M.-S. Kwak, D.-Y. Choi, S.-P. Hong, I.-H. Lee, Y. T. Lim, Y. K. Choi, S.-R. Bae, H. Uyama, C.-J. Kim, M.-H. Sung*)
Identification and Biochemical Characterization of Membranous Short-Chain Polyglutamate from Bacillus subtilis (T. Kamei, D. Yamashiro, T. Horiuchii, Y. Minouchi, M. Ashiuchi*)
PART 4: AMINO ACID RACEMASES AND PEPTIDE ISOMERASES
Serine Racemase Knockout Mice (H. Mori*, R. Inoue)
Site-Directed Mutagenesis of Rice Serine Racemase: Evidence That Glu219 and Asp225 Mediate the Effects of Mg2+ on the Activity (Y. Gogami, A. Kobayashi, T. Ikeuchi, T. Oikawa*)
Detection and Function of the Intramolecular Disulfide Bond in Arginine Racemase: An Enzyme with Broad Substrate Specificity (D. Matsui, T. Oikawa*)
Mammalian Peptide Isomerase: Platypus-Type Activity Is Present in Mouse Heart (J. M. S. Koh, S. J. P. Chow, B. Crossett, P. W. Kuchel*)
PART 5: RACEMIZATION MECHANISMS AND CHEMISTRY OF D-AMINO ACIDS
Configurational Assignment of D- and L-Isovalines in Intact, Natural, and Synthetic Peptides by 2D-NMR Spectroscopy (M. De Zotti, E. Schievano, S. Mammi, B. Kaptein, Q. B. Broxterman, S. B. Singh, H. Brückner, C. Toniolo*)
Computational Insight into the Mechanism of Serine Residue Racemization (O. Takahashi*, K. Kobayashi, A. Oda)
Computational Modeling of the Enolization in a Direct Mechanism of Racemization of the Aspartic Acid Residue (O. Takahashi*, K. Kobayashi, A. Oda)
Protein-Engineering Study of Contribution of Conceivable D-Serine Residues to the Thermostabilization of Ovalbumin under Alkaline Conditions (N. Takahashi*, M. Maeda, M. Yamasaki, B. Mikami)
Generation of Enantiomeric Amino Acids during Acid Hydrolysis of Peptides Detected by the Liquid Chromatography/Tandem Mass Spectroscopy (T. Miyamoto, M. Sekine, T. Ogawa, M. Hidaka, H. Homma, H. Masaki*)
Photolysis of rac-Leucine with Circularly Polarized Synchrotron Radiation (U. J. Meierhenrich*, J.-J. Filippi, C. Meinert, S. V. Hoffmann, J. H. Bredehöft, L. Nahon)
Amino Acid Ligand Chirality for Enantioselective Syntheses (K. Micskei*, T. Patonay, L. Caglioti, G. Pályi*)
Hydrophobicity of Peptides Containing D-Amino Acids (T. Munegumi)
INDEX

About the Author

Noriko Fujii was born in Tokyo, Japan, in 1951 and graduated fromMeiji University, Tokyo in 1974. In 1976, she obtained an M.S. fromTokyo University of Fisheries and then obtained a Ph.D. from TokyoMedical and Dental University in 1982. She became a lecturer in theChemistry Department, University of Tsukuba (1980-1991), and thenmoved to Takeda Chemical Industries as a Research Scientist(1991-1994). In 1994-1997, she was appointed to the position ofResearch Scientist in the Group of Field and Reaction, PrecursoryResearch for Embryonic Science and Technology (PRESTO), JapanScience and Technology Corporation (JST). In 1997, she became aResearch Scientist (COE) at the National Institute for AdvancedInterdisciplinary Research (NAIR) and moved to the Research ReactorInstitute, Kyoto University as an associate professor in 1998, andbecame a full professor (2002-present). Her research interests spanthe homochirality and life, the appearance of D-amino acids inprotein from aged tissues, the effects on higher order structure ofprotein of the formation of D-amino acid in living tissue. She ispresident of the 'D-Amino Acid Research Society', Japan. Hans Bruckner was born in 1944 near Stuttgart, Germany. Afterseveral years employment as chemical engineer in synthetic peptidechemistry at Ciba in Basel/Switzerland, he graduated and receivedhis equivalents of MSc and PhD in chemistry at TubingenUniversity in 1979. After two years as research assistant at theInstitute of Chemistry and Institute of Microbiology atTubingen, he changed to the Institute of Food Technology atthe University of Hohenheim at Stuttgart. In 1985, he became docentof general food chemistry and technology, and in 1991 assistantprofessor and deputy of the professorship of dairy technology andhead of the dairy plant. He is recipient of the Ajinomoto Prize forAmino Acid Research. In 1995, he accepted a call as full professorfor food sciences at the Institute of Nutritional Science, locatedat the Interdisciplinary Research Centre (IFZ) at GiessenUniversity and held the professorship until his retirement in 2008.He is still active in writing research articles and reviews and asa member of the honorary editorial board of the journalChromatographia. His research topics cover isolation and sequencedetermination of peptide antibiotics, alterations of amino acidsand proteins in the course of food processing, development of newmethods for the chiral and non-chiral separation of amino acids,and relevance of D-amino acids in foodstuffs and life sciences ingeneral. Together with Prof. C. Toniolo, Padova, Italy, he wasguest editor of a topical issue of Chemistry & Biodiversity anda VHCA-Wiley book on peptide antibiotics ('Peptaibiotics'). Incollaboration with Prof. N. Fujii and an international board, heco-edited the 4 volumes anthology 'D-Amino Acids. Practical Methodsand Protocols' and, together with Prof. N. Fujii, he wasguest-editor of a topical issue of Chemistry & Biodiversity onD-amino acid research. He is currently also appointed visitingprofessor at King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.