title: Levels and sub-cellular distribution of physiologically important metal ions in neuronal cells cultured from chick embryo cerebral cortex.
abstract: Mg2+, Ca2+, Mn2+, Zn2+, and Cu content of neurons from chick embryo cortex cultivated in chemically defined serum free growth medium was determined by energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence and atomic absorption spectroscopy. The intracellular volume of cultured neurons was determined to be 2.73 microliters/mg. Intracellular Mn2+, Fe2+, Zn2+, and Cu2+ in the cultivated neurons were 100-200 times the concentrations in the growth medium: Mg2+ and Ca2+ were 0.9 and 1.7 mM respectively, around 20 fold higher than in growth medium. Mg2+, Fe2+, Cu2+ and Zn2+ concentrations in neurons were in the range of ca. 300-600 microM, approximately 2-3 times the values previously reported in glial cells; Ca2+ and Mn2+ content of the neurons were higher by 5 and 10 fold respectively compared to glial cells. In neurons, the subcellular distribution of Fe2+, Cu2+, and Mn2+ follows the rank order: cytosol greater than microsomes greater than mitochondria; for Zn2+ the distribution differs as following: cytosol greater than mitochondria greater than microsomes. Determination of the superoxide dismutase activities in the cultivated neurons indicated that the Mn2+ linked activity predominates whereas, the Cu-Zn dependent enzyme is dominant in glial cells. Enrichment of the culture medium with Mn2+ to 2.5 microM enhanced the Mn-SOD by approximately 33% but the Cu2+-Zn2+ enzyme activity was not modified. The high Mn2+ content, the capacity to accumulate Mn2+, and the predominancy of the Mn-SOD form observed in neurons is in accord with a fundamental functional role for this metal ion in this type of brain cells.
authors.affiliation: Centre de Neurochimie, CNRS, Université Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg, France.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tholey
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ledig
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kopp
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sargentini-Maier
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Leroy
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Grippo
authors.forename: F C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Wedler
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002413:Cations, Divalent / Q000378:metabolism; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D002642:Chick Embryo; D008670:Metals / Q000378:metabolism*; D009474:Neurons / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D002413:Cations, Divalent; D008670:Metals