Distribution and properties of cholinesterases in subcellular fractions from rat jejunum and heart tissue.

Homogenates of rat jejunum and heart tissue in 0.3 M sucrose have been separated into different subcellular fractions by centrifugation. The distribution of cholinesterases in these two tissues is different. Acetylthiocholine (Ac), propionylthiocholine (Pc), and butyrylthiocholine (Bc) iodides were used as substrates. Using 1 mmol/1 Ac in the presence of hexafluorenium, a local anaesthetic drug, inhibition percentages of these subcellular cholinesterases were found to be different. The differences in the effect of hexafluorenium were most marked at a concentration of 5 mumol/1. Four electrophoretically distinct subcomponents of cholinesterase have been identified in different subcellular fractions from both jejunum and heart tissues. The electrophoretic profile, as determined by polyacrylamide disc electrophoresis, of different subcellular cholinesterases in these two tissues also appears to be different.