Glycolysis in cell-free extracts of brain

Abstract

THE elucidation of the intermediary processes in muscle glycolysis accomplished in recent years has been largely due to the fact that active cell-free extracts of muscle could be prepared. Most of the known intermediary products of muscle glycolysis have been isolated from such extracts. On the other hand our methods are hardly adequate for dealing with intermediary processes in living cells. Thus no substantial progress has been made in elucidating the intermediary processes of brain glycolysis, for in brain the destruction of cell structure causes complete loss of the glycolytic power. Extracts retain only a small fraction of the gluco- lytic power of the brain tissue and have therefore proved unsuitable for the examination of the intermediary products involved in brain glycolysis. It was shown recently [Geiger, 1939] that on cytolysis a powerful inhibitor of glycolysis and of yeast fermentation is liberated from brain tissue and it was assumed that the presence of this substance is responsible for the lack of glycolysis in brain extracts. It was also assumed that after eliminating the antiglycolytic substance contained in cytolysed brain, the extracts could be reactivated by addition of coenzymes.