Subcellular fractionation studies on peroral jejunal biopsies from the dog

Portions of closed jejunal biopsies from the dog were homogenised and their organelles separated by isopycnic centrifugation on continuous sucrose density gradients. The distributions of marker enzymes for the principal organelles were determined using highly sensitive assay procedures. The following organelles, with assayed marker enzymes and modal densities between brackets were characterised: peroxisomes (catalase, 1.21); brush borders (zinc-resistant alpha-glucosidase, leucyl-beta-naphthyl-amidase, gamma-glutamyl transferase, alkaline phosphatase, 1.20); lysosomes (N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminidase, alpha-mannosidase, 1.19); mitochondria (malate dehydrogenase, 1.18); endoplasmic reticulum (Tris-resistant alpha-glucosidase, 1.16); basal-lateral membranes (5'-nucleotidase, 1.11) and cytosol (lactate dehydrogenase). Homogenisation in isotonic sucrose containing digitonin (0.12 mmol/litre) selectively disrupted lysosomes and increased the equilibrium density of brush border and basal-lateral membranes. This procedure will be used to study the subcellular pathology of naturally occurring intestinal disease in the dog.