Dopa


Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Medical, Acronyms, Wikipedia.
Related to Dopa: dopamine, DOPA decarboxylase

dopa

[′dō·pə]
(biochemistry)
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Dopa

3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine, C6H3(OH)2CH2CH(NH2)COOH, an amino acid.

In animals, dopa is one of the precursors in the chain of catecholamine biosynthesis. It is produced in tissues by the oxidation of tyrosine. In animals, plants, and some microorganisms, dopa is the first intermediate product in the synthesis of melanins. Healthy persons excrete from 50 to 55 μg of dopa daily with the urine; the amount increases in the presence of a neuroblastoma, a kind of malignant tumor. An inhibitor of dopa decarboxylase, a-methyldopa (Aldomet), is used in the treatment of parkinsonism and hypertension.

REFERENCES

Matlina, E. Sh., and V. V. Men’shikov. Klinicheskaia biokhimiia katekholaminov. Moscow, 1967.
Grollman, A. Klinicheskaia endokrinologiia i ee fiziologicheskie osnovy. Moscow, 1969. (Translated from English.)
The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
References in periodicals archive ?
Questionnaire order was as follows: DOPA questionnaire, immigration-related self-efficacy, teacher burnout, attitudes toward multiculturalism, and respondent's background.
Teachers' Approaches Toward Cultural Diversity Predict Diversity-Related Burnout and Self-Efficacy
Viability could furthermore be improved by exposure to DOPA, which raised the [UV.sub.50] to 16.1 J/[cm.sup.2], respectively.
A Standardized Method Based on Pigmented Epidermal Models Evaluates Sensitivity Against UV-Irradiation
The optimal levels of the process variables for L- dopa formation in an aerobic biochemical reaction were the time of biochemical reaction, L-tyrosine concentration (2.5 mg/ml) and reaction temperature (50C).
Biochemical Evidence of L-Dopa Synthesis in a Cytokine-Resilient Aspergillus oryzae
Figure 4(C) shows also different absorption peaks related to the dopa molecules, which indicate that the coating process was not affected on the intercalated dopa molecules [9].
Preparation of tween 80-Zn/Al-levodopa-layered double hydroxides nanocomposite for drug delivery system
DOPA was used as the emulsion stabilizer and the material for the host functional group in the imprinted cavity.
Recognizing amino acid chirality with surface-imprinted polymers prepared in W/O emulsions
demonstrated that the catechol part of dopa interacts with the surface in dry conditions [16] and displaces the preadsorbed water molecules to bind with hydrophilic silica surface [16-18].
The Adhesion Mechanism of Marine Mussel Foot Protein: Adsorption of L-Dopa on [alpha]- and [beta]-Cristobalite Silica Using Density Functional Theory
Key to its adhesiveness is a family of unique proteins called mussel adhesive proteins, which contain a high concentration of the catecholic amino acid DOPA (dihydroxyphenylalanine).
Marine mussels inspire 'glue' for surgical repair and cancer drug delivery
Notewor-thily, tyrosine residues of both Pc-1 and Pc-2 are post-translationally modified into 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA) by the addition of a hydroxyl group (Waite et al., 1992).
Identification, characterization, and expression levels of putative adhesive proteins from the tube-dwelling polychaete Sabellaria alveolata
Furthermore, we investigate the relationship between CIMT and Hcy levels in PD patients on L-dopa and dopa decarboxylase inhibitor (DDI) treatment.
Effect of L-dopa therapy on plasma homocysteine levels and, consequently, on carotid intima-media thickness in Parkinson's disease patients/Parkinson hastalarinda L-dopa tedavisinin, plazma homosistein duzeyleri ve bununla iliskili karotis intima-media kalinliklari uzerine olan etkisi
Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and positron emission tomography (PET) studies have shown that PD patients exhibit decreased levels of dopamine transporters (DATs) and vesicular monoamine transporter type 2 (VMAT2) and reduced activity of dopa decarboxylase as measured by the conversion of L-dopa to dopamine in the striatum using [[.sup.18]F]-fluoro-dopa PET (Felicio et al.
Manganese and Parkinson's disease: a critical review and new findings