Nucleoside uptake by slices of mouse brain.

The properties of the uptake of nucleosides and nucleotides by brain cells were examined in slices of mouse brain. Of the compounds tested, adenine and adenosine had the most rapid uptake and reached the highest levels. Uptake was mediated, as shown by saturability and strong inhibition, by low temperature, or by cyanide, and was only partially sodium- or calcium-dependent. The inhibition pattern by analogues indicated the presence of several uptake systems (possibly four), as shown by differences between adenine and guanine uptake, between adenine and adenosine uptake, and between adenosine and cytidine uptake. The properties of uptake systems for nucleotides and nucleosides were somewhat different from those for amino acids.