[Lipid composition of different preparations of brain Na+, K+-ATPase]

The content and composition of phospholipids is determined in beef microsomal and synaptosomal fractions and also in these fractions preparations solubilized with triton X-100 (0.1%) and digitonin (0.2%). It is shown that the microsomal fraction is richer in phospholipids. The solubilized fragments of microsomes have less or the same amount of phospholipids per protein unit than the initial fraction of microsomes, and the solubilized fragments of synaptosomes contain a higher quantity of phospholipids than the initial fraction. The content of phospholipids in "the riton" fragments of synaptosomes is higher than in "those" of microsomes. Contrary to digitonin which solubilizes the active Na+, K+-ATPase complex of microsomes and synaptosomes, triton X-100 solubilizes the active enzyme of microsomes only. A higher total content of phospholipids in "the triton" extracts of synaptosomes does not probably correlate with the presence of Na+, K+-ATPase activity in them. But these extracts are found to contain less phosphatidylserine whose addition recovers Mg2+, Na+, K+-ATPase activity in them. The effect of phosphatidylserine is not strictly specific for "the triton" extracts of synaptosomes, this lipid activates to a definite extent the extracts of microsomes as well. It is shown that at the first stages of bull brain Na+, K+-ATPase purification the total content of phospholipids and cholesterol in the preparations increases but the composition of phospholipids remains unchanged.