@article{ref1,
title="Calcium-activated butyrylcholinesterase in human skin protects acetylcholinesterase against suicide inhibition by neurotoxic organophosphates",
journal="Biochemical and biophysical research communications",
year="2007",
author="Schallreuter, Karin U. and Gibbons, Nicholas C. J. and Elwary, Souna M. and Parkin, Susan M. and Wood, John M.",
volume="355",
number="4",
pages="1069-1074",
abstract="The human epidermis holds an autocrine acetylcholine production and degradation including functioning membrane integrated and cytosolic butyrylcholinesterase (BuchE). Here we show that BuchE activities increase 9-fold in the presence of calcium (0.5x10(-3)M) via a specific EF-hand calcium binding site, whereas acetylcholinesterase (AchE) is not affected. (45)Calcium labelling and computer simulation confirmed the presence of one EF-hand binding site per subunit which is disrupted by H(2)O(2)-mediated oxidation. Moreover, we confirmed the faster hydrolysis by calcium-activated BuchE using the neurotoxic organophosphate O-ethyl-O-(4-nitrophenyl)-phenylphosphonothioate (EPN). Considering the large size of the human skin with 1.8m(2) surface area with its calcium gradient in the 10(-3)M range, our results implicate calcium-activated BuchE as a major protective mechanism against suicide inhibition of AchE by organophosphates in this non-neuronal tissue.<p /><p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0006-291X",
doi="10.1016/j.bbrc.2007.02.078",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bbrc.2007.02.078"
}