The biochemistry, physiology, and pharmacology of biogenic amines, catecholsteroids, amino acid precursors and metabolic products, and various synthetic derivatives have been investigated. The general areas of study include the effects of fluorine substitution of the properties of biogenic amines, adrenergic antagonists and amino acids and catechol- O-methyltransferase (COMT). Studies on COMT include: 1) immunohistochemical localization and suppression of the induction of COMT in the luminal epithelium of pregnant and pseudopregnant rat following treatment with progesterone-receptor inhibitors including RU486 2) localization of COMT in the hamster kidney and in estrogen-induced carcinomas of hamster kidney 3) localization of COMT and COMT mRNA in normal human breast tissue 4) activity and localization of COMT and COMT mRNA in human endometrial and breast adenocarcinomas 5) the identification of monoamine oxidase A and B as one of the irreversible binding sites of procaine isothiocyanate 6) the identification and tissue distribution of 2-fluorourocanic acid in mouse in vivo; 6) development of microassay methods for the measurement of general anesthetics and their interaction with sodium channels.
