ISSN:
1471-4159
Source:
Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
Topics:
Medicine
Notes:
The subcellular and submicrosomal distributions of four glycolipid-synthesizing transferases were studied in young rat brains.(1) Two galactosyl transferases involved in the synthesis of cerebrosides, the cerebroside sulphotransferase which catalyses the synthesis of sulphatides, and the glucosyl transferase which plays an important role in the ganglioside biosynthesis were localized essentially in the microsomal fraction. Only low activities were detected in the crude mitochondrial and synaptosome-enriched fractions.(2) A comparison of the activities of these enzymes in the crude myelin and two myelin subfractions showed that the galactosyl transferases and the cerebroside sulphotransferase had similar activities in the crude myelin and myelin-like fractions. A considerable galactosyl transferase activity was found in purified myelin. In this respect these two enzymes were different from cerebroside sulphotransferase, whose activity was much lower in purified myelin. On the other hand, glucosyl transferase had a relatively low specific activity in all three myelin fractions. Analysis of different markers showed that the activities were considerably higher than those expected from the maximum microsomal contamination calculated.(3) Subfractionation of the microsomes demonstrated that the galactosyl transferases were more concentrated in the lower parts of the gradient, containing vesicles with attached ribosomes. Cerebroside sulphotransferase and glucosyl transferase were found predominantly in the upper and intermediate parts of the gradient, which were composed essentially of smooth-surfaced vesicles and membrane fragments. Chemical analysis of submicrosomal fractions confirmed the morphological observations.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-4159.1973.tb00254.x
