Summary.
L-Aspartic acid (L-Asp) is one of the fastest racemizing amino acids such that the abnormal D-form (D-Asp) has been found in stable biological human tissues such as dentin in teeth, eye lens and brain. Earlier reports showed that there was a linear correlation between age and D-Asp in teeth. We have previously reported that significant levels of D-Asp were found in normal and osteoarthritic knee cartilage. Since cartilage is a slow regenerating tissue, we hypothesized that D-Asp should accumulate in knee cartilage and that there might be a correlation between the age of the person and the amount of D-Asp found in cartilage. Our analysis of approximately 100 samples of normal knee cartilage showed that there are detectable amounts of D-Asp (2–4% of total Asp) in knee cartilage. However, there was only a slight correlation (r = 0.35) between the age of the person and the amount of D-Asp (nmoles/g). Surprisingly, there was a better correlation between age and the amount of D-Asp in the male subjects (r = 0.57) than in the female subjects (r = 0.21).
Similar content being viewed by others
References
DW Aswad (1984) ArticleTitleDetermination of D- and L-aspartate in amino acid mixtures by high performance liquid chromatography after derivatization with a chiral adduct of o-phthaldialdehyde Anal Biochem 137 405–407 Occurrence Handle6731824 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DyaL2cXhsFKqtL8%3D Occurrence Handle10.1016/0003-2697(84)90106-4
RA Bank MT Bayliss FPJG Lafeber A Maroudas J Tekoppele (1998) ArticleTitleAgeing and zonal variation in post-translational modification of collagen in normal human articular cartilage Biochem J 330 345–351 Occurrence Handle9461529 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DyaK1cXhs12jsrY%3D
A D’Aniello MM Di Fiore G Fisher (1998) ArticleTitleOccurrence of D-aspartic acid in animal tissues and its role in the nervous and endocrine systems Trends Comp Biochem Physiol 4 1–24 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DyaK1MXktFegt78%3D
N Fujii (2002) ArticleTitle D-Amino acids in living higher organisms Orig Life Evol Biosphere 32 102–127
N Fujii (2005) ArticleTitle D-Amino acids in elderly tissues Biol Pharm Bull 28 1585–1589 Occurrence Handle16141520 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DC%2BD2MXhtFWjurzE Occurrence Handle10.1248/bpb.28.1585
T Furuchi H Homma (2005) ArticleTitleFree D-aspartate in mammals Biol Pharm Bull 28 1566–1570 Occurrence Handle16141517 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DC%2BD2MXhtFWjurzJ Occurrence Handle10.1248/bpb.28.1566
Galindo E, Tsesanskaia M, Lopez S, Boston C, D’Aniello A (2006) An improved HPLC method for determination and quantification of D- and L-Asp. In: Konna R, Brückner M, D’Aniello A, Fisher GH, Fujii N, Homma H (eds) D-Amino acids: a new frontier in amino acids and protein research. Nova Publishers, New York (in press)
PM Helfman JL Bada (1975) ArticleTitleAspartic acid racemization in tooth enamel from living humans Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 72 2891–2894 Occurrence Handle1059082 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DyaE2MXlvFSrsbc%3D Occurrence Handle10.1073/pnas.72.8.2891
PM Helfman JL Bada (1975) ArticleTitleAspartic acid racemization in dentin as a measure of aging Nature 262 279–281 Occurrence Handle10.1038/262279b0
EH Man M Sandhouse J Burg GH Fisher (1983) ArticleTitleAccumulation of D-aspartic acid in human brain with age Science 220 1407–1408 Occurrence Handle6857259 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DyaL3sXktlKnu7c%3D Occurrence Handle10.1126/science.6857259
EH Man GH Fisher IL Payan R Cadilla-Perezrios NM Garcia R Chemburkar G Arends WH Frey (1987) ArticleTitle D-Aspartate in human brain J Neurochem 48 510–515 Occurrence Handle3794720 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DyaL2sXot1Whsg%3D%3D Occurrence Handle10.1111/j.1471-4159.1987.tb04122.x
A Maroudas MT Bayliss N Uchitel-Kaushansky (1998) ArticleTitleAggregan turnover in human articular cartilage: Use of aspartic acid racemization as a marker of molecular age Arch Biochem Biophys 350 61–71 Occurrence Handle9466821 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DyaK1cXnvFegtQ%3D%3D Occurrence Handle10.1006/abbi.1997.0492
PM Masters JL Bada JS Zigler (1977) ArticleTitleAspartic acid racemization in human lens during aging in cataract formation Nature 268 71–73 Occurrence Handle887151 Occurrence Handle1:CAS:528:DyaE2sXls1GjsLk%3D Occurrence Handle10.1038/268071a0
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Fisher, G., Lopez, S., Peterson, K. et al. Is there a correlation between age and D-aspartic acid in human knee cartilage?. Amino Acids 32, 27–30 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00726-006-0353-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00726-006-0353-7