The cerebral sodium-plus-potassium ion-stimulated adenosine triphosphatase of bovine brain and its microsomal matrix.

1. Adenosine triphosphatase activities of dispersions prepared from bovine cerebral cortex that had been frozen, were greater than those of dispersions prepared from fresh tissue. The subcellular distribution of components of the dispersion was not altered by freezing the tissue and a microsomal fraction enriched in Na(+)+K(+)-stimulated adenosine triphosphatase activity was prepared. 2. The bovine cerebral microsomes were further treated with a 2m-sodium iodide reagent to obtain a particulate preparation with minimal Na(+)+K(+)-independent adenosine triphosphatase activity. Na(+)+K(+)-stimulated activity was increased by the sodium iodide treatment and this preparation was shown to be enriched in lipid constituents. 3. Density-gradient centrifugation of the sodium iodide treated preparation gave three main subfractions each containing approximately equal amounts of phospholipid and protein. Further exposure of the sodium iodide-treated preparation to the 2m-sodium iodide reagent altered the distribution of protein and phospholipid among the fractions obtained by density-gradient centrifugation. Dissociation of phospholipids from protein in the sodium iodide-treated preparation was brought about also by high concentrations of arginine. Concentrated solutions of arginine and sodium thiocyanate brought about dissociation of phospholipids from protein of the microsomal preparation. 4. Many amino acids were found to inhibit Na(+)+K(+)-stimulated adenosine triphosphatase activity when present in high concentrations. The inhibition was complex but resulted, in part at least, from diminished affinity for ATP and Na(+) in the presence of the amino acids. 5. A non-ionic detergent, Lubrol W, solubilized up to 40% of the enzyme activity of the sodium iodide-treated preparation together with 30% of the protein and phospholipid in the preparation. Protein was released from the sodium iodide-treated preparation by pancreatic elastase but Na(+)+K(+)-stimulated adenosine triphosphatase activity of the residue was diminished. Ultrasonic treatment of the sodium iodide-treated preparation failed to release a significant proportion of Na(+)+K(+)-stimulated adenosine triphosphatase activity into a form not deposited by ultracentrifugation.