TyrosineHydroxylasepurifiedfromPC12cells.
LNC1isanantibodywhichcanbeusedtodetectTyrosineHydroxylase(TH).THistherate-limitingenzymeinthesynthesisofthecatecholamineneurotransmittersdopamine,epinephrine,andnorepinephrineandisresponsIBLeforconvertingL-tyrosinetoL-dopa.SynthesisofcatecholaminesisregulatedbytheinteractionofTHwithits’cofactor,tetrahydrobiopterin(BH4)andthesubstratesL-tyrosineandmolecularoxygen.InhumansfourTHmRNAsplicevariants(hTH1-hTH4)havebeenisolatedwhilesubprimatespeciesrelyonasingleformofTH. ItisknownthatthehTH1-hTH4variantsareidenticalintheircatalyticdomainbutdifferintheirN-terminalregulatorydomains.Importantly,LNC1reactswiththecatalyticdomainofTHandthuswithallfourisoformsofhumanTH.TheroleofTHinthesynthesisofcatecholamineneurotransmitterssuggestsaconnectionbetweentheenzymeandanumberofneuropathogenicdiseasescharacterizedbyirregularcatecholaminelevels,suchasParkinson"sdisease,schizophrenia,anddystonia,aswellasavarietyofcardiovasculardiseases.