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Biomedical subjects

J L Bada

Publications and source records attributed to J L Bada.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1975

Aspartic acid racemization in tooth enamel from living humans.

The aspartic acid in human tooth enamel shows increasing racemization with age. This increase is not seen in the metabolically active protein hemoglobin. The rate constant for the racemization reaction of aspartic acid in human tooth enamel was found to be 8.29 X 10(-4) yr-1. This rate constant suggests that in any protein with a long in vivo lifetime, D-aspartic acid will accumulate with age (about 8% of total aspartic acid in enamel will be the D-enantiomer after 60 years). Thus, racemization may play some role in the aging process affecting metabolically stable tissues in long-lived homeotherms. Aspartic acid racemization in toogh enamel also provides a biochronological tool for assessing the age of living mammals.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1974

Concordance of collagen-based radiocarbon and aspartic-acid racemization ages.

By determining the extent of racemization of aspartic acid in a well-dated bone, it is possible to calculate the in situ first-order rate constant for the interconversion of the L and D enantiomers of aspartic acid. Collagen-based radiocarbon-dated bones are shown to be suitable samples for use in "calibrating" the racemization reaction. Once the aspartic-acid racemization reaction has been "calibrated" for a site, the reaction can be used to date other bones from the deposit. Ages deduced by this method are in good agreement with radiocarbon ages. These results provide evidence that the aspartic-acid racemization reaction is an important chronological tool for dating bones either too old or too small for radiocarbon dating. As an example of the potential application of the technique for dating fossil man, a piece of Rhodesian Man from Broken Hill, Zambia, was analyzed and tentatively assigned an age of about 110,000 years.

Animals↗
PubMed1973

Temperature adaptation of enzymes: roles of the free energy, the enthalpy, and the entropy of activation.

The enzymic reactions of ectothermic (cold-blooded) species differ from those of avian and mammalian species in terms of the magnitudes of the three thermodynamic activation parameters, the free energy of activation (DeltaG()), the enthalpy of activation (DeltaH()), and the entropy of activation (DeltaS()). Ectothermic enzymes are more efficient than the homologous enzymes of birds and mammals in reducing the DeltaG() "energy barrier" to a chemical reaction. Moreover, the relative importance of the enthalpic and entropic contributions to DeltaG() differs between these two broad classes of organisms.

Acclimatization↗
PubMed1973

Racemization reaction of aspartic Acid and its use in dating fossil bones.

In the time interval datable by radiocarbon, and at the temperatures of most archeological sites, a substantial amount of racemization of aspartic acid takes place. By determination of the amount of racemization of aspartic acid in bones from a particular location which have been dated by the radiocarbon technique, it is possible to calculate the in situ first-order rate constant for interconversion of the L- and D enantiomers of aspartic acid. Once this "calibration" has been calculated, the reaction can be used to date other bones from the deposit that are either too old to be dated by radiocarbon or that are too small for radiocarbon dating. The only assumption required with this approach is that the average temperature experienced by the "calibration" sample is representative of the average temperature experienced by older samples. This "calibration" technique is used herein to date bones from the Olduvai Gorge area in Tanzania, Africa.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1970

Marine sediments: dating by the racemization of amino acids.

Isoleucine has been found to undergo a slow racemization reaction in a 5-meter sediment core taken from the Atlantis fracture zone (water depth, 4014 meters; actual location, 30 degrees 15.7'N, 43 degrees 18.9'W). The amount of racemization increases with increasing depth below the sediment-seawater interface. This isoleucine racemization reaction was used to calculate an age of 1.23 million years for the bottom of the core.

Geological Phenomena↗