Jm. Degandarias et al., SOLUBLE AND MEMBRANE-BOUND PYROGLUTAMYL-PEPTIDASE-I ACTIVITY IN THE DEVELOPING CEREBELLUM AND BRAIN CORTEX, The International journal of developmental biology, 42(1), 1998, pp. 103-106
Developmental changes of soluble and particulate pyroglutamyl (pGlu)-p
eptidase I activities in the rat brain cortex and in the cerebellum ar
e described in this work. The enzyme activity has been measured spectr
ofluorimetrically using pGlu-b-naphthylamide as substrate (in the pres
ence and absence of EDTA and DTT, necessary activators of the enzyme)
in both soluble and particulate fractions. In the soluble fraction of
the cerebellum and brain cortex, pGlu-peptidase I activity is high in
the perinatal period and decreases two or three folds subsequently, at
a later stage in the cerebellum than in the brain Cortex, reaching ad
ult levels at the end of the first postnatal month. The decrease in th
e activity of pGlu-peptidase observed in this work coincides with incr
easing levels of brain thyroliberin concentration after the second pos
tnatal week. The particulate pGlu-peptidase I activity, obtained after
osmotic shock and high-salt treatment, shows less significant changes
during brain development in the areas under study. It is suggested th
at cytosolic pGlu-peptidase I could play a part in the normal developm
ent of the rat central nervous system.