Abstract
The present paper reports the first evidence that homocarnosine-carnosine synthetase from rat brain requires free sulfhydryl groups for activity. The activity of the synthetase can be stabilized by dithioerythritol and inhibited strongly by Cu2+, Cd2+, Hg2+, Zn2+, and to a lesser extent by Ca2+, Ni2+, Li, chlorpromazine, α-methyl DOPA and norepinephrine at the concentrations tested.