OxyFile #444

Russian Journal of Bioorganic Chemistry, Vol. 22, No. 1, 1996, pp. 
35-42. Translated from Bioorganicheskaya Chimiya, Vol. 22, No. 1. 
pp. 39-47

Initiation of Degenerate Branched Chain Reaction of Glycin 
Deamination with Ultraweak UV-Irradiation or Hydrogen Peroxide

V. L. Voeikov, I. V. Baskakov, K. Kafkialias, V. I. Naletov. 
M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Faculty of Biology, 
119899, Moscow; 
M. M. Shemyakin and Yu. A. Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic
Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences.

Short irradiation of an aqueous solution of Gly by an ultraweak 
source of UV photons initiates a process accompanied by the 
accumulation of ammonia ions. More intense deamination occurs in 
an aqueous solution in the presence of hydrogen peroxide. The  
kinetics of ammonia formation coincides with the kinetics of 
enhancement of luminescence, that was registered in the presence 
of a luminofore, ethidium bromide or Tyr.

When the process was completed, less then 5% of Gly is consumed. 
At the initial stage of the reaction, the concentration of 󌜴 in 
the solution increases significantly in comparison with the 
starting concentration but then begins to decrease. If the 
luminofore concentration exceeds the optimum, the reaction rate 
enhancement deccelerates and the ammonia yield decreases. UV 
photons and 󌜴 are assumed to initiate a degenerate branched 
chain reaction of Gly deamination. UV photons generated in the 
reaction system after the process initiation supposedly play a 
significant role in the process development and reaction chain 
branching.