Arginine and ornithine decarboxylation in rodent brain: coincidental changes during development and after ischemia

Agmatine, product of arginine decarboxylation, is known to occur mainly in bacteria and plants where it serves as a precursor for the synthesis of polyamines. Recently however, agmatine and arginine decarboxylation were detected in mammalian brain. Here we examined changes in rodent brain arginine decarboxylation during cerebellum development and after global forebrain ischemia and compared them to changes in ornithine decarboxylase, the enzyme catalyzing the first limiting step in polyamine synthesis. The findings suggest that (1) arginine decarboxylation is transiently increased during development and after ischemia in parallel to ornithine decarboxylase activity. (2) Arginine decarboxylation reaction is catalyzed by ornithine decarboxylase. (3) Decarboxylation of both ornithine and arginine becomes more pronounced in membrane fractions, rather than in the cytosol, during brain maturation. (4) During development, ornithine decarboxylase activity is reduced in the cytosol, but increased in the membrane fractions.