The appearance of a new aromatic aminotransferase in the small intestines of vitamin B6-deficient rats.

Vitamin B6 deficiency led to a decrease in aspartate: 2-oxoglutarate aminotransferase activity and to a marked increase in phenylalanine:2-oxoglutarate aminotransferase activity in rat small intestines. The increased phenylalanine aminotransferase activity was found to be due to a newly appeared aromatic aminotransferase without the aspartate aminotransferase activity in the cytosol of the small intestinal mucosa. The enzyme preparation had an isoelectric point of pH 8.5, a pH optimum near 8.0, and a molecular weight of approximately 100,000 with two identical subunits. The enzyme showed aminotransferase activities towards various aromatic L-amino acids with 2-oxoglutarate as the amino acceptor. The order of effectiveness of aromatic L-amino acids was phenylalanine > tryptophan > tyrosine > 5-hydroxytryptophan; very little activity was detected with other L-amino acids that were tested. The enzyme was specific for 2-oxoglutarate as the amino acceptor. The enzyme was not detected in other tissues (liver, kidney, heart, and brain) from both control and vitamin B6-deficient rats. The enzyme has never been described before in animal tissues.