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Malic Acid Synthesis in Escherichia coli and its Inhibition by Cocaine

Abstract

IT has been shown that cocaine specifically inhibits the synthesis of citrate in yeast1 and in animal tissues2, and that other local anæsthetics possess a similar specificity of action in blocking cellular respiration3. An enzyme, malate synthetase, which catalyses the synthesis of malate from acetate and glyoxylate in a manner analogous to the formation of citrate from acetate and oxaloacetate, has since been discovered4 and has been shown to participate in some micro-organisms in a modified citric acid cycle which has been described as the glyoxylate cycle5.

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KALYANPUR, S., WALSH, E. Malic Acid Synthesis in Escherichia coli and its Inhibition by Cocaine. Nature 188, 939–940 (1960). https://doi.org/10.1038/188939a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/188939a0

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