Purification and Characterization of the Heat‐Stable Factors Essential for the Conversion of Lignoceric Acid to Cerebronic Acid and Glutamic Acid: Identification of N‐Acetyl‐l‐Aspartic Acid

Abstract
The conversion of lignoceric acid to cerebronic acid, ceramides, cerebrosides, and glutamic acid is catalyzed by a rat brain particulate preparation. The heat-stable factor [HSF] prepared from calf cerebellum, together with the heat-labile factor, a pyridine nucleotide, and Mg2+ are essential to all of these metabolic pathways. Previous work showed that the heat-stable factor is composed of at least 2 components, HSF-1 and HSF-2, and identified HSF-2 as D-G-6-P. HSF-1 is further purified and showed to be N-acetyl-L-aspartic acid. A 3rd component, HSF-3, is also required for heat-stable factor activity. A reconstituted system composed of N-acetylaspartic acid, G-6-P, and HSF-3-fully replaced the heat-stable factor essential for the conversion of lignoceric acid to cerebronic acid and glutamic acid. The reconstituted heat-stable factor did not show the initial time lag always observed with the crude heat-stable factor.

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