Cerebroside and Sulfatide Biosynthesis in the Brain of Snell Dwarf Mouse: Effects of Thyroxine and Growth Hormone in the Early Postnatal Period

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Abstract
Snell dwarf mice (dw/dw) and normal mice (+/?) were injected with thyroxine (T4) (1 .mu.g/animal, 4 injections) and growth hormone (GH) (20 .mu.g/animal, 4 injections) from the 5th to the 15th day of life. In the untreated dw/dw mouse brain, the specific activities of UDP-galactose:ceramide galactosyltransferase (CGalT), 31-phosphoadenosine-5''-phosphosulfate:cerebroside sulfotransferase (CST) and 2'',3''-cyclic nucleotide 3''-phosphohydrolase (CNP) were decreased by 28, 25 and 37%, respectively, compared with the control untreated +/? mice. The major effect of T4 was an increase of the brain CNP in the +/? mice (+40%) and dw/dw mice (+111%). The treament with T4 also brought to normal the level of CGalT in dw/dw brain; a somewhat less marked effect on CST was observed. The treatment with GH had a great stimulatory effect on CNP: the specific activity of this enzyme increased by 40 and 69% in +? and dw/dw mouse brain, respectively. No effect of GH on the CGalT activity was observed. Apparently T4 and GH may have both independent and complementary actions on the myelin-associated enzymes during the early postnatal period of brain development.