Polyamine

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The polyamines are organic compounds having two or more primary amino groups - such as putrescine, cadaverine, spermidine, and spermine - that are growth factors in both eucaryotic and procaryotic cells. Though it is seen that polyamines are synthesized in cells via highly-regulated pathways, their actual function is not entirely clear. As cations, they do bind to DNA, and, in structure, they represent compounds with cations that are found at regularly-spaced intervals (unlike, say, Mg⁺⁺ or Ca⁺⁺, which are point charges).

If synthesis of polyamines is blocked, then cell growth is stopped or profoundly slowed. The provision of exogenous polyamines restores the growth of these cells.

Polyamines are also important modulators of a variety of ion channels, including NMDA receptors, AMPA receptors, and inwardly-rectifying, leak potassium channels.

Cyclen is the main representative of a class of cyclic polyamines. Polyethylene amine is a polymer based on aziridine monomer.

[edit] External links

• Polyamines in cell cycle proliferation and cell death

• Ornithine Decarboxylase: Expression and regulation in rat brain and in transgenic mice, 2002, Pekka Kilpelainen, Department of Biochemistry, University of Oulu. Extensive review of literature through 2001 on polyamine structure, properties, metabolism in mammals, and physiological and pathophysiological roles (See article Table of Contents)