谷氨酸脱羧酶研究进展

谷氨酸脱羧酶(glutamic acid decarboxylase,GAD,EC4.1.1.15)在生物体内广泛存在,其催化产物γ-氨基丁酸(γ-aminobutyric acid,GABA)是哺乳动物体内一种重要的抑制性神经递质。在对自身免疫性疾病以及糖尿病研究中,特别是1型糖尿病,GAD、GABA以及谷氨酸脱羧酶抗体(glutamic acid decarboxylase-antibody,GAD-Ab)等的水平作为病理分析、疾病诊断、免疫治疗的重要参数,历来备受研究者关注。本文就GAD及其催化产物GABA的研究进展进行了综述,为更好地研究自身免疫性疾病的发病机理,探索更加有效安全的治疗方法提供参考。

Research progress of glutamic acid decarboxylase

Glutamic acid decarboxylase （GAD, EC4. 1.1.15） exists prevalently in the organism and its catalysate, γ-aminobutyric acid （GABA） is the principal inhibitory neurotransmitter in the mammals, and plays an important role in many physiological activities. The levels of GAD, GABA and autoantibodies to glutamic acid decarboxylase （GAD-ab） serve as significant parameters of pathological analysis, diagnosis of illness and immunotherapy in autoimmune diseases and diabetes, especially type 1 diabetes. Therefore many researchers have paid more attention on GAD for a long time. This article introduces the current advance of GAD and GABA, in order to make clear pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases and lay the foundation of designing more useful and safer therapies.