A Histochemical Method for Localizing Cholinesterase Activity.

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Abstract
Acetylthiocholine (AThCh) is hy-drolyzed more rapidly than acetylcholine by both specific and nonspecific cholinesterases (ChE''s). When frozen tissue sections or teased preps. are incubated with this substrate in the presence of Cu glycinate and a saturation level of Cu thiocholine, a white pre- cipitate of Cu thiocholine forms at sites of ChE activity; subsequent treatment with ammonium sulfide converts the precipitate to dark brown deposits of Cu sulfide. The characteristic staining does not appear in control preps. previously treated with di-iso-propyl fluorophosphate. By this technic, ChE activity was demonstrated at motor endplates of striated muscle, in neurons and glial cells of the central nervous system, in ganglion cells and satellite cells of autonomic ganglia, and in ganglion cells and cromaffin cells of the adrenal medulla.

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