[A method of isolating plasma membranes from adipose tissue of rats without preliminary treatment with collagenase].

A rapid procedure has been described for preparation of a relatively pure fraction of plasmatic membranes from adipose tissue without treatment with collagenase. Gentle homogenization of rat fatty tissue in a buffered sucrose solution yielded membrane fractions that could be separated from the bulk of contaminating mitochondria and microsomes by a series of differential and isopycnic centrifugations. The preparation obtained was enriched 12-fold with 5'-nucleotidase as compared with the initial homogenate and contained minimal contaminations with mitochondria or elements of endoplasmic reticulum.