Reciprocal regulation of ornithine decarboxylase and choline kinase activities by their respective reaction products in the developing rat cerebellar cortex.

Changes in the activity of choline kinase were measured in the cerebellum during development. Early transient increase was found in the enzyme activity just prior to and during birth. This period of increase did not coincide with the periods of transient elevation in ornithine decarboxylase and choline acetyltransferase previously observed in the developing cerebellum. The effects of the naturally occurring polyamines (putrescine, spermidine, and spermine) on choline kinase and choline acetyltransferase activities, and of phosphorylcholine (the product of the reaction catalyzed by choline kinase) on ornithine decarboxylase and choline acetyltransferase activities, were also examined. Choline acetyltransferase activity was not influenced by either polyamines or phosphorylcholine. However, choline kinase activity from 7-day-old, but not from adult, cerebellum was increased 25% in the presence of 4 mM spermine. In contrast, low spermidine concentrations (less than 2 mM) inhibited choline kinase activity selectively in 7-day-old cerebellum. Ornithine decarboxylase activity from 7-day-old cerebellum was inhibited in a concentration-dependent manner by phosphorylcholine. The present data together with other previous reports suggest that: (a) polyamines may play a role in choline utilization during development via their regulation of choline kinase activity, on the one hand, and of acetylcholinesterase activity on the other; and (b) during development, a reciprocal regulation of choline kinase and ornithine decarboxylase activities by their respective reaction products may exist, whereby choline kinase activity is regulated in a complex manner by polyamines and, in turn, ornithine decarboxylase is inhibited by phosphorylcholine.