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SUBCELLULAR DISTRIBUTION AND TRANSPORT OF ACETYLCHOLINE IN CAT VENTRAL ROOTS AND SCIATIC NERVE
Author(s) -
Waldenlind L.,
Anderson P.
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
journal of neurochemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.75
H-Index - 229
eISSN - 1471-4159
pISSN - 0022-3042
DOI - 10.1111/j.1471-4159.1978.tb12400.x
Subject(s) - density gradient , homogenization (climate) , acetylcholine , centrifugation , chemistry , choline , vesicle , sucrose , biophysics , axoplasmic transport , anatomy , biochemistry , biology , membrane , endocrinology , biodiversity , ecology , physics , quantum mechanics
— The axonal transport of radioactive ACh, which was labelled by injecting radioactive choline into the ventral horn of the cat, was studied. Radioactivity analysed as ACh was transported in the nerves at a rate of 20–25 cm/24 h from the place of injection. Morphological and biochemical analysis after density gradient centrifugation revealed that endogenous ACh was principally distributed in three fractions‐(a) a soluble fraction (provided homogenization was carried out in the presence of eserine), (b) a vesicular fraction (diameter 600–1600 A) in the 0.4M‐sucrose layer of the density gradient, and (c) a fraction containing very small structures (size 90–100 A) in the 0.8–1.0 M‐sucrose interphase. The radioactive ACh, however, was exclusively found in the soluble fraction (supernatant) after density gradient centrifugation. Analysis of ACh metabolites showed that radioactive ACh may have been formed locally in the nerves after transport of its precursor. Thus the morphologic and metabolic results do not support the hypothesis that ACh is transported in vesicles.