NEURONAL CELL BODY ENRICHED AND GLIAL CELL ENRICHED FRACTIONS FROM YOUNG AND ADULT RAT BRAINS: PREPARATION AND MORPHOLOGICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES

Abstract

Abstract —A technique for separating neuronal and glial cell fractions in bulk from rat brain has been developed which does not use any digestive enzymes. Carbonic anhydrase, S‐100 protein and 2′,3′‐cyclic nucleotide 3′‐phosphohydrolase were associated with the glial fraction. Glutamate and aspartate were the most abundant free amino acids; the neuronal fraction was richer in GABA and glycine than the glial fraction. Both d ‐glutamate and potassium ions were actively accumulated in each fraction during aerobic incubation. Na,K‐ATPase was higher in the glial fraction; its activity, especially in the glial fraction, increased rapidly from the 10th to the 20th day after birth. Lactate dehydrogenase showed higher activity in the neuronal than in the glial fraction during early development; its isozyme pattern in each fraction was similar to that of whole brain. Acetylcholine esterase had its maximum activity around the 15th day in both fractions. Limitations of this bulk separation technique are discussed.