Carbonic acid production and the role of carbonic anhydrase in decarboxylation in brain

• Published in: Biochemical Journal
• Main Authors: Severinghaus, John W., Hamilton, F. Norman, Cotev, Shamay
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Portland Press Ltd. 1969
• Subjects: Carbonic acid
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1042/bj1140703; https://portlandpress.com/biochemj/article-pdf/114/4/703/765351/bj1140703.pdf

Sudden oxygenation of a thin film of rat brain homogenate, suspended between the surface of a glass pH-sensitive electrode and a gas-permeable membrane, is accompanied by a fall in pH, which is greater when carbonic anhydrase is inhibited. The result suggests that oxidative decarboxylation yields carbonic acid (HCO3− and H+), which dissociates to form molecular carbon dioxide. Brain carbonic anhydrase facilitates the formation of carbon dioxide from the decarboxylation products.