A Regional Study of the Molecular Forms of Acetylcholinesterase in the Brain of Developing and Adult Rats

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Abstract
The molecular forms of acetylcholinesterase in several rat brain regions were studied using sucrose gradient centrifugation. Only 2 major forms were revealed throughout postnatal development: the 4S and 10S. In all regions studied (cerebral cortex, cerebellum, caudate nucleus, hippocampus, pons-medulla and superior colliculi), enzyme activity progresses from high 4S/low 10S activity at birth to the converse in the adult. The 10S, the major form in mature brain, is not proportionally greater at birth in areas which are phylogenetically older. The cerebral cortex and cerebellum at 1, 13, 19-20 postnatal days and in the adult show a nonlinear shift from the 4S form to the 10S form with a decrease or leveling off of 10S (in specific activity and total amount) prior to attaining the high adult levels. Relation to certain histogenic events in the brain is discussed.

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