ABSTRACT
Glutamate carboxypeptidase II (GCPII), a metallopeptidase, is a recently identified pharmacologically targeted protein that is predominantly expressed in the human central nervous system, where it degrades the most abundant neuropeptide in the brain, N-acetyl aspartate glutamate, releasing free glutamate. Dysregulated glutamate release is associated with numerous neurological disorders and brain inflammation. The present study was designed to evaluate the activity of GCPII in 60 serum samples from patients with leukodystrophy and 30 samples from a control group with an age of less than 10 years. Subsequently, the enzyme was purified from the serum of leukodystrophy patients for experimental studies using ion exchange and gel filtration techniques to enhance the enzyme purity and reduce impurities. Finally, the kinetic properties of the purified enzyme were measured. The results of the present study demonstrated a reduction in the efficacy of the enzyme in comparison to the control group at a significance level of P ≤ 0.00003. Additionally, the kinetic study of the purified enzyme revealed a Michaelis-Menten constant value of 0.012 µM and a maximum velocity of 1.1318 µmol min-1. As demonstrated by the Lineweaver-Burk plot, using folate as the substrate, the Km value indicates the high affinity of the enzyme for folate, which is a crucial consideration in the development of therapies for neurological diseases. Additionally, the enzyme exhibited optimal activity at 37 °C and pH 7.4, with an incubation time of 5 min. The significance of GCPII in patients with leukodystrophy is 2-fold: first, it may serve as an early diagnostic marker for leukodystrophy, and second, it could represent a potential therapeutic target for neurological disorders.