Distribution of sodium-plus-potassium-stimulated adenosine-triphosphatase activity in isolated nerve-ending particles

Biochem J. 1965 Dec;97(3):833-44. doi: 10.1042/bj0970833.

Abstract

1. A rapid method for the isolation of nerve-ending particles from brain is described. This involved the centrifugation of the large-granule fraction over a discontinuous density gradient consisting of 3% (w/v) and 13% (w/v) Ficoll dissolved in 0.32m-sucrose. The results of the biochemical as well as morphological identification of nerve-ending particles are given. 2. Approx. 20% of the (Na(+)+K(+))-stimulated adenosine-triphosphatase activity originally present in the cerebral grey-matter suspension was recovered in the fraction consisting principally of large nerve-ending particles (approx. 1mu in diameter). The activity of the adenosine triphosphatase/mg. of protein in the nerve-ending fraction approximated to that in the small-granule fraction after the treatment with glycol ether diamine-tetra-acetic acid. The conclusion was drawn that the synaptic structure, supposedly the limiting membrane of the nerve-ending particle, is one of the feasible sites of localization of the (Na(+)+K(+))-stimulated adenosine-triphosphatase activity in cerebral tissues. Adenosine triphosphatase in purified cerebral mitochondria was not stimulated by Na(+). 3. No qualitative differences were found between the (Na(+)+K(+))-stimulated adenosine-triphosphatase activities exhibited by the nerve-ending particles and by the cerebral small-granule fraction with respect to pH-dependence, cation requirements and susceptibility to ouabain.

MeSH terms

  • Acetylcholine
  • Acyltransferases / metabolism
  • Adenosine Triphosphatases / metabolism*
  • Animals
  • Cerebral Cortex*
  • Guinea Pigs
  • In Vitro Techniques
  • L-Lactate Dehydrogenase / metabolism
  • Microsomes / enzymology*
  • Mitochondria / enzymology*
  • Nerve Endings / cytology*
  • Potassium
  • Sodium
  • Subcellular Fractions
  • Succinate Dehydrogenase / metabolism

Substances

  • Sodium
  • L-Lactate Dehydrogenase
  • Succinate Dehydrogenase
  • Acyltransferases
  • Adenosine Triphosphatases
  • Acetylcholine
  • Potassium