Latency differences of lysosomal enzymes in cardiac and skeletal muscles of male and female mice.

The purpose of this study was to compare the latencies of lysosomal enzymes (beta-glucuronidase, beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase, arylsulphatase and acid ribonuclease) in heart and in red and white skeletal muscle of male and female mice (Mus musculus). The unsedimentable, free activities together with releasable (Triton X-100, hypotonic shock and freeze-thawing treatments) and unreleasable, bound activities were assayed. The distribution of acid hydrolases to different fractions was strikingly heterogeneous. The most distinct differences occurred between the distributions of beta-glucuronidase and beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase. The differences between muscle types occurred in the activity levels of lysosomal enzymes, rather than in the fractional distributions. Sex-related differences were small and occurred mainly in the activity levels of heart muscle (higher in female mice). The results suggest that the heterogeneous distribution of lysosomal enzymes originates in the compartmental differences of lysosomal enzymes in muscle cells, rather than the differences in cell populations of different muscle types.