Measurement of formaldehyde and some fully N-methylated substances in tissue cultures of Datura innoxia

Formaldehyde (HCHO) and choline, trigonelline and N-trimethyl-L-lysine (TML) were detected and measured in tissue cultures of Datura innoxia Mill. by TLC and OPLC. The higher level of HCHO in young tissues appears to originate from the methylation reactions. This is in correlation with the high level of fully N-methylated substances. In spite of this the level of the fully N-methylated substances decreased with the aging of tissue. HCHO level also decreased with aging. However, in old tissues the amount of HCHO again increased. This HCHO originates mainly from demethylation reactions. It seems that there is a dynamic relationship between methylation/ demethylation processes based on HCHO reactions and cell proliferation.Abbreviations HCHO formaldehyde - HPTLC high-performance thin-layer chromatography - HS heat shock - OPLC overpressured layer chromatography - SAM S-adenosyl-L-methionine - TML N-trimethyl-L-lysine - TLC thin-layer chromatography This work was supported by National Science Foundation grant (OTKA T-14141, -17394, -17351 and ETT-119, AMFK-465).